Media Server Fever
on 02.21.06, 12:08pm in home theater, media • share on facebook • comments (1)
All of this talk of computers going into the closet and smarter purposed PC’s just is an extension of the "Exploding PC" concept. Here’s some links that I’ve found regarding my post the other day on Media Center Server:
- I Want My Closet Form Factor, Media Server PC: All this is very cool, but I’m sure Steve isn’t the only person who has done this, or dreamt of buying such a machine off the shelf. I wonder what the market would be for such a super computer? It seems to me like the next logical step in the evolution of Digital Home products, and it’s one that is already being used in showcase homes today, as previously mentioned.
- Media Center Server Edition, Naw: First of all, the market isn’t going to grab at “Media Center Server Edition”, under that name. The average consumer doesn’t want a rackmount server, they want a Windows PC. They want something that they know how-to operate and configure.
- A Media Server: This is the thing about MCE that beats Tivo, MythTV, etc. I can’t imagine that the MCE interface is that great, but being able to stick an embedded device next to my TVs instead of a PC has great value to me.
- Do we need a Media Center Server Edition?: So he has now got a Windows Media Center Server (complete with RAID storage). I wonder if there is demand for this to be a product line in its self, a server powering Media Center Extenders and Windows Media Connect devices.
Also check out this Friday’s edition of Ian’s "MediaCenter Show" podcast, where he’ll be talking more about this.
mbg (February 21, 2006 @ 12:22 pm)
I don’t really like Media Center for anything other than a PVR and for watching things like Channel9 videos.
I use a standalone DVD player because it looks better to me.
I have my music library on it, but I much prefer to access my music library using a Squeezebox. The library is indexed in Media Center, but also by Squeezebox’s server software. I don’t like turning on the TV to access music, and it’s very, very dumb to expect a TV to be present everywhere you want to listen to music. I don’t know if I’m in the minority, but to me a TV should stay in its cage. This whole “TV lifestyle” thing where your mirror is a TV, your glasses have a TV on them, the fridge has a TV, and your parrot projects a TV onto the wall from his false left eye isn’t something I’ll ever buy into.
So, all-in-one doesn’t work for me… and, a server is a good idea. You can then have your choice of “heads”, terminals, etc.. for accessing the content around the house. After seeing Squeezebox, I’m disappointed in what Microsoft has done so far. Media Center is very claustrophobic by comparison (and I’m generally a Microsoft supporter).