> The media center idea is a great idea, but is not ready for today. I am > trying to design a system that allows faculty to record any media from > cable, satellite, web cast, and OTA to a SAN and play it back at any > classroom in the building (and on campus, eventually). The system will > cost a small fortune, require the best networks and some software > development. So the technology is not there today for the average media > user. The PC can get close, but not without a large price tag and some > technical expertise. But it is definitely something to look for on the > horizon. > > So for now, I guess we are stuck with separate tuners, media storage, > removable media players, etc., to feed one display! The media center idea is not ready for today because it is a half-baked niche. What, I can't receive anything but free to air on it and it costs me > $1000 for a system that can record one channel? Pointless! You compare a media center to a multi-point contribution recording and archiving *system*? What pray tell is the relevance of that, besides the fact that they both deal with media? A media center device is not a professional receiver, it is a consumer OS bundled with a tuner card. The technology is there to put in place a system like you want, on the cheap, in a PC. You just have to pony up the cash for the components and some minimal software development for a UI is all. Cheers Kon ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.