“Despite Bill Gates’ announcement of new partnerships with LG, Discovery Channel and many others, his dream, of a Media Center where all media can be controlled with one remote and shared among all possible devices, will come true but not for Microsoft,” Frank Ottink writes for YEALD. “So far the only company who has control over most aspects and has proven that it can pull together the parties is of course Apple with the iPod/iTunes combination.”
Ottink writes, “I’m not sure, but like many others, I suspect the rumored below $500 Q88 or ‘headless’ iMac, will be the first step of Apple to create a seamless media experience. The fact that it is headless makes it very suitable to become a TiVo like Personal Video Recorder sitting under or on top of a TV. Add some nifty Media Center software, connectivity to the iPod, the house network, and the internet, preferably wireless, and you have the perfect Media Center solution without having to buy a new high-end Media Center PC. “
“Just connect it to your existing PC or Mac and you have the best of both worlds a dedicated workstation anywhere in the house connected to a dedicated media center in the family living room sharing whatever media they have stored on them without wires. To make it all worthwhile for Apple, assure that with the remote control, songs and videos can be bought, downloaded and/or streamed. The users then have access to all the media they want,” Ottink writes. “If Apple would succeed in achieving this it certainly will attract a lot of first time Mac buyers and can take a large byte out of the Media Center market away from Microsoft, just as it did with the iPod and iTunes in the portable audio and on-line music market. This will eat into Microsoft’s and the related hardware vendors’ market share as the Media Center is one of the few growth drivers left in the PC business. On top of that it will convert more buyers completely to the Mac platform further reducing Microsoft’s overall market share.”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Apple vs. Microsoft rivalry heats up again – January 10, 2005
Wow, what weird universe are we in? People actually speaking of Microsoft’s share of the world decreasing? It is fantastic that people are speaking this way – giving Apple mainstream ‘credibility’.
Whoa. Imagine a Windows-based entertainment center. Honey, how about a nice evening curled up on the couch in front of the blue screen of death.
Yeah, but the “blue screen of death” does not happen much anymore
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” /> hahaha…
lol, Microsoft can’t even make a reliabe OS, so why should we trust them with our Digital Lifestyles? I can’t imagine anything worse than sitting with my wife in front of a Micro$oft ‘Digital Media Center (sic)’, waiting for my subscription to be authenticated, then a reboot cause my authentication failed, then a virus stops me from playing my music, then a piece of spyware steals my subscription info, so I call Micro$oft support and they say it’ll take 3 days to process a new account. By the time my new account arrives and I put Barry White on, my Wife has run off with Steve Jobs cause he CAN deliver on time.
But wait, in other news Micro$oft are to sell anti-virus software for their ‘Digital Media Center’ so all is well. hahahaha whatever Bill, I’m not a sucker.
MS has never and will never even enter my living room, not even on my phone or PDA
Magic word “FACE”
“I love it when a plan comes together”
I can see a great Macworld coming
I don’t think Apple is going to jump into the home media center battle just yet, but I agree with the author that Apple is the best company to do it given their diverse resources and engineering abilities.
I do expect Apple to subtly bring all of the pieces into place by road testing them in various applications and functions in OS X, then Apple can produce a device that gathers all of these functions in one, very easy to use, device. It is not hard to see this happening already within your Mac.
Here’s to tomorrow. The stage is set, the curtain rises…
—
http://homepage.mac.com/johnhood/
Microsoft has 20 million XBOX’s in the living room, just sold 6.3 Million copies of Halo 2, has Windows Media Video in both new DVD formats, Has Media Centre Editon PC’s, Media Centre Extender, has Microsoft Pocket PC smoking Palm, and Microsft Smart phone coming up rapidly…..
CRAPPLE? What Crapple?
I suspect that the headless iMac will turn-out to be a chameleon type product – one capable of being a stand-alone computer (plus monitor) – or a device capable of plugging into your audio and television systems in the living-room. Airport and Bluetooth enabled, you can surf the internet, watch video’s or listen to internet radio, with simultaneous connection to your existing Macintosh/Windows computer located elsewhere in your home.
Whoa. Imagine a Windows-based entertainment center. Honey, how about a nice evening curled up on the couch in front of the blue screen of death.
The same scary movie over and over and over again. Honey, what are we going to watch tonight? The Return of the Blue Screen of Death, YAS (Yet Another Sequel).
…and when the XBox 2 comes out it will be using a G5 chip. Neat-o Smithy. The problem Microsoft has is that they see the consumers as sheep with wallets. So far, it has worked out quite well for them. The tides are turning, though, and the sheep are beginning to wake up. The die hard sheep that are so used to the MS FEED are getting restless and scared. That’s you Smithy. Change is difficult for people who invest their ego in companies like MS.
These forums are great apart from when trolls enter…
To ‘Smithy’
All those products you mention are crap. They do not integrate with each other, or at least they don’t integrate seamlessly. Too many drivers, patches etc. for my liking.
As for Microsoft Smart Phones – would you trust your social life with Micro$oft? If you do, then good luck to you…
Windows Media Video in both new DVD formats? Can you see what I see?
Well, Steven Birch, I heard that the “blue screen of death” happened to Bill Gates on stage at the CES just last week. So I guess it still makes it’s presence known.
I would love to see Apple get into the Home Media Center arena. We all know it is coming. Like the writer said, others will probably fumble around at it (like they did with digital music) while Apple engineers take their time and come up with the solution to cut the gordian knot. AND they will make seem easy and obvious in hindsight. If anybody can do this and do it right, Apple can.
Smithy…
The poblem with you is that ‘you can’t see the wood for the trees!’
If I were you I would think about this statement… very hard.
to “SOALR FLARE”
-You’re a moron
“and when the XBox 2 comes out it will be using a G5 chip. Neat-o Smithy”
Umm..but XBOX uses Intel and it still smokes!
XBOX has sold up to THREE times the # of Ipods sold.
We haven’t even talked about the games.
Halo 2 alone has sold more than Ipod.
CRAPPLE doesn’t even begin to compete.
Its over guys.
Good bye!
Microsoft has 20 million XBOX’s in the living room,
Man does that number ever inflate. Bill Gates just said in an interview the other day that Microsoft has only shipped 15 million Xbox units. Of course that number is miniscule to the almost 100 million PS2s out there in everyone’s livingroom.
When the PS3 comes along, people will be like “Xbox what”?
just sold 6.3 Million copies of Halo 2
As for Halo 2, everyone I have spoken to (including my little brother, mr. gamer freak) say the game sucks.
, has Windows Media Video in both new DVD formats
Let us give MS a cookie, this doesn’t mean much since it’s the only closed standard in the DVD arena since H264 will be the dominating open standard.
Has Media Centre Editon PC’s, Media Centre Extender,
Another snoozer; Commodore was selling CDTVs 14 years ago…
http://net.supereva.it/retroware/amigaCDTV.htm?p
do a Google for more info
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”tongue laugh” style=”border:0;” />
http://net.supereva.it/retroware/amigaCDTV.htm?p
Way more people use Palms and the word Palm is to PDAs, like Hoover is to Vacuums.
and Microsft Smart phone coming up rapidly…..
Nokia will be hard to beat in this space, Motorola can tell you from their own experience.
“All those products you mention are crap”
XBOX is the best game console on the planet.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
You want crap, look at CRAPPLE.
XBOX is the best game console on the planet.
The PS2 is the best game console on the planet, followed by the NGC!
“As for Halo 2, everyone I have spoken to (including my little brother, mr. gamer freak) say the game sucks”
Everyone I spoke to, and every review I have seen from the best gamees mags, says Halo 2 ROCKS big time, and its got the sales figures to prove it.
What is your brother? A moron?
Must extend in the family.
“The PS2 is the best game console on the planet, followed by the NGC”
In your dreams perhaps.
In real life nothing touches the XBOX
Whoa! Smithy has another Apple Death Knell. Somebody run over to The Mac Observer and post it!
Do PC boards have this much fun??
Everyone I spoke to, and every review I have seen from the best gamees mags, says Halo 2 ROCKS big time, and its got the sales figures to prove it.
What is your brother? A moron?
Must extend in the family.
Reviews bought and paid for by Microsoft no doubt, and as for my brother, he’d skool you in console gaming.
The only idiot in this forum is you by the looks of your comments!
Media Centre computers emerge as living room contenders
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/TechNews/TechAtHome/2005/01/07/823939.html
“Reviews bought and paid for by Microsoft no doubt, and as for my brother, he’d skool you in console gaming.”
You can do better than that surely.
As for your brother, he is obviously an idiot.
Runs in te family I guess.