Are There Alternatives to UPnP?

semanticgap asks: "I am thinking of putting together a PC based home entertainment system (media server in the basement talking to various computers around the house and controllable via some sort of a remote control device, etc.) as a fun project with emphasis on writing software. I've been reading up on the current state of affairs, and it looks like the protocol for this sort of a thing is UPnP (Universal Plug-n-Pray). It seems to provide all the functionality I want, but I don't like the fact that it is developed by Microsoft, nor do I like it in general - it relies heavily on things like UUID's, HTTPMU and other Microsoft-ish hacks. So I thought I'd ask Slashdot community - is UPnP going to gain acceptance, or are there alternatives to it?"

Comments

Yes...

[BitGeek]

Its called Macintosh.

I'm not trolling or flaming. But you can get a mac and use it as your digital hub and things just work. Plus with firewire becoming the future standard for in home video and audio delivery, you'll have first in class Firewire support with a mac.

And you'll get all this for less than you'd pay for a comparable pc.

(Oh, now I hear the flamers coming "I got an athlon CPU for $200, a top of the line powermac costs $6,000! when I get my CPU in a computer I will have a faster computer and have saved %3000!" Except that it isn't and you wouldn't have. Get a comparable PC from IBM or Toshiba and you pay more.)

Seriously, for AV the digital hub idea on macs work, the software is well supported, and they even look decent amongst your stereo equipment.

Hell, they invented plug and play and they are the best implementation of it so far.

Re:Yes...

[BitGeek]

I just built a 2.53 GHz P4, 512MB DDR PC3200, GeForce 4 ti4600, 48X CD-RW, 80GB HD system for $1400.

Good for you. But you're comparing a home built system with commodity parts to a top quality system from a top notch vendor.

If you want to do price comparisons, compare Apples prices to IBMs. IBM is about the only quality PC manufacturer left anymore, now that Dell has gone the way of Gateway.

But its silly to compare something you put together yourself to something produced by a company with a warantee (And a warantee that covers the parts working together, rather than your collection which covers individual parts.) etc.

Furthermore, it doesn't sound like you saved that much money-- a comparable mac would cost about the same, if not less. And again, you're getting a quality system. I'm sure you bought what you think was the best quality parts, but you don't have the 100,000 unit experience with your suppliers that tier one manufacturers do. Hopefully you got good parts, but you don't have the guarantee.

So, based on your example, saying a comparable mac is cheaper is not ridiculous, it seems spot on. You could have saved $400 and gotten an iMac. Not as good a video card, but then that video card is about $400.