4 ms·

I am all the sudden reminded of Windows Media Center. Microsoft sure seems to have a lot of trouble getting traction in some markets.

kenjackson 16y ago
Media Center took the approach of replacing the DVR, while Google is supplementing it. While I love the Media Center DVR, its web browsing sucks (there's no TV-focused browser). If Media Center fixed that problem, and fixed the issue with extenders being able to play all content (including Flash) then it would be a compelling device. Now it's hard for me to justify not using my Comcast DVR. Sure not as good, but I get tons of OnDemand content, and its a small quiet device with no upfront cost.
hello_moto 16y ago
I'm not quite familiar with WMC story/ecosystem even though I am using it with W7 these days. One thing I noticed is that the missing good/solid hardware from big companies (i.e. Sony). Right now I'm using W7 with my computer and its screen, not a separate device that I can hook-up to my TV. AppleTV sort of did that half-ass (pardon me). AFAIK AppleTV cannot work with my Cable provider: it only streams content from the internet.
swilliams 16y ago
Microsoft just keeps missing the mark with Media Center (MCE). It's been around since 2002-2003, but has never gained any significant traction. It's actually a pretty nice product. The UI works well and is pretty simple to use; if someone can use a Tivo, they can figure out MCE's interface. The problem has always been the hardware and the marketing. When it first came out, you needed a dedicated PC to run it (unless you wanted to watch it on your monitor, thereby missing the point of the whole application), which was expensive (if you wanted it quiet) and painful for the lay-person to set up, especially considering Wifi wasn't quite up to the task (802.11b was what was primarily out there). To get around this, MS had a good idea with the Extenders, but again, the execution was horribly flawed. You still likely needed a spare PC and a fast network connection to stream data to the Extender. Additionally, the companies that made extenders tended to be Linksys and D-Link... not exactly companies busrting with consumer friendly/simple UIs. Plus they were another $200-300 addition. Plus, Extenders were never marketed well either because the manufacturers didn't have the money, or they just didn't care. Fortunately, MS did also build Extender functionality into the Xbox. But again, it is still some separate, hard to find mode on the Xbox. You have to pair it to a PC like you would a bluetooth device, and can be confusing for a non-techie. And once you have that done, now your Xbox has two different ways of playing music/video: One with the MCE mode and UI, and one with the native Xbox dashboard UI. Plus the Extender has to "connect" to your PC every time you want to use it. Perhaps the most damning experience I've had with it came when I showed it to a friend of mine. He's about as enthusiastic about technology as you can get, but didn't know about MCE. Back in 2007ish, after looking at it for 5 minutes he said: "This looks awesome, why haven't I ever seen this before? Good job Microsoft." Hindsight is 20/20, but they really should have made it 100% native on the Xbox, or released a similar device that didn't require a PC sync.
zmmmmm 16y ago
I think if Microsoft had made a silent low power box with MCE on it and marketed it as a DVR they could have had this whole market. I still don't understand why I can't walk into retailers and see such things on the shelf. I don't understand why it isn't built into the standard xbox. They have a device - it's in the living room already and it's even already connected to the TV. But it doesn't run their DVR software. There's something very inexplicable about it all.

kenjackson 16y ago

Media Center took the approach of replacing the DVR, while Google is supplementing it. While I love the Media Center DVR, its web browsing sucks (there's no TV-focused browser). If Media Center fixed that problem, and fixed the issue with extenders being able to play all content (including Flash) then it would be a compelling device. Now it's hard for me to justify not using my Comcast DVR. Sure not as good, but I get tons of OnDemand content, and its a small quiet device with no upfront cost.

hello_moto 16y ago

I'm not quite familiar with WMC story/ecosystem even though I am using it with W7 these days. One thing I noticed is that the missing good/solid hardware from big companies (i.e. Sony). Right now I'm using W7 with my computer and its screen, not a separate device that I can hook-up to my TV. AppleTV sort of did that half-ass (pardon me). AFAIK AppleTV cannot work with my Cable provider: it only streams content from the internet.

swilliams 16y ago

Microsoft just keeps missing the mark with Media Center (MCE). It's been around since 2002-2003, but has never gained any significant traction. It's actually a pretty nice product. The UI works well and is pretty simple to use; if someone can use a Tivo, they can figure out MCE's interface. The problem has always been the hardware and the marketing. When it first came out, you needed a dedicated PC to run it (unless you wanted to watch it on your monitor, thereby missing the point of the whole application), which was expensive (if you wanted it quiet) and painful for the lay-person to set up, especially considering Wifi wasn't quite up to the task (802.11b was what was primarily out there). To get around this, MS had a good idea with the Extenders, but again, the execution was horribly flawed. You still likely needed a spare PC and a fast network connection to stream data to the Extender. Additionally, the companies that made extenders tended to be Linksys and D-Link... not exactly companies busrting with consumer friendly/simple UIs. Plus they were another $200-300 addition. Plus, Extenders were never marketed well either because the manufacturers didn't have the money, or they just didn't care. Fortunately, MS did also build Extender functionality into the Xbox. But again, it is still some separate, hard to find mode on the Xbox. You have to pair it to a PC like you would a bluetooth device, and can be confusing for a non-techie. And once you have that done, now your Xbox has two different ways of playing music/video: One with the MCE mode and UI, and one with the native Xbox dashboard UI. Plus the Extender has to "connect" to your PC every time you want to use it. Perhaps the most damning experience I've had with it came when I showed it to a friend of mine. He's about as enthusiastic about technology as you can get, but didn't know about MCE. Back in 2007ish, after looking at it for 5 minutes he said: "This looks awesome, why haven't I ever seen this before? Good job Microsoft." Hindsight is 20/20, but they really should have made it 100% native on the Xbox, or released a similar device that didn't require a PC sync.

zmmmmm 16y ago

I think if Microsoft had made a silent low power box with MCE on it and marketed it as a DVR they could have had this whole market. I still don't understand why I can't walk into retailers and see such things on the shelf. I don't understand why it isn't built into the standard xbox. They have a device - it's in the living room already and it's even already connected to the TV. But it doesn't run their DVR software. There's something very inexplicable about it all.