<strong>HDTV has to kick in and it still hasn't...
</strong><hr></blockquote>
The price difference between HDTV and analog has been dropping at roughly 50% a year so ubiquitous HDTV isn't far off. Also, computer users as a demographic will be quicker to get HDTV than the general population. As for the "cool, can your computer do that" factor I think we are already there with respect to PVR and HDTV.
But the imminent arrival of HDTV really speaks to the insanity of Jobs position. Will we actually be in a situation where our computers merely need to listen (have a tuner) in order to pick up the pre-encoded digital TV signals saturating the airwaves, but they will be purposefully made deaf in this area?
BTW, looked at the xTV thing- interesting. I wonder what Jobs would do if he found out there was so much demand for TV integration that open source took care of it.
<strong>This is Apple's secret weapon. Features listed below are from <a href="http://www.moxi.com/product.htm"; target="_blank">Apple's Website</a> ! New features include
Five Great Products In One
Groundbreaking technology brings together the functionality of more than five advanced products into one sleek package, the CineMac Center. With CineMac, you get:
*\tDigital cable or satellite receiver
Tune 150+ channels of crystal-clear digital audio and video.
*\tDigital Music Jukebox
Store hundreds of your CDs on the Moxi Media Center's hard drive and download your favorite songs from the latest digital music services. Create playlists, find and purchase music, and download songs to your MP3 player to bring your music with you.
*\tPersonal Video Recorder (PVR)
Pause and rewind live TV. Record and save up to 60 hours (or, hundreds of hours with expansion 1394 drives) of your favorite shows and movies from any TV in the house.
*\tDVD Player
Play your favorite CDs and DVDs from the Moxi Media Center's built-in player.
*\tCable/DSL Modem and Internet Gateway
Access the Internet at blazing speeds from any computer in your home and know that the built-in Firewall will protect your computers.
OK. So someone else actually released it. This is exactly what I had hoped Apple would release. They would have done it better.
If you think about it, most TV's function as monitors now anyway. I have the video in coming from my satellite. Audio out goes through my amp. My TV just shows the picture. And with CRTs slowly giving way to Plasmas and HDTV's, who the hell is gonna tell the differnce between TVs and monitors in the future?!?</strong><hr></blockquote>
It appears this only works on cable/dish.
Why can't it record off-air antenna live programs?
[quote]I think this points out very nicely the difference between Microsoft and Apple. Microsoft sees the brain-dead couch potatos as part of their natural market, and have hatched the XBox as a way to suck them in. Apple, on the other hand, wants to cater to the intelligent, creative people - those who want to DO something rather than be passively entertained.<hr></blockquote>
Excuse me while I either puke from the mindless repetition of marketing speak, or die laughing from your obvious lack of critical facility.
How is sitting in front of a computer and ripping mp3's or entering keywords in iPhoto a creative act? To me its not much different than trying to choose a program to watch on television.
Apple doesn't cater to intelligent, creative people, it markets products that in a way that hopes to appeal to said people. How much user creativity is there in Apple's iApps packages--really. iPhoto does everything but scratch your ass, as does iDVD. It is Apple's version of creativity laid over a UI that enables people to "tastefully" cobble together "personal memories." If you haven't seen it before think of Martha Stewart, and other lifestyle companies like the Gap, or Banana Republic, where things are put together for you. This of course doesn't negate anyone from really interesting and transgressive uses, but that isn't apple main goal for iApps. Its tasteful lifestyle goo masquaerading as the creative act [except iMovie of course].
Channel-surfing can be a more creative act.
Apple has the tech to play the TV game--802.11, firewire and a *nix based OS. They just aren't interested.
I'm pretty ignorant about the technology and politics behind the current evolution of TV, but it still seems to me that Apple is simply too small to be a leader in the integration of TV and the PC. If this convergence idea is to become reality, it's going to take cooperation (and competition) between many companies and organizations, of which Microsoft is only one and perhaps not even the most important.
For now, I think Jobs is right to downplay the idea: most of these ideas put forth by Gates et al, while "revolutionary" on their face, are kind of inane and of little practical value, basically the kind of thing you would expect from an industry that grew up watching Star Trek. I think Jobs is playing his cards close to his vest, to see which way the wind is blowing; then, when a useful standard or protocol appears ready to emerge, he can position Apple to take advantage of it with relative ease (since, as has been pointed out, Apple has the technological underpinnings). I think that's probably the best we can hope for--Apple is not going to lead this revolution, but may still end up profiting from it.
Comments
<strong>HDTV has to kick in and it still hasn't...
</strong><hr></blockquote>
The price difference between HDTV and analog has been dropping at roughly 50% a year so ubiquitous HDTV isn't far off. Also, computer users as a demographic will be quicker to get HDTV than the general population. As for the "cool, can your computer do that" factor I think we are already there with respect to PVR and HDTV.
But the imminent arrival of HDTV really speaks to the insanity of Jobs position. Will we actually be in a situation where our computers merely need to listen (have a tuner) in order to pick up the pre-encoded digital TV signals saturating the airwaves, but they will be purposefully made deaf in this area?
BTW, looked at the xTV thing- interesting. I wonder what Jobs would do if he found out there was so much demand for TV integration that open source took care of it.
<strong>This is Apple's secret weapon. Features listed below are from <a href="http://www.moxi.com/product.htm"; target="_blank">Apple's Website</a> ! New features include
Five Great Products In One
Groundbreaking technology brings together the functionality of more than five advanced products into one sleek package, the CineMac Center. With CineMac, you get:
*\tDigital cable or satellite receiver
Tune 150+ channels of crystal-clear digital audio and video.
*\tDigital Music Jukebox
Store hundreds of your CDs on the Moxi Media Center's hard drive and download your favorite songs from the latest digital music services. Create playlists, find and purchase music, and download songs to your MP3 player to bring your music with you.
*\tPersonal Video Recorder (PVR)
Pause and rewind live TV. Record and save up to 60 hours (or, hundreds of hours with expansion 1394 drives) of your favorite shows and movies from any TV in the house.
*\tDVD Player
Play your favorite CDs and DVDs from the Moxi Media Center's built-in player.
*\tCable/DSL Modem and Internet Gateway
Access the Internet at blazing speeds from any computer in your home and know that the built-in Firewall will protect your computers.
OK. So someone else actually released it. This is exactly what I had hoped Apple would release. They would have done it better.
If you think about it, most TV's function as monitors now anyway. I have the video in coming from my satellite. Audio out goes through my amp. My TV just shows the picture. And with CRTs slowly giving way to Plasmas and HDTV's, who the hell is gonna tell the differnce between TVs and monitors in the future?!?</strong><hr></blockquote>
It appears this only works on cable/dish.
Why can't it record off-air antenna live programs?
Excuse me while I either puke from the mindless repetition of marketing speak, or die laughing from your obvious lack of critical facility.
How is sitting in front of a computer and ripping mp3's or entering keywords in iPhoto a creative act? To me its not much different than trying to choose a program to watch on television.
Apple doesn't cater to intelligent, creative people, it markets products that in a way that hopes to appeal to said people. How much user creativity is there in Apple's iApps packages--really. iPhoto does everything but scratch your ass, as does iDVD. It is Apple's version of creativity laid over a UI that enables people to "tastefully" cobble together "personal memories." If you haven't seen it before think of Martha Stewart, and other lifestyle companies like the Gap, or Banana Republic, where things are put together for you. This of course doesn't negate anyone from really interesting and transgressive uses, but that isn't apple main goal for iApps. Its tasteful lifestyle goo masquaerading as the creative act [except iMovie of course].
Channel-surfing can be a more creative act.
Apple has the tech to play the TV game--802.11, firewire and a *nix based OS. They just aren't interested.
[ 01-09-2002: Message edited by: cowerd ]</p>
For now, I think Jobs is right to downplay the idea: most of these ideas put forth by Gates et al, while "revolutionary" on their face, are kind of inane and of little practical value, basically the kind of thing you would expect from an industry that grew up watching Star Trek. I think Jobs is playing his cards close to his vest, to see which way the wind is blowing; then, when a useful standard or protocol appears ready to emerge, he can position Apple to take advantage of it with relative ease (since, as has been pointed out, Apple has the technological underpinnings). I think that's probably the best we can hope for--Apple is not going to lead this revolution, but may still end up profiting from it.