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What Happened to Media PCs? 371

Posted by ScuttleMonkey
from the gone-the-way-of-the-laser-disc dept.

What Happened to Media PCs?

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  • Simple (Score:5, Interesting)

    Computer = active entertainment.
    TV = Passive.


  • TV out (Score:5, Interesting)











  • Re:Demand (Score:5, Interesting)


    1) A small quiet set-top box type PC
    3) Has a simple kiosk type menu with a remote
    4) Low power so it can be always on
    5) Does internet radio



  • by PDAToday (661417) on Tuesday August 08, 2006 @02:24AM (#15864181) Homepage
    Actually you don't need an uber system for Windows MCE. Intel makes a great 945 chipset Media Edition motherboard http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/d945gnt/ index.htm/ [intel.com] as do a couple of other vendors. You can get a DVI daughter card for less than $50 for your digital out, but I even skipped that for a better solution.

    I have my MCE server set elsewhere in the house and use my XBOX as the head unit that's plugged into my home theater system. It was really easy to do and now I don't have to pay a monthly subscription fee to Replay or Tivo anymore.

    The original XBOX 1 worked just OK at this but the XBOX 360 really shines as a MCE extender providing in Microsoft's promise of being a home entertainment hub...no I'm not kidding, I was really amazed at how I could play Uno on Live, listen to music from my MP3 collection and them jump out to watch a recorded TV show, all from my remote control.

    My MCE server has a dual tuner card and several hard drives set up as RAID5 using the Intel motherboard. I also have two HDTV OTA cards but have not had a chance to get an HD antenna hooked up yet so I use those cards for my security cameras.

    The whole thing was easy to build and set up and it integrates into my home theater very nicely.
  • Re:Demand (Score:2, Interesting)

    by johnnyringo (202714) on Tuesday August 08, 2006 @02:30AM (#15864198)

    I personally own a media center box in addition to my main pc. I love it. looks fantastic, works better than other options out there, and the interface is really top-notch. It's probably the only think I like from Microsoft. And I love it...
  • by Jeremy Erwin (2054) on Tuesday August 08, 2006 @02:36AM (#15864209) Journal
    A good many computer programs seem to be designed around a minimum resolution of 1024*768-- a coarser resolution can mess up the layout, or crowd user elements together. 1024*768 is far beyond what a standard definition TV can deliver, and the SVideo interface doesn't help. A modern HDTV offers (typically) 1366*768 resolution and HDMI (which can be converted from DVI with a simple dongle). It's a natural fit. And if the screen is large enough, you may not have to use a bigger font.

    The HDTV market share is larger than you might think. Some (perhaps naively) predict 25% market penetration.
  • by Yeechang Lee (3429) <ylee@pobox.com> on Tuesday August 08, 2006 @02:41AM (#15864227) Homepage
    From the Slate article:


    . . . MythTV works, and works well, for those who are interested in a "HD TiVo" without any of TiVo's limitations. I must admit to chuckling whenever I see a question in alt.tv.tech.hdtv or elsewhere asking how to record from a HD video source with a computer in terms that make it clear the poster and the respondents view the task as something akin to cavemen discovering fire.



    If any of this intrigues you, I recommend visiting:

    • The MythTV Wiki [mythtv.org] and the mythtv-users mailing list archive [gossamer-threads.com], the two largest repositories of MythTV knowledge.
    • The terrific Fedora Core-based installation guide [wilsonet.com] I used.
    • A well-regarded MythTV reference design [mythic.tv] for those who want to either buy it off the shelf from the vendor or build it themselves. I'm neither a customer nor an employee; all I did for my own setup was buy a Sony Pentium 4 [amazon.com] system on sale at Fry's then add the video card, ATSC capture card, gigabit Ethernet card, remote, and NAS. However, in retrospect, there's something to be said [gossamer-threads.com] for buying at once all the parts except the NAS in one convenient, already-integrated form.

    [1] Home Theater Master MX-500 [remotecentral.com] universal remote. I programmed it using a $30 infrared keyboard/mouse combo [gossamer-threads.com].


    [3] Westinghouse LVM-47W1 [westinghousedigital.com]. Under $2500 from Crutchfield [crutchfield.com] for 1080p LCD goodness.


  • Re:Demand (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Al Dimond (792444) on Tuesday August 08, 2006 @03:47AM (#15864390) Journal

    Remember the article that was posted here earlier comparing the virtues of an ancient Apple Newton and a brand-new, slightly larger gadget that runs full WinXP? Sure, WinXP gives you a lot more possibilities than the Newton's OS, but for most of the things you actually want to do with a PDA the software written strictly for the purpose lets you be much more efficient. The "standard" media components like DVD/VHS players and television sets give people an intuitive, focused and reliable interface. They may be less fancy, but they're still better technology for most media-consuming people.




  • by KuRa_Scvls (932317) on Tuesday August 08, 2006 @04:37AM (#15864498)
    But you're missing the point.





    A.Watch TV
    B.Watch downloaded contents
    C.Record and playback TV shows any time you want
    D.Stream shows to other computers(bonjour, itunes)
    E.OS X

    In one single package.

    Its attractiveness is mindblowing, hence why everyone's waiting for it.
  • Re:Demand (Score:3, Interesting)

    by rucs_hack (784150) on Tuesday August 08, 2006 @05:40AM (#15864613)


    The only reason media centre pc's got any attention is because the people who make the hardware and software for them wanted people to like them and buy them. There was no demand, and they were unable to create one.

    This is a situation frequently encountered in this new computing market (yes, it's only 20 or 30 years old, that's still new). Companies spend loads of money researching stuff that they want people to want, and it goes tits up when product hits the shelves. Or in the case of microsoft, where people seem to think everyone else is both rich and obsessed by computers too, they come up with obsurd tech that barely anyone in the normal world wants to purchase. Origami anyone?

    Also, pc's crash (well, windows pc's crash). Whether conciously or not, perhaps customers were thinking about the risk of a pc failing when the game is on?
  • by smchris (464899) on Tuesday August 08, 2006 @07:36AM (#15864819)
    Sounds like a sour grapes rant to me. There are those of us who are _not_ consciously displaying a $2000 consumer item.

    First, I'm old enough to have seen TV go from black-and-white to color and I say, "Don't knock fetishism until you've tried it." It isn't enough to have "heard" about HDTV. HDTV is a third state of broadcast and the closest thing to looking through a window until we get 3D.

    Second, we only watch a few hours of TV per week here. The biggest chunk is local news and weather. Passive entertainment isn't our focus and I've always thought part of being a techno-fetishist is knowing there are better channels of information than TV.

    That said, third, we've never owned anything bigger than a 19" TV. Therefore, it isn't that expensive for us to watch a 19" LCD monitor from 8 feet and get the same perceived viewport to a 19" TV at 12 feet. And part of being techno is that I _can_ build the MythTV from mostly rebate parts.

    The home HDTV/media file server is just a dedicated tool. Being dedicated, not even that techno-interesting because the tinkering potential is low once it is set up.

    The biggest drawback is DRM.





  • Re:Simple (Score:2, Interesting)

    by riots (707054) on Tuesday August 08, 2006 @08:51AM (#15865113) Homepage
    My family and I have actually gone without a TV now for several years - the tipping point was when we came to the opinion that we could get better content from DVD and more recently from BitTorrent than from network TV. We got a flat screen display (iMac) and set up an arrangement where the couch faced the desk so we could easily accomodate both uses without shifting anything around. We'll start using iTunes as soon as there's anything there we want and I'm awaiting the rollout of the BBC iMP service with interest. If we got a bigger apartment then we'd simply get one of the larger displays which would be fine, and now we've made the switch I'm sure we'll never buy a TV again - in the unlikely event that we ever decide we do want to watch network TV then we'll get something small and cheap like the EyeTV adaptor. The point of relating my personal experience is to make the point that I think the key will be when people decide it is easier and cheaper to get better content off the internet than through network TV. I realise that we are somewhat the exception right now and it will take people generally to come to the same conclusions as we have about the content source before widespread media centre adoption happens. When the perception of source changes then there is nothing stopping the switch, but if network TV still retains a strong attraction then things are likely to stay as they are.
  • First start (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 08, 2006 @09:05AM (#15865213)

    Two things. One one needs to define "what is a Media PC". And two distingush the difference between TV-"the device", and TV-"the programming".

    I built [mobydisk.com] a media PC that IMHO does the job:
    • Nearly silent
    • Software optimized for browsing (Opera with 180% magnification)
    • Good quality wireless keyboard, mouse, and remote control
    • Uses HDMI outputs so text is readable
    • Inexpensive

    The industry needs to change in two fundamental ways:

  • by Xenious (24845) on Tuesday August 08, 2006 @09:40AM (#15865450)
    Cable cards might be the solution, but right now I have this nice almost free DVR that records HD and tunes all my channels already plugged into my TV. Any type of tuner card right now will have to pass through to that device as it cannot directly tune all my encrypted channels nor HD over the cable. Thus making another point that could break and making it almost useless. Make a PCI express card that does all of the functions of my DVR (tuning all my digital cable channels, video on demand from my cable provider, HD tuning off my digital cable) and I'm interested. Otherwise its not worth it to me.

    For the record I have a media center box and an extender.

    by jellomizer (103300) * on Tuesday August 08, 2006 @10:20AM (#15865763)
    I think you hit the nail on the head. People buy this stuff to impress others. Consiously or sub-Consiously. Why do you think people buy the large Hi-Def Flat Screen TVs, Fancy Cars, Stylish Laptops... It is to impress other people. Most companies know this. You will not get more or less entertained with a hi-def TV vs. a Normal one, with the content being the same. Having a high performance sports car will not get you to work any faster (legally?, But still you can speed in your old car too), A fancy Mac Book Pro will do the work just as well as a Dell Laptop with the same specs (OS Bigitry asside). It is all about getting praises for your hard work and make you feel sucessful to other people.
    It is not a bad thing but people need to understand this fact when they get this stuff and they prioritize their needs. Marketing targets people need to feel accecpted and popular.
    Teenagers wanting cool Cell Phones, So they can show off how hip and trendy they are.
    Kids toys, if you ever noticed all the toy comericals you see the kids playing with the toys with other kids, or using them to get the attention of someone else.
    Car commericals, people are always driving with a passanager or with a group of other people in simular cars, someone standing in awa, on in a mock race where the other cars are defeted.
    Food comericals where the family is sitting at a table completly enjoying your meal.

    It all about impressing others and not about yourself. The Media PCs are not impressive, people don't go "Wow You have a Media PC!", It doesn't look as impressive of having a Hi-Def TV with 5 or 6 boxes next to it that all do different things (Cable Box, TiVo, VCR, DVD, Surround Sound, X-Box, PS2/3, TiVo, etc...) Just having one box that can be confused with a fancy Cable Box is just not impressive, and people wont notice it and not start a conservation about it. And thus you fail, and get no product satification.

    With my PowerBook when it was new I always got complents on it and it made me feel good and successful, knowing that Apple products make people notice me and complement me (indirectly) makes me want to get a new one. It is that simple.
  • Re:Demand (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Locutus (9039) on Tuesday August 08, 2006 @11:47AM (#15866659)
    if any of the large OEMs start making these, they won't be using our favorite OS and customizing it. They'll have to use Microsoft Windows( probably the MediaCenter version ). You might laugh but I had just spoke with a former HP project manager a few weeks ago and he told me how he had two projects which leveraged Linux as the base OS but when he brought in the marketing guys for the product release, they canned the projects. You see, the 'financial' impact these two projects would have on the 'profits' of some other Microsoft based product was too great. When I mentioned that the Microsoft based products were not even in the same market/sector, he said that the finanical impact wasn't due to lost sales but in licensing costs and other 'income' from those products( marketing dollars? ).

    So you probably have a few more years run with your current kit.

  • by tacokill (531275) on Tuesday August 08, 2006 @02:59PM (#15868603)



    Those two things account for FAR more of the market than "impressing people". Adding an HTPC to an HDTV is trivial even for the newbies. In fact, most HDTV's coming out have a VGA-in connection and if they don't have that, they certainly have a DVI-in. So it seems like a natural conclusion (to me, at least) that I should be able to view my downloaded content on my HDTV via my HTPC. And I am not alone judging by the interest in iPod videos and movies...

    That is the draw of the HTPC. Watching downloaded content on your 56" HDTV instead of your 19" LCD monitor in the office.

    And the first one to make that seemless, easy, and relatively inexpensive is going to win. Right now, we are nowhere close to that for a variety of reasons: DRM, crappy software (Media Center), pricing, etc so it seems natural that the HTPC is not-yet-ready-for-primetime.

    When the content is there, you will see HTPC's taking off.
