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Intel Branding Media Center PCs as "Viiv"
ChessKnught writes "Dan Ackerman posted a blog on Blog.CNET.com regarding Intel Developer Forum chatter about Intel's branding of it's Media Center PC. Don McDonald, one of Intel's Digital Home Group Sr. VP's, is talking about 'Viiv', apparently targetting entertainment PC users. It looks like it'll be combining CPU, Intel hardware (TV tuner, remote, and easy setup wireless home networking, etc.) and Windows Media Center Edition."
Aimed at entertainment PC users--particularly those who use rack-style home theater systems
Is this a particularaly large market? I'm not a big audiophile, and don't have a huge plasma HD TV. I know some people who do. In all the stores I've been in, I've never seen rack-style home theatre equipment. Now, I'm not in the high end stores, but lets face it, if the big box stores aren't carrying it, there's not a big market for it.
So, if most satellite and other TV providers already have PVRs and some have similar functionality (networkable, can play music, etc), where is the market for this? Is this going to be a high priced toy for those that can afford it?
Of course, there is the possibility that they meant component style, which probably covers a pretty big majority of people who would be interested in something like this.
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/27/225221 6&tid=118&tid=126&tid=1
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And VI IV is 64.
And V IIV is 57.
Who cares what it stands for. It's a retarded name, and hopefully it's just a codename. If they actually do use this ridiculus name, they're gonna have to highlight the letters so people know what Intel's smoking.
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At least doing a Google search for Viiv will probably get you what you want instead of doing a google search for Vista. Let's see ...
Currently a Google search for Viiv returns the Intel product as the top result while a Google search for vista returns, um, AmeriCorps ... #@*^#!*9 wtf?
From a customer point of view, Viiv is a good choice.
It looks like it'll be combining CPU, Intel hardware (TV tuner, remote, and easy setup wireless home networking, etc.) and Windows Media Center Edition."
Not to mention DRM'd to hell?
This sig rocks the casbah.
These days it's all about controlling content once it leaves your servers.
I don't know MythTV well, but I'll hazard a guess that it's not big on DRM. If that's the case, then Windows Media Centre will always have better corporate backing.
I actually think Sun's push for an 'open' DRM scheme will help, but then I'm evil like that.
I think that the marketing gurus are just running out of names that are not trademarked. It's the same with drugs and software. Soon, things will have to be named random strings so as not to conflick with some existing trademark.
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Don't forget crappy digital cameras, crappy digital microscopes, crappy portable music players, and crappy wireless keyboards and mice.
The thing is, many of these "initiatives" are actually where they went out and bought some other company. So they buy another company, thinking they're going to integrate them into their line-up and use that to increase their overall strength and presence in the market, and they put out a few products. But somehow they screw it all up so all the engineers from the acquired company quit and/or the customers desert them, and then they have to sh!tcan the whole thing.
Intel does make some pretty good network cards though.
So why the fuck isn't it spelled 'vive'.
Naming products things that consumers feel self-conscious trying to pronounce correctly tends to cause them to a) not talk about them, b) come up with some other name for your product that you have no control over.