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PC that acts like a TV
An anonymous reader writes "CNN is reporting on the newest HP Media Center PC, a PC that "acts like a TV". Seems to me it is a TIVO with some additional features, like storing and displaying pictures and music files. Runs on some sort of Windows XP." The real killer with this whole genre of device is cost and confusion. Users don't know what they do, so its not worth the cost. Anyone who has used a tivo for a week knows what it means. Business just needs to get the costs down. I think including functionality like pictures and music is a good step towards increasing value, as long as it doesn't
add to the confusion.
The average person has no fucking clue as to what a "Tivo" is or does. HP, on the other hand, has some great marketing people that can actually educate and market their products. Tivo's barely keeping their head above water due to very poor marketing. It doesn't give a damn if Tivo's product is better and cheaper. If nobody knows what it is or what it does, price and quality are a moot point. I predict that HP will trounce Tivo.
What I'm wondering, is why do these systems come with such powerful hardware? P4 1.8GHz, 256mb RAM, GeForce 4 ti based videocard, etc.. For what it's supposed to be, I just don't see the point. Is it a media center, or a gaming system? That's the entire reason the price is so high. I'm sure they could pull off the same system, with all the same features, running off a VIA chip, or even a Celeron or Duron, and a cheaper videocard. Until they do that, they won't sell to many of these.
RaGe
We're all just noise on the wires..
May be this is just my opinion, but i am not willing to have a computer as a digital replacement for a TV. Yes, I like to have a TV tunner to watch or record something from time to time, but I am not such a huge TV fan.. there are days where I even don't look at the TV at all. I dislike all this trends to transform the computer in a multimedia black box. I want my computer to code, to write some documents, browse the net, even play games.. but I want it to have the feel of a computer, not of a tv or stereo. I enjoy the power to do whatever I want with my PC; if I want multimedia, I know what hardware and software to buy and use for this, but I would not buy a box that is limited to multimedia only and is sold as a "family device" to be placed under the TV. This is the same story with the Xbox - I understand it is a cheaper PC, but I love too much my opened case computer, in which i can fit whatever card I want, to switch to that black box, even if it has cool games or can run linux. I wonder if anybody else feels this entertainment devices as castrated computers, that lost all the fun.
As an All-In-Wonder Radeon owner, here's the deal: PC's will never replace Tivos until they can replicate Tivo's Season Pass functionality and knowingly record not only the shows I want, but the ones it thinks I will want.
My All-In-Wonder Radeon is a pain in the rear because it won't track schedule changes and automatically record the show I want every time. When a show gets delayed by a football game, or like TLC just randomly changes schedule, I end up with recorded footage I don't want while missing the show I really DID want.
Plus, when the Discovery Channel shows a one-time special, "When Animals Attack Cops During Natural Disasters", or one of those other shows I love, the Radeon's software (ATI MMC) isn't smart enough to tape it automatically. Come on, guys, it can't be that hard if Tivo can do it. We're so close...
And now, 1,000 Linux guys are going to tell me that we could easily write our own using a web-based TV program repository, but just like every time I post this, the repository doesn't exist. Gemstar has it nailed down, and the market is locked up on that one.
What's your damage, Heather?
Hmmm this NEW HP is supposed to be fresh and nimble?
I've had a homebuilt dedicated PC-TV for about 3 years now. This device is nothing new. And my device does not have any copy controls for playback etc.
This PC-TV has a special feature that includes copy controls as provided by the special version of our favorite OS.
I wish mom and pop would be wise to this scheme...
The problem with this is that this isn't just being marketed as a entertainment box as in Tivo but as a practical computer as well. In some ways this justifies the extremely high cost of the unit but it also causes a couple of problems namely:
display: Most Tvs are not of sufficient quality for displaying text clearly which makes them unsuitable for general computing. Most computer monitors are far smaller than you would wish to watch TV/DVD's on. Unless LCD screens get an awful lot cheaper this problem really isn't going to be solved.
functionality: If your going to use this as your main PC what's going to happen when someone wants to play a game/write a word document etc etc etc? Does everyone else in the family have to stop watching TV?
Phobia: people are in general afriad of computers. My mum likes TIVO because it doesn't look like a computer and it does its job well. This thing would scare the hell out of her somply because it's a pc.
All in all I think there's a place for this thing but only if they cut the price and market it as a piece of consumer electronics as opposed to an all singing all dancing pc.Is he saying that computers are heading down the path of glorified televisions and that in the near future all that you will need to operate your computer is a remote control?
EXACTLY! That's what people want! People want *simple*. Leave the real computers to the geeks. Hell, the PS2 is almost an all-in-one box... games, movies, and music all in one little box with a remote control. They add a SIMPLE Net connection to the next gen PS2, and a SIMPLE email and web interface (yes, that you can operate with a remote), and they'll have convergence.
really people are gonna buy a computer for their tv and such? most people arent geeks bud
Isn't it this DRM crapped thing which was reported weeks ago?
well frankly, then they shouldn't be using computers to begin with!
Typical geek attitude. And anybody who can't gap their own spark plugs, and change their own timing belt shouldn't be using cars either, huh?
On the other hand, if what you use a computer for can be boiled down into functions a remote control can send to your computer, then you can probably find something much cheaper than that computer to acomplish the task. If all you plan on using your computer for is tv viewing, buy a tivo, it's much cheaper than a computer, and you get all the same functionality. If you only use your computer to play mp3s, invest in an mp3 player, the computer is overkill.
Also, with respect to your PS2 comment, it's a device designed for a specific task, and is much cheaper than a computer.
In my roundabout way, I think what I'm getting at is that computers should be generalized. You should be able to do what you want with them. If you buy a computer and it's set up to do only one thing well, then to me you're not buying a computer, you're buying an appliance. TiVo is an appliance in that sense, so is the PS2. And those appliances are much cheaper than the general computer you could buy which can perform all those tasks. So if remote controls become the "next big peripheral", then the machine they come attached to better be damn cheap, or that remote control better include a keyboard.
I hope I've made some sense, I running on 0 hours of sleep right now.
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"Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong." --Dennis Miller
Typical geek attitude. And anybody who can't gap their own spark plugs, and change their own timing belt shouldn't be using cars either, huh?
The target customer of a $1400 computer with a tv card is the same user that constantly has problems keeping their computer running through stupidity, not necessarily a lack of tech or mech skills.
If someone is constantly crashing their car into walls and others- destroying other peoples cars, then we have a system that removes their right to use a car.
We also have a system in place called licensing which allows us to have some faith that others are responsibly operating their equipment/machinery in a safe manner.
I also find it very interesting that when the big computer manufacturers decide that people aren't buying new machines they pull out 5 year old technology, double the price and pretend that nobody had this option before. The cards are on the shelf and anyone can walk into computer store and pick one up. Also, most hardware like this has very plain instructions to make the installation dummy proof.
Creationists are a lot like zombies. Slow, but powerful and numerous. And they all want to eat our brains.
The ignorance of the slashdot crowd, and new media once again proves itself. Sony already has a TV connected pc, complete with remote, starting at $1,999. Check it out. Now who's over priced?
The reason TiVo rocks is its functionality, interface, and ease of use. I heard about it from fellow geeks. If you're not showing those features to Joe and Jane Consumer, why would they be interested?
Karma is what occurs between posts.