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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.
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?
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.
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?
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