Intel on the "Server in the Closet"

Well, just after I posted the last article on "Technology Advances for 'Server in the Closet'," I came across a recent speech by an Intel honcho on the subject. Louis Burns is Vice President, General Manager, Desktop Platforms Group for Intel and he goes into some depth about where Intel thinks these things are going (Intel Developer Forum, Spring 2004 - Louis Burns Keynote).

Surprisingly, the speech is really quite good at describing the potential for such devices and Burns seems to almost get it. I highly recommend reading the full article.

The basic concept is straightforward: "It's simply giving users what they want, any content on any device, anywhere in their home. Simple to say, difficult to do, but exactly what they're asking us for." Unfortunately, implementation is not straightforward, especially when you try to accomplish two opposed things at the same time, such as implementing DRM and making things easy and transparent to connect to each other. For example, Intel is sucking up to the MPAA:

We talked earlier, it really has to deliver on what we call premium movie content. Doing your own personal pictures or videos is cool, but we need premium movie content.

So with that in mind, we've been working very closely with Movielink. Movielink is one of the first movers, the fast movers on delivering premium movie content through the IP network.

Yeah, integrated DRM, that is what consumers want. That will make it easy to get content on any device, anywhere.

The other problem is that Burns shorts the potential for content creation and sharing outside the home. Near the end of the speech he devotes two whole paragraphs to the idea of consumers creating content. The example he uses, organizing and manipulating your digital photos, is pretty lame given the incredible possibilities. There is also little talk about how one would then share their creations in an effective, efficient way.

Still, this is an important vision statement from Intel.

via PVR Blog