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More on Future X-Box Capabilities
rtphokie writes "The oft - rumored expansion of Microsoft's Xbox from a gaming console to a more full featured entertainment hub is taking a little more shape. A C|Net article tells of a HomeStation device which is claimed to be slated for a fall release. In addition to Xbox game compatibility and DVD functionality, it is reported to have TiVo/UltimateTV like PVR functionality as well as WebTV like email and web surfing capabilities.
This "report" comes on the heels of the announcement of the Moxi Digital set-top MoxiMedia Center which was named "Best of Show" at the recent Consumer Electronics Show."
The media port on the back of the Xbox is labelled Video Input/Output. If it had a method of storing PVR info on a network share, it might have everything it needs now.
Golly, this is the first pro Xbox message in this article...hope it doesn't get modded into oblivion!
"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
is that Microsoft actually has all of their stuff written already, while the MoxiBoxi is currently vapor-tastic. Unless, of course, Moxi is just planning on rolling out a slightly tweaked WinXP embedded box, which would create nothing more than a Homestation minus XBOX game compatability. Personally, I think Microsoft release WinXP embedded for no other reason than to make corporations feel silly about writing their own STB software. Then, when the suits decide to just use the XP Embedded softwares, they'll have a hard time distinguishing themselves from a superior (XBOX compatible) Homestation.
Xbox will have WebTV like capability?
Just when you thought the cursed thing had died.
Has anyone ever tried to make a webpage work with it? By far the most cryptic errors ever.
"This page is too large to display" on a TINY page.
Tivo? How big is the HD on the Xbox anyway.
Now I've been dreaming of this for years.
Why not instead of trying to make a PC out of an Xbox make an Xbox out of a PC?
Why not release a $150 card or even $300 one that you stick and your PC and tada you can play Xbox games on your nice non blury monitor?
Same with PS2 etc.
Staying on topic, M$ trying to make something do everything is typical. So expect the Xbox to try to do many things and fail at all of them.
In Soviet Russia, the television watches YOU!
I just can't help thinking thinking that if I want the capabilities of a TIVO, DVD player, game console, etc. then I would just go to the manufactures would DO this stuff well and buy a TIVO, etc. etc.
The XBox might be a fantastic piece of tech, but MS doesn't have a particularly good record in the consumer electronics market.
CrazyLegs
"Pork!!" said the Fish, and we all laughed.
The irony here being that Beatrice was later bought out by a bigger company (ConAgra).
Other companies have changed their names as they grow (First Union bought out Wachovia, and took its name to boot).
So yeah that Microsoft strategy is a good idea. I mean can you imagine if people knew there was a single company controlling something like: AOL, AOL Instant Messenger, AOL TV, Asiaweek, Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Thrashers, Atlantic Records, Baby Talk, Book-of-the-Month Club, Capitol Records, Cartoon Network, Castle Rock Entertainment, Cinemax, CNN, CNNfn, Coastal Living, Columbia House, Comedy Central, CompuServe, Cooking Light, Court TV, DC Comics, Digital City, eCompany Now, Elektra, EMI, Entertaindom.com, Entertainment Weekly, ESPN, Family Life, Fortune Magazine, Goodwill Games, Hanna-Barbera, HBO, Headline News, Health Magazine, ICQ, InStyle, Life Magazine, Little Brown, Looney Tunes, Mad Magazine, Money Magazine, MovieFone, Netscape, New Line Cinema, NY1 News, the Open Directory Project, People Magazine, Progressive Farmer, Qwest, Real Simple, Rhino, Road Runner, Southern Accents, Southern Living, Spinner, Sports Illustrated Magazines, Sunset, TBS, Teen People, Telepictures Productions, This Old House, Time Magazines, Time Warner Cable, TNT, Tommy Boy Music, Turner Classic Movies, Virgin Records, Warner Brothers Companies (Movies, Television Network, Video, Music, Stores), Winamp, and World Championship Wrestling. I mean really, that would be crazy.
Sony was the first to try such a thing with it's PS1. It saw that a video game machine with additional functionality might be appeal to the "mass market", mostly adults without children who hadn'y been interested in a home console until that point. The PS1 played audio CD's and was thought of by sony as a component of the Sony "Home entertainment" vision and not as a dedicated game machine.
With that approach, the PS1 conquered the mass market. It took less than two years for the ps1 to penetrate 10% of American homes. By comparison, it took color TV 13 years, 11 for the VCR and 6 for audio CDs.
Now Microsoft is trying to do the same thing with a different set of functionality. Seems like a good idea, but it's a very different world now.
Game consoles are no longer just a niche. 32% of US homes have one sort of console or another. Sony is by far the market leader, and the PS2 is backwards compatable with a huge PS1 base. Whats more, it also plays DVDs. Microsoft will have to price their homestation offering well over the PS2 (or suffer huge losses). It will be interesting to see if consumers are interested in the functionality for the price.
Meanwhile, Nintendo has stayed true to it's fmaily oriented niche and remains by far the most profitable of the players from a pure video game approach. And while all activity is happening in the "Home Entertainment" world, Nintendo is virtually unchallnged on the handheld side with its gameboy and gameboy advance. GBA is projected to become a 500 million dollar business this year!
If I had to choose right now, I'd rather be Nintendo...
-rg
So they're introducing an all-in-one device that will allow you to:
1. Play games
2. Play DVDs
3. Watch TV
4. Surf the web
5. Write email
Gee, that sounds an awful lot like my computer!
So why do they bother? First and foremost, because this is their opportunity to control the one thing they've been unable to get so far: the hardware. Now they will finally be able to implement their digital rights infringement, etc, without fear of pushing the user away (after all, who in their right mind would give up using a piece of hardware after they paid $1000+ for it).
There's more to this scheme, however. Take a closer look at the list of activities shown above. Notice the absence of any kind of development, programming, hacking, etc. The long term goal of this strategy is to "phase out" these kinds of activities, because they are dangerous to the Microsoft monopoly. Eventually, they want everyone's recreational activities to be limited to the 5 items listed above (give or take a few).
Impossible, you say? Not with a little careful manipulation of the market. I'd estimate that 90% of the PC market these days are our beloved Joe Sixpacks, who simply want to do items 1-5, nothing more. Instead of trying to sell general purpose hardware and then customize it with the software (OS), they will start selling customized hardware, which will have only 10% less market share than PCs. With a "good" marketing campaign (which we know MS is capable of), they can strike a huge blow to the general purpose PC business, which will either drive it out of existence, or drive prices way up. Either of these outcomes will make PCs virtually inaccessible to consumers. Over the long term, consumers will lose interest in hacking/development. It might take an entire generation, but it will happen.
Thanks for tuning in.
The scary part is that there are only 5 other huge media corporations in the world, each with a list that's just as impressive. The pdf above doesn't go into the same kind of detail, but still gives a good idea.
HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
Is there an easy way to find this info? The last time I searched, I tried "company hierarchies", "company trees", and some others, but none of my searches turned up anything useful.
Though I'd be very interested in finding such a list, I find that -- in lieu of such a list -- it can be helpful to just check on the websites of the MegaCorps themselves (as they seem to be more than eager to list their subsidiary companies).
For instance, I've been boycotting Pillsbury ever since they sent cease-and-desist letters to universities and Sun Microsystems (among others) for using the term "bake off" to describe their protocol evaluation sessions.
But, it doesn't just end there. With a little checking, you can find out that General Mills owns Pillsbury. And, for a boycott to be effective, that meant that I needed to also boycott the rest of General Mills. So, for instance, that means no Yoplait, no Cheerios or Chex, no Betty Crocker or Bisquick, and no Jolly Green Giant, Old El Paso, or Progressive (among other brands). And, you know what? I've stuck with it -- to this day, I don't buy from Pillsbury, General Mills, or any of its subsidiaries.
Alex Bischoff
HTML/CSS coder for hire