Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Home Server Cometh

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the where-you-keep-your-treasure dept.

narramissic writes "Apart from Apple's 'I'm cooler than you' ad campaign, you don't hear much about the Windows versus Mac battle these days. The reason: Today's battle isn't about 'what brand of computer sits on the desk in your spare room, or even what operating system it runs, it's going to be about who gets to dominate the market for home servers that will control your entertainment, television, telephony, and your home automation system,' argues Dan Blacharski in a recent article."

3 of 253 comments (clear)

  1. There is... another... by john-da-luthrun · · Score: 4, Interesting

    TFA is written from a world in which there are two OSes: Windows and Mac. In an ideal world - and I'm fully aware we don't live in an ideal world, but let's move on for now - the rise of the home server would be a boost to Linux, as people finally twigged they were being asked to pay for the same product over and over again when they use Windows, say, and decided to use something else for their home server (which can be more of a "workhorse" than a desktop system, thus circumventing some of the remaining usability issues for desktop Linux).

    If Ubuntu have their wits about them, a home server edition of Ubuntu would be their next plan: a single CD which you can drop into an old, spare PC to turn it into a home server without paying the Windows Tax all over again.

  2. Re:Maybe too much by Thansal · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That hits the nail on the head.

    Yes, geeks and very high end users will be looking into all of this, however most people (aka most of the market) is still jsut looking at their desktop (or possibly a laptop) as the computer for the house. It is true, it is becoming more frequent for each person in a house to have a computer, but still, we are not looking as homse servers dealign with A/V, telephony, home automation or ANYTHING for a while yet in my books.

    On a side note: the reason why is that there is not a cheap and easy soloution yet. You can buy a good soloution, but it costs a good chunk of change. Or you can roll your own, but that requires a decent amount of knowledge (hey, a modded XBox makes a great media center, but most people wouldn't know how to make a XBox gameport to USB adapter, or even that you could).

    --
    Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
  3. When will people get it... by Em+Ellel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Its not about max number of features. Never was, never will be. iPod is a piece of crap functionality wise when compared to my old Archos device that was several years old before iPod even came to market. Yet today Archos is barely alive while iPod dominates the market (and I have to admit, I own an iPod). The reason is that iPod was not really competing with other mp3 players - it was competing with CD sales via iTunes. It offered a way to BUY music and listen to it and it made it VERY SIMPLE. Now AppleTV wants to do the same with video content. The main competition is NOT your PC, mac or X-Box, it is Cable TV and DVD sales and Tivo. Its the ultimate device allowing people to turn on their tv and watch whatever they want, whenever they want without all the mucking around with the recording and buying DVDs. Of course a computer with up-to-date choice of software will always be more powerful in functionality, but its not a simple to use one-size-fits-all package that will sell. Thats the reality of it all.

    I am not a bit fan of Apple, but I must admit this product has some serious potential. The question is - are the people ready for it?

    -Em

    --
    RelevantElephants: A Somatic WebComic...