[opendtv] Re: Remote controls -- where's the outrage?
- From: Henry Baker <hbaker1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 06 Oct 2004 08:17:31 -0700
Thanks very much for these details!
However, re $1K cost of an "entertainment" PC, I think that the Chinese
(mainland & Taiwanese) will quickly commoditize this market, and you can
expect prices to be competitive with other CE devices in relatively short
order. The Chinese have figured out that interoperability will beat
proprietary features every time. (Note the rise of the Internet, Ethernet,
Linux, over the dead bodies of corporations like Xerox, Digital Equipment,
SUN, etc.)
If the pathetic spasms of the current CE vendors is any gauge, we should
expect additional bloodshed in the stocks of Sony, Philips, Panasonic, etc.
At 07:31 AM 10/6/2004, GerryK wrote:
>Three items about a "universal remote"
>
>first
>The IEEE-1394 trade association had an interoperability specification
>in early 2000 - and at several consumer electronics conferences they had
>interoperability demos -
>all the products used a IEEE-1394 interface on the back panel,
>and a single, simple remote control that worked through the TV set
>actually sent control and signal routing information to all the
>peripherals -
>the system even worked for multi-room deployments, using the
>fiber optic version of IEEE-1394 for greater distance
>
>however - the IEEE-1304 solutions cost about $100 per product more than the
>non-interoperable products, plus the major Consumer Electronics
>manufacturers
>want to protect their market shares by offering "features" that only work
>with their
>own brand line of equipment
>
>second -
>TV Guide On Screen (the Interactive Program Guide that comes built into some
>new digital TV sets and Personal Video Recorders)
>could be modified to act as an on-screen control panel -
>
>however, each Consumer Electronics manufacturer would want to
>"customize" how it worked, so, once again, only by having all the equipment
>come from the same source would make it work with ease
>
>third
>Microsoft and Intel are well on the way to creating an
>all-in-one Entertainment Personal Computer, that will contain
>- a DVD Player that will also play Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio discs
>- a 200 GB hard disk drive
>- decoders for MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VC-1, WMA, DivX, etc
>- both stereo and surround sound (Dolby AC-3) audio outputs
>- contain IEEE-802.11 a/b/g Ethernet network capabilities
> that will permit the Entertainment PC to interoperate and
> obtain "content" from all the PCs in the house
>- and also use the wireless network to distribute "content" throughout the
>house
>
>plus, the Media Center PC "extenders" and the
>upcoming Portable Media Centers will also contribute to making
>"content" from multimedia personal computers more portable inside
>and outside peoples homes
>
>and all of these features would work from a single IR or RF remote
>
>but I think the Entertainment PC itself will cost over $1,000,
>and it will need to use the broadband connection and in-home wireless
>Ethernet
>connection that you already have in place, which means only people who are
>at the higher end of the broadband PC market are likely to do this
>
>thanks!
>
>Gerry Kaufhold with In-Stat/MDR
>Headquarters: Scottsdale, AZ
>
>voice: USA 520 363-9752
>e-mail: gkaufhold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Doug McDonald" <mcdonald@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2004 5:50 AM
>Subject: [opendtv] Re: Remote controls -- where's the outrage?
>
>> Henry Baker wrote:
>>
>> >These are all good suggestions, but are applicable to only 0.001%
>> >of the viewing audience. Why are these extreme measures necessary?
>> >How come the CE industry can't get its act together?
>>
>> Two reasons:
>>
>> 1) Antitrust ... this is not a killer reason
>>
>> 2) the whole idea of exclusion. The real reason for this situation is that
>> teh different manufacturers don't WANT their products to work together
>> with those of other manufacturers, they want you to buy ONLY THEM
>>
>> Doug McDonald
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