April 3, 2008, 5:45 PM by dhatt1 to chairmansteve
What exactly are you suggesting this device should be? A video games system? A video deilivery service? Or a complete combination of all the different forms of media delivery?

The main problem with such a device would be the assurance of being able to deliver all the different types of media, for example, is the main emphasis on gaming, where you have an online delivery system, which will push video to a second position? Or, is it mainly for video, leaving gaming second?

The point I'm trying to make is is thats its very unlikely a company could enfuse all these different things into one box and make it meaningful, especially concerning Video, since only a handful of companies provide a wide amount of stuff (apple, Netflix or whatever that is (we don't get that in the UK)). And on top of that there have to be games, otherwise the bundled pad just seems like a novelty.

I don't know about the US, but in UK, Sky and Virgin Media provide games over their Satalite/cable services. Also, Sky sell a games pad. They are obviously companies that succeed through their television service rather than the casual gaming service, since rarely are they mentioned ever bringing in much revenue, or are hardely advertised (their just side service to the main one).

Basically, I'd doubt the machine could be a capable games console AND a video service too. It would be nice though. The idea of a removable DVD drive is good; you could just attach your own hardrive to a special provided bay which slots into the front of the unit flush. And the DVD ca be connected externally via USB.

Shit its starting to sound like a good idea! Its just stuff like that, which provides many services, tend to be too expensive to really hit a mass market crowd. You could get away with halving the hardrive, and emphasizing the extra bay. If its games, their not going to take up to much space, not enough to fill 40gb. Films should be streamed online, and can be downloaded. Wasn't there a Linux media center, similar to XP media center released a couple of years ago at a cost? Something like that would be good for the interface.

April 4, 2008, 2:36 AM by chairmansteve to dhatt1
The device would be mainly for video (online, cable, and maybe disc) with gaming as a secondary function. Hardcore gamers will still have something like Xbox 360 for big budget games.

Removable DVD? By "remove" the DVD player, I meant no DVD player at all. A 2nd model could have it, along with a larger HDD.

Hard drive bay? Too complicated for the average user. Have a basic model and maybe a larger model, like Apple TV.

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only a handful of companies provide a wide amount of stuff

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Services would not come from just one single company. It would be an open platform like a PC. For example, in the U.S. you could have Netflix for online video, Comcast for cable TV, Rhapsody for music, and some other service for games. Do any Linux compatible games services exist today? Maybe GameTap will make a Linux client with support for a subset of its full Windows library.

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many services, tend to be too expensive

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These are software-based features using the Intel Atom system on a chip. The box would be under $300.

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halving the hardrive

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Would that drop it by $1? 40GB HDD will cost about the same as 80GB. Hard drive manufacturers may not even make 40GB 2.5-inch drives next year.

The space would be for games, music, movies (rented and purchased), photos, and maybe DVR.