Floppyhead – Digital Media and Streaming

The way we watch TV is going to change dramatically over the next 5 years, with Microsoft and Apple vying for real estate in your living room. Apple has not done a good job to date leveraging their lead with the iPod and the company is finding itself trailing behind Microsoft, which has been really innovative with their media center products. Apple has yet to gain a beachhead in the living room, with either hardware or software.

1. Mac Mini as a home theater computer. Many have touted the Mini as Apple’s answer to a home theater pc. While the design of the Mini is attractive, it is missing several key features that make it useless as a media server/ front-end. No digital audio “outs” (spdif) or tuner card kills it. That means you cannot hook it up to a receiver for surround sound and you are reliant on streaming video to it. You cannot possibly fit those items into the Mac mini and keep its design. The Mac Mini is missing a sound card like the HDA Mystique. Apple has some catching up to do with the plethora of HTPC cases on the market for the PC.
2. Lack of cable card support. Microsoft’s next operating system will incorporate cable card support, allowing for the recording of HDTV on your computer through your cable provider. Apple is nowhere in sight with this feature.
3. iTV lack of features. If the feature set of the iTV remains as announced, it is DOA for non-Mac users. $300 is way too expensive for an item that is already late to the party.
4. Front Row versus Vista. The Vista media center interface is light years ahead of Front Row. The RC1 of Vista showed a lot of promise. Can Leopard make up the ground?
5. Lack of iPod integration with home stereos. Apple has yet to deliver a home audio solution. To me, Apple should be trying to make a system like the Sonos ZP 80 instead of wasting their time with iTV. Here is where the Mac mini could shine. I do not think it is a coincidence that Microsoft’s Zune was released in time for the arrival of Vista.
6. iTunes video downloading. Who wants to download videos at resolutions less than DVD quality to watch on their new HDTV? To be fair, this most likely was not Apple’s fault. The studios probably forced their hand.
7. Microsoft TV IPTV Edition. Microsoft appears to be sticking their finger into everything. Microsoft TV IPTV Edition. is a software platform developed specifically to deliver broadcast-quality video and integrated TV services over broadband networks. IPTV, like that provided by Verizon, could be an interesting development and Microsoft has positioned themselves well with Broadband providers.