Text 16474, 132 rader
Skriven 2007-02-24 10:41:44 av mike (1:379/45)
  Kommentar till text 16471 av Rich Gauszka (1:379/45)
Ärende: Re: Windows XP Media Center Edition vs Apple TV
=======================================================
From: mike <mike@barkto.com>


I agree.  I cannot fathom why Apple is restricting such an interesting device
as they are.

 /m


On Sat, 24 Feb 2007 10:10:57 -0500, "Rich Gauszka"
<gauszka@dontspamhotmail.com> wrote:

>The Apple TV limited number of codecs really sucks ( no DivX). On the other
>hand my Buffalo LinkTheater ( Geo pointed out the product ) plays DVDs and
>also plays DivX files directly from  my Buffalo Terastation NAS without the
>need for a Microsoft product perusing my data.
>
>
>
>"mike" <mike@barkto.com> wrote in message
>news:rsj0u2d806dtsrosn6bpdggfak5krmms2b@4ax.com...
>>
>> http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/841EDBB5-1245-42AD-A733-B9B2
9957347B.html
>>
>>
>> [Lots of good pics and links in the original article]
>>
>>
>>
>> ===
>> Apple critics tried hard to pretend that this year's Macworld was a huge
>> disappointment because no new Macs or iPods were trotted out on stage.
>> Of course, these same critics have also long lambasted Apple for not
>> offering a "true video" iPod, nor a handheld mobile, nor a Media Center
>> Mac, nor other copies of Microsoft strategies.
>>
>> What they failed to catch at Macworld was that Apple has leapfrogged
>> Microsoft's consumer electronics efforts with just three simple product
>> introductions:
>>
>> .the iPhone makes an absolute joke out of both Windows Mobile phones and
>> Windows Media players
>> .the new AirPort Extreme offers an obliterating alternative to Windows
>> Home Server at a fraction of the cost
>> .the new Apple TV slingshots a rock right into the forehead of
>> Microsoft's Media Center PC
>>
>> Apple recently commented that it would not be immediately releasing any
>> more new product categories, so it's time to sit back and watch the
>> fireworks.
>>
>> Yesterday's Windows Home Server vs AirPort Extreme pitted Microsoft's
>> announced plans for a home server--due in the second half of
>> year--against Apple's currently shipping AirPort Extreme.
>>
>> In contrast to Microsoft's home server plans first officially unveiled
>> in January, Microsoft's Media Center PC was first introduced back in
>> 2002, and its origins date back even further.
>>
>> Introducing Windows XP Media Center Edition
>> At CES 2002, the project was known under the code name Freestyle; it was
>> later delivered as Windows XP Media Center Edition. Like the new Windows
>> Home Server, it is only available bundled with a new PC from select
>> OEMs.
>>
>> While sold as an "edition" of Windows, it is essentially just a standard
>> Windows XP that includes Media Center, an application designed
>> specifically for use on TV screens, using large fonts and simpler
>> navigation that can be controlled via a remote control rather than a
>> mouse and keyboard. The Media Center app handles:
>>
>> .presentation of user photos, music, and video stored locally on the
>> Media Center PC or on a network drive
>> .viewing TV from antenna, cable, or satellite, using one or more
>> hardware TV tuners
>> .acting as a Tivo-like DVR to record TV to a hard drive, burn to DVD, or
>> copy to a portable player
>> .streaming TV or recorded video to an Xbox 360 or other Media Center
>> Extender to watch on a different TV
>>
>> A Swing and a Miss
>> Despite valiant efforts to improve upon the product with annual updates,
>> Windows Media Center PCs aren't flying off the shelves. It's easy to
>> guess why: they offer little more than other DVRs, but cost a lot more.
>>
>> The basic problem is that when Microsoft visualizes a solution to a
>> problem, it's always a PC running Windows.
>>
>> That's often a bad assumption, because PCs running Windows are not all
>> that great at being general purpose computers. Pitting them against
>> custom designed solutions is like throwing a stray mutt in a cage match
>> against a Presa Canario and a pit bull: hello, gruesome third place!
>>
>> What is really interesting about Microsoft's Media Center lead balloon
>> is not its failure over the last five years, but rather the five years
>> of development that proceeded it: a product called WebTV.
>>
>> The Fall of WebTV: Nothing Learned
>> One might think Microsoft would have learned something after buying up
>> WebTV Networks in 1997 and destroying the company and its product. One
>> would be wrong.
>>
>> The WebTV startup was founded just two years earlier in 1995, and was
>> made up largely of employees from Apple and its General Magic spin off.
>> The concept was to deliver a sophisticated set top box with Internet web
>> browsing in the form of a low cost Network Computer that could download
>> software directly from WebTV servers.
>>
>> The device itself was originally a diskless box with 2 MB of RAM, a
>> 64-bit RISC processor, a TV tuner, a modem to download programming
>> schedules, video support for adapting computer graphics for display on a
>> standard TV, and simplified navigation to allow users to browse the web
>> without needing a mouse.
>>
>> Just months after assuring WebTV employees the company would never to
>> sell out to Microsoft, founder Steve Perlman announced to employees that
>> he had, along with investors, sold out to Microsoft.
>>
>> Many of its 250 employees protested, and Microsoft-hater Sun challenged
>> the deal but it went though anyway; Microsoft took over the project with
>> the proviso that at least 80% of the company's engineers stay on board.
>>
>> Under Microsoft, WebTV continued as a subsidized box sold under a
>> subscription plan. Signing up long term users ended up being nearly
>> impossible, and the churn of short term subscribers meant the company
>> was losing money handing out free hardware and never recouping enough
>> subscription fees to keep it going.
>>

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