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Will The X-Box Be A TiVO Rival?
Utah-Saint writes: "The Xbox is reportedly going to be ramped up to 128 meg unified ram (up from 64) and will incorporate a chip allowing it to be used as a digital vcr (similar to tivo and replay tv) whilst using a 40gig hard-drive supplied by maxtor. http://www.xbox365.com are running the story as an exclusive 'leaked' report ..."
"Reportedly" is right -- but trust me, this is either a) happening already, b) not happening at all, or c) going to happen because some bright exec at Microsoft realizes that stumbling in front of the hype machine means being crushed beneath its wheels. Grains of salt are available in the front lobby.
Rumorous or not, this certainly doesn't sound that implausible -- if the X-Box ever arrives, most of the hardware (memory, hard drive, fast processor) would already be in place. And the equally unavailable-but-promised-rsn Indrema machines are alleged to be built with digital VCR capabilities in mind as well, at least in its second generation. (Mind you, with no first compare to just yet.) 12 months from now, digital VCR capabilities could be in every self-respecting video game system.
The 3DO failed as much because of the dearth of games when it launched as because it wasn't marketed correctly. Rather than being a multipurpose machine that can also happen to play some games, the X-Box will probably be marketed as a game machine that can also happen to do some multi-purpose things as well. And there's a world of difference between asking people to sit in front of their tvs in order to look at photo-cds and asking them to sit in front of their tvs and watch television.
That said, I hope Microsoft gets burned on this one. Call it a vendetta.
That reminds me of this great game show I saw while in Paris. I don't quite remeber how they hooked people up, but the winners would go back stage and make out.. soft core make out. I was watching it, and I just couldn't believe it was actually happening. Anyone know the name of this show? Is it coming to X-Box?
-- these are only opinions and they might not be mine.
and something goes wrong, you get the blue screen of death instead of your show???
Imagine the Nielsen ratings on THAT!
Microsoft's ratigns would compete with "Survivor"s...
Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I
Learning to fly, Pink Floyd.
I don't know if they can compete on the price and reliablity of the Tivo... And with the price of a Tivo going down to $99 this weekend (Circuit City) I think I am going to be picking one up. Now.. where was that hack tivo page.. Did they get it to play games yet?
-- these are only opinions and they might not be mine.
This reminds me of a song a very wise boss taught me years ago.
It goes like this:
Feature Creep!
Feature Creep!
Feature feature feature feature
Feature Creep!
Best sung standing on your desk with your arms in front of you, palms forward, waving in a circular motion.
I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about gaming consoles over coffee drinks in one of those goofy coffee bars with internet access. The dude next to us joined in our conversation, as we argued whether the X-box was going to kick the PS-2s ass or the other way around.
Basically the consensus of the conversation was that Microsoft lacks a certain ability A) deliver products on time B) deliver products that live up to their hype. We all agreed that the X-Box has some pretty lofty expectations, with that nVidia dream video card, PIII processor, DVD drive and run MS windows something or other. Now they tell us its also going to have a 40GB hard drive, twice as much memory as before! *and* act like a digital video recorder.
Come on. I'm all for progress, but this is going to be one damn expensive console. Just the memory, hard drive and processor alone, not to mention the video card are going to push the price above $300.
I know console makers often sell their boxes at a loss and make it up on the games. But lets face it. MS has a track record of generally shitty games, they really expect to make up for developing the console on games like that?
I'll believe the hype when I see it.
Spyky
Consoles and these DVCRs both have the same economic model. The boxes themselves are dirt cheap and the profits are made on the stuff around the boxes. Games in the case of consoles and the subscription service in the case of DVCRs. In theory there's a lot of overlap between the two pieces of hardware as well. Consoles would probably be overkill in hardware for the sort of rendering needed for these devices. In theory a company manufacturing a dual purpose machine might be willing to risk shaving more overhead from the machine because they'll have a dual source of income.
Personally I think you're risking 3DO syndrome in this case. The PSX2 is edging there but sticking a DVD player into a console with a DVD-ROM is so trivial whether or not to do it is a political decision instead of a technical or economic one. Until consoles hit the same point I don't think this will happen.
I shouldn't have to spend a lot of time explaining this one. Who here honestly believes that Micros~1 would put out a digital VCR that would allow you to share recorded shows with your friends?
A digital VCR -- or, more generally, a digital media center -- is a wonderful idea. It would allow you to record, mix, match, edit, transform, and otherwise manipulate the half-dozen or so media sources already streaming into your home (broadcast TV, cable TV, AM/FM radio, Internet). Using a single well-designed system, you could, for example:
Now, which is the more probable: That Micros~1 will create the afore-described flexible, open system that gives ordinary people the power to use media in new ways; or will they create a box that will copy-protect the fsck out of everything -- all the worst features of Macrovision and CSS -- preventing you from even copying the recordings to your own PC, and will fink on you if you try?
Pay very close attention to this one, people...
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
The Xbox team had it right the first time; just do games. People will not buy a unified entertainment unit. Look what happened to all the interactive TV plans a few years back. Or the 3D0 even further back. Of course, eventually there will be a breakthrough product that will actually succeed (like the Palm Pilot succeeded in the decades-old electronic address book market), but since they're already taking a big chance with introducing a new console system, I'd stick with that.
--
and something goes wrong, you get the blue screen of death instead of your show???
just wondering.
Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
Check out HRRC, the Home Recording Rights Coalition.
It seems the entertainment industry is trying to get home recording of DTV and HDTV classified as "Theft of Service". Time shifting would thus be illegal.
Also, although I forget where I saw this bit, Rupert Murdoch is behind an initiative to develop satellite TV receiver/PVR combo the software for which will allow codes in the transmission that prevent fastforward. No more commercial skip.
It disgusts me the way companies focus on greed at the expense of the customer.
Pay very close attention to this one, people...
Do more than that. Write you elected officials and let them know you oppose these efforts. Write to the manufacturers and tell them you won't buy their products (it is not enough simply to not buy, let them know why you didn't.) Similarly, tell those companies that are doing a good job that they are and why. Finally, write the advertisers that use any of this technology and tell them that you won't purchase their products.
It is a scary world that the MPAA, RIAA, et al envision. Do your part to prevent it from happening.
Steve M