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The Media Server in the Closet
Posted by Ernest Miller on Friday, December 13 @ 07:38:29 EST Consumers
Hollywood should face up to the fact that the only way they will get consumers to buy digital television with broadcast flag DRM is through Congressional mandate. They may get that mandate, but it sure will tick off consumers (who also happen to be voters).

I would be willing to bet that this new device developed in Japan (or something similar) will be selling more than digital televisions with DRM by 2006, when the transition is to take place (New foam/home networks tile 'Play@tv' [Babelfish Translation from original Japanese]). This wonderful device connects to your computer and provides a wireless or ethernet connection to your television. You will be able to watch video stored on your computer's hard drive on a television in another room (a not uncommon arrangement). Additionally, you control what is played via a handy remote control. It isn't clear if you would be able to record from the television to the computer as well, but there is no technical reason I am aware of that would prohibit the addition of such a capability [via Gizmodo].

Combine the above with one of the new computers specially set up for multimedia such as (Yuclid Digital Media Console) and you've got a killer hardware/software app. Computers are great, but you want them in the home office or den for surfing, email, blogging, etc. This is why WebTV was a failure. Televisions are generally set up to be social devices and using a computer is not generally a social activity. On the other hand, computers today have oodles and oodles of excess processor and hard drive capacity. Why pay for an ungradeable box in the living room from a company that wants to charge you to view your photos (TiVo: One Step Forward One Step Back) when you can use your perfectly serviceable computer? [also via Gizmodo]

Computers are converging with television. This is the real digital television revolution (LawMeme Submits Its Thoughts on the Broadcast Flag). The FCC can attempt to prevent this at their peril.

 
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Related Links
· New foam/home networks tile 'Play@tv'
· Gizmodo
· Yuclid Digital Media Console
· TiVo: One Step Forward One Step Back
· Gizmodo
· LawMeme Submits Its Thoughts on the Broadcast Flag
· FCC
· More about Consumers
· News by Ernest Miller


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Re: The Media Server in the Closet (Score: 1, Interesting)
by Anonymous (Name Withheld on Advice of Counsel) on Friday, December 13 @ 08:28:15 EST
"it sure will tick off consumers (who also happen to be voters)."

What the heck are we going to do with all of the old TV sets when digital arrives?
I got cable and had satellite until last year, but I still watch broadcast on a bunch of old clunker TV sets scatterered around the estate (in the garage, in the laundry room, and sometimes on the deck).
Where will we landfill all of my old sets and my neighbors' old sets? The Grand Canyon?
Or should we ship them to third-world nations and aggravate their energy consumption problems?
Befroe analog broadcast dies, citizens will rise up as one and cry "I want my free TV!"


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