There is an interesting article in the Java Developer's Journal on what the killer app for JXTA might be ("Make Every PC a Server" - Is That JXTA's Killer App?). I'm not interested in the specific technology so much (JXTA is pretty cool, though) as I am interested in the proposed killer app - every PC a server. One of the problems with the current architecture of the internet, I believe, is that it relies too much on the client/server distinction. In our collaborative, creative future, we are interested in both publishing and consuming. It only makes sense that our home PCs will not only fetch content and resources but serve the same, some of which might not even be ours, but will be authorized for distribution. The server in the closet is not simply about sharing resources within the home network, but outside of it as well.
What this means simply is that, unlike client/server, JXTA is client/server and server/client or even server-to-server or client-to-client. The information, storage, processing, and communications can start at either end. In the world of applications this also means that I don't have to work in a world of centralized resources where there are multiple issues. The worst problem of course is just the impedance mismatch between the world of application and the world of Web applications.
via Unmediated
According to a Reuters wirestory that was widely published, including on C|Net News, Sony will be incorporating its new "Cell" processor in both the next generation PlayStation and what they call a "network television" (Sony says 'Cell'-based TV ready by 2006).
The article lacks any detail about what, exactly, a "network television" is, but the image the words invoke is fascinating. I would imagine that one could rather easily broadcatch with a network television, for one.
A number of gadget websites have noted what sounds like nifty new technology, an external hard drive especially designed for Digital Video Recorders (DVRs). The device, from hard drive manufacturer Maxtor, connects to an existing DVR to provide up to an additional 160 hours of recording capability. Read the press release: Maxtor Expands QuickView Outside the Box.
What the press release doesn't tell you:
The first devices will be available in the summer of 2004 and have an eSATA interface. Maxtor is exploring USB 2.0 and FireWire/1394 connections. Good enough.
However, the product will not be available in retail initially, but rather via your cable/satellite provider. In other words, you won't own it. Actually, ownership is probably not a good idea because the device will not be portable and will be designed to connect to a single DVR. Moving or switching providers will be fun.
Furthermore, according to Maxtor's press contact:
Due to content protection/privacy, the Expander will not communicate/share files with the PC.
Content privacy? Not sure what that is. Regardless, why are so many new consumer devices being designed deliberately crippled? Why is the United States sacrificing so much potential innovation? Perhaps, Mary Hodder is right and it is time for "Silicon Valley Lamented".
via Designtechnica
Not all technological advancements that increase the ability of the average person to produce professional-quality video come in the form of software or silicon. Sometimes they come in the form of $14 worth of galvanized pipe, washers, nuts and a barbell weight.
Multimedia artist Johnny Chung Lee has developed the poor man's steadicam. What is a steadicam? According to the Steadicam FAQ, it "is a camera stabilization device that, in the hands of a skilled operator, combines the image steadiness of a dolly with the freedom of movement of a hand-held shot." Normally, the cheapest 3rd-party steadicams go for $500 and up. Lee's version costs about $14 in parts ($14 Steadicam). It might not have all the bells and whistles, but seems to do a pretty darn good job, considering the price.
Sometimes it is nice to note that not all cool hacks are digital.
via mehack
USA Today reports on a rather bizarre market niche: companies that are charging people to display artwork on their HDTV sets (Start-ups turn flat-panel TVs into works of art):
An expensive new digital television is big, beautiful, flat and can hang on the wall. Some might even consider the set a piece of art.
So why not display Picasso, Renoir, Monet and other masters on the screen itself?
Three companies have recently formed to help consumers do just that.
The article notes that HDTV sets are rather expensive, from $500 for the smallest models to over $17,000 for nerdvana sets. On top of this initial expense, the three companies discussed in the article expect consumers to pay a nice additional chunk of change to display licensed artwork on the sets.
Techdirt wonders if people can't come up with simpler, cheaper (presumably free) solutions (That Flat Screen TV Needs A Screensaver).
I wonder if there isn't a solution where companies pay me to have an HDTV. Why couldn't advertisers pay people to play commercials on their HDTV sets and subsidize the cost of the plasma set in return? Instead of a Matisse, why not a McDonald's?
Educated Guesswork recounts some of the problems with the iTrip FM transmitter for the iPod, which allows you to listen to your iPod through your car radio (iPod and iTrip annoyances). I have frequently had similar problems with MP3 players when trying to use them in a car.
What I would like is a nice cradle I can put my MP3 player when I'm in the car. The cradle would, of course, connect directly to my car stereo. Is that too much to ask for?
APEX Digital, makers of famously inexpensive DVD players, is launching its first networked DVD player (APEX AD-8000N Connected DVD Player). The new device will not only play DVDs, but will be able to play files stored on a local computer, such as those movies you downloaded (legitimately, of course). APEX devices have also been famously hackable (Apex/Hiteker DVD Hacking Pages). How hard will it be and how long will it take for hackers to figure out a way to backup your DVDs on computer through the new APEX AD-8000N?
via engadget
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
I've always thought that one of the forms that convergence will ultimately take is the "server in the closet," a device that stores media for access/display throughout the home as well as handling some, but not all computing tasks (Longhorn and the Server in the Closet). Although such technology is available today, simple consumer-oriented versions are several years off, at least. Still, I like to keep an eye on this stuff. C|Net News has a couple of articles about enterprise technology advances in this area. Though the technology is aimed for the enterprise, I imagine it running my own home network.
In "Faster Fujitsu drive plays catch-up" we see still yet more advances for serious storage/performance hard drives:
The 300GB hard-disk drive will let customers build storage systems with "significant enterprise storage capacity with a focus on cost-effective performance," Joel Hagberg, vice president for marketing at Fujitsu Computer Products of America, said in a statement.
I think, mom and dad can watch stored versions of Law and Order, while the kids stream South Park and the latest music.
There are also a couple of interesting articles on blade servers (Blade PC company links up with IBM and HP to put blade servers on a diet). The first article discusses blade PC technology, where the display, keyboard and network connection are the only thing the user needs ... the PC is stored in the closet. The second article talks about storing more blade servers in less space. For many consumers, space is certainly a consideration.
This stuff is in no way ready for the consumer. But I can dream, can't I?
MIT's Technology Review (reg. req.) reports on a new e-book reader that uses digital ink from E Ink (Dazzling Display):
E-book readers—handhelds that display the contents of book files downloaded from the Internet—just got a whole lot more readable. Philips Electronics and Cambridge, MA-based E Ink have developed a prototype electronic display that looks like paper and ink, not a dim, fuzzy screen. The device uses E Ink’s tiny fluid-filled balls containing oppositely charged black and white particles, which are layered in a thin film on a sheet of plastic or glass. Connecting this film to electronics allows the reader to display text and graphics by controlling the voltage across each ball, determining whether it appears black or white. The result: higher contrast than newspapers and better resolution than laptop screens. The 15-centimeter-diagonal display is about half the weight and thickness of comparable liquid-crystal readers. It has been in the works for a few years, but this is the first version that is ready for commercial production. Look for the new readers to hit shelves later this year.
E Ink has been one of those promising technologies that has been just around the corner for the past decade or so. Its display quality is superior to LCDs, it is lighter, can be applied to a variety of surfaces, its power requirements are lower and it can retain an image even with no power supplied. As Teleread says, E Ink is "tantalizingly close to paper."
I'll wait until I play with one myself, but this does seem to be a major step forward. If E Ink acheives its potential it would likely lead to a major change in how humans relate to text. Not to mention all the interesting e-book filesharing discussions that will inevitably follow.
via engadget
Ed Felten writes about the Freedom to Tinker, "the right of technologists and citizens to tinker with technological devices." Anyone who has ever pulled something apart and tried, successfully or not, to put it back together understands the freedom Felten is talking about. While Felten focuses mainly on the legal and policy issues, there is now a blog (not associated with Felten) dedicated to practical examples of the "Freedom to Tinker," though Felten might not like the name too much.
mehack describes itself thus:
extend, personalise, break, poke, peek, learn. hacking hacking hacking. ever had that desire to pop open your tivo, your xbox, cell phone, or your car? ever wanted to know what the hardware and software hackers are up to? this is what mehack is all about.
we all know the frustration in discovering that there isn't something out there that does exactly what you want it to do. we've all fantasized about doing it ourselves, or taking something off the shelf and modding it. we're going to be tracking people, projects that are doing both -- we're interested in those that take the "hell with it, i'll just build it" attitude, and we're interested in those that buy those things off the shelf and pop them open to coerce them into doing what they want. and we're interested in the tools they use too.
our agenda is simple -- we want to learn from others. we're not interested in doing anything destructive. and we're not interested in piracy. we just want things that we can hack on. and most of all, we want to make it simple for people like you to start building.
There are already some good posts on the hecklebot, audiotron api, and playing with linksys access points upping the firmware.
Add it to your RSS feed when adding the new gadget blog, engadget.
via PVR Blog
A couple of weeks ago, I posted on an innovative new RSS format for Personal Media Recorders, such as the TiVo (RSS for TV, Music). Imagine an RSS feed that would program your TiVo. Now, Andrew Grumet, the developer of this great idea, has implemented a web-based version: Program My TiVo!.
This is great. I would love to have an easy means by which my friends and family could set up something to be recorded for me. My brother and I are always telling each other to record certain programs via TiVo. This would save all the forgetting and stuff.
via PVRBlog
Andrew Grumet is developing a very interesting TiVo hack (RSSTV: Syndication for your PVR). Basically the idea is to share PVR program recording information via RSS. So, when you subscribed to an RSSTV feed, your PVR would record the shows in the feed. Friends and bloggers could easily suggest shows to each other and even create their own virtual networks. Channels would no longer manner; we would watch Mary TV, or the Felten tech channel, based off these RSSTV feeds. Goodbye NBC, CBS, and ABC. Hello, Balkin's Pop Culture for Constitutional Scholars TV.
Of course, another thing I would really be interested in is a nice RSS feed for music. Programming playlists is too much work, and I like the structured serendipity of a good radio show. Why not RSS feeds for music that my MP3 player would synch with? It would be great if it would download stuff I didn't already have, but even without that, it would be pretty darn nice.
via David Galbraith
Now this is cool marketing: Diesel Mix CD Starting Kit.
Mix CDs are fun! Take them with you! Trade them! Impress your friends! To help you satisfy your 'mix fix,' Diesel and Insound have put together a 'Mix CD Starter Kit.' When you spend $25 or more from Insound you get an adorable CD-R in your order to start your mix CD. In case you're having trouble finding the right songs to include on your CD, don't worry. We've got the best new music here on this very page. Songs perfect for first crushes, breakups, lonely hearts, friendships, Bar Mitzvahs. We've got it all. So, simply check out the newest MP3s on this page and start making your playlist. When you're ready, you put your CD-R into your computer, burn your tracks to the disc and you can start impressing people with your good taste. Check back here each month for new music and simply spend $25 to get the free CD-R. It's very cute and pretty fancy.
Check out photos of the kit here: Outside and Inside.
via Not Quite a Blog
Things must really be bad at Hewlett-Packard since CEO Carly Fiorina sounds quite desperate in her keynote speech at CES as C|Net News reports (Fiorina calls for defense of digital rights). How strange the spectacle of a major computer manufacturer calling for an all out war on what computers enable:
"[Copyright infringement is] illegal and wrong, and there are things we as a computing company can do" to prevent it, Fiorina said.
The HP chief added that starting this year all HP digital entertainment products will use software that respects the copyrights of artists. The company will actively promote copyright protection and step up efforts with antipiracy and consumer groups [which consumer groups would those be?], she said.
Does Fiorina think that by saying these things it will make her and her company more popular with the beautiful people of Hollywood, with the in crowd? Hollywood has never respected the tech industry; as far as Hollywood is concerned technology exists to increase their profits, period. To the extent that the technology industry has different ideas, Hollywood sues and legislates against it. Would there be PCs or an internet if Hollywood were in charge? Yet this is the group that is now giving Fiorina their approval:
In a show of support for HP's stance, Fiorina was joined on stage by Interscope Geffen A&M Records Chairman Jim Iovine as well as artists Dr. Dre, U2 guitar player The Edge, Sheryl Crow, Alicia Keys, Toby Keith and other music executives.
Such celebrity worship is simply sad. Even worse is the schizophrenia evidenced by the next line of the article:
HP also provided a glimpse of new products that would allow for easier use of digital media.
Since when has DRM made the use of digital media "easier"? All DRM systems that I've worked with have only served to increase frustration. And what is this "allow"? A subtle reference to the fact that DRM "allows" one to do what would otherwise be considered a right?
Apparently, HP will happily be used by Hollywood for some mythical short term gain in the consumer electronics market. Consumer electronics is a viciously competitive market. Yet HP seeks to thrive in this marketplace by ceding control of the future of HPs primary market (computers) to Hollywood. This is the epitome of a sucker's deal, one the shareholder's of HP will regret.
HP sells really nice computers, which are essentially being commoditized. So what do they do? Seek partnerships with content companies. Brilliant strategy - not!
The New York Times (reg. req.) has a short, regurgitated press release on the latest entrant into the personal media recorder wars (VIDEO: Beam Your Favorite Shows to an Expandable Cache). The unfortunately named "Prismiq" is yet another attempt at a converged home media center with oodles of undesirable functionality, such as web browsing and IM through your television. Now your viewing can be interrupted not only by corporate sponsors, but friends and family. Oh, rapturous new world!
However, I write this post not to rag on the continued foolishness of product designers, but to point out something that is neat and useful about the new Prismiq MediaPlayer and which will, hopefully, be a ubiquitous design in the future.
The neat thing about the Prismiq (god, what an awful word to type or read) is that it is fully integrated with a home network. The device itself won't have a hard drive (why not? they're dirt cheap), but will record to storage devices on the local network (such as your PC's hard drive). Thus, easy expandability (and likely, easy portability for the content).
The device is certainly trying too hard to do too much, but the idea that all your local storage devices are accessible to read and write to is a good one. Here's hoping they don't get sued.
Read the original press release (Prismiq Introduces High-End Entertainment Gateway Product, the Prismiq MediaPlayer/Recorder).
Using a TiVo is a conversion experience. It transforms the way you interact with broadcast media and creates entirely new expectations regarding entertainment, even more so, in many ways, than MP3 players. This is why I am excited by a number of reports this week regarding personal media recorders, such as a story in Newsday that notes a high demand for DirecTV set-top boxes that include TiVo (TiVo-Based Set-Top Boxes in High Demand).
I'm excited because everyone I know who uses TiVo won't go back to traditional television viewing. Simply using TiVo creates consumer expectations that are going to run smack dab into the anti-consumer mandates of the broadcast flag. Sure, the FCC says that the broadcast flag won't inhibit uses consumers have today, but it does and will. People habituated to the ease of use of TiVo, of burning shows to DVD, of networking television throughout the home, are in for a rude awakening when the broadcast flag takes effect. Frankly, there are going to be some seriously inconvenienced consumers come July 2005 and I would hate to be the politician on the other end of their anger. I can see the bumper stickers now: The FCC can have my TiVo when the pry it from my cold dead fingers.
Of course, the more people habituated to TiVo, the bigger the resulting backlash, which is why I recommend giving TiVos as holiday gifts for all your TiVo-less friends and family (there is a good chance it will be the best gift they get this season). I'm not really a big believer in consumerism ... but sometimes consumerism and activitism go hand in hand.
Of course, I'm using TiVo in the generic sense. Add the homemade touch (like those holiday cards you made from posterboard, glue and sparkles in elementary school) by building your friends an open source TiVo (Freevo, MythTV, KnoppMyth, XMLTV). By the way, MythTV explicitly supports the pcHDTV card and undoubtedly will support software HDTV as well (GNU Radio: Hacking the RF Spectrum with Free Software and Hardware).
C|Net News reports that Toshiba will be unveiling a new micro hard drive, about the size of a quarter, next month (Spare a microdrive, Toshiba?). The storage capacity is anticipated to be about 1-4 GigaBytes. Hard drives continue to kick Moore's Law's behind. Any consumer electronics device worth more that about $100 will soon have massive amounts of storage available to it. The advent of such huge amounts of storage everywhere has some important implications of intellectual property law. In particular, it significantly raises the cost of a mandatory DRM dystopia as well as the costs of monitoring for compulsory licensing schemes. Levy compulsory systems that raise money through a tax on consumer electronics and connectivity will be challenged by such rapid development. The digital revolution is far from over.
iRATE Radio has nothing to do with the angry blowhards of the talk radio circuit, but rather is an open source,
collaborative filtering client/server mp3 player/downloader. The iRATE server has a large database of music. You rate the tracks and it uses your ratings and other people's to guess what you'll like. The tracks are downloaded from websites which allow free and legal downloads of their music.
I haven't actually tried this yet (I've got too much stuff on my system as it is and it looks like it is pretty early in the development cycle), but it sounds like something I've been wanting for awhile (see, The End of the Beginning: The Death of MP3.com).
Thank goodness! The TiVo-addict friendly PVRBlog reports that HDTV-capable TiVos will be available for sale the first quarter of 2004 (HDTV-recording TiVo). See a picture of the device here: TiVo HD DVR. What this means, of course, is that such devices will be available without broadcast flag implementation, at least until July 2005, as many of the commentators on PVRBlog note.
Interestingly, PVRBlog is selling a home-modified TiVo (extra capacity, wireless connectivity) on eBay (Upgraded Series 2 188hr TiVo, HMO & wireless). Pretty good price right now, too. Unfortunately, under the current regime we won't be seeing too many home-modified devices after July 2005.
via Gizmodo
Eric Rescorla's Educated Guesswork blog brings up a concept I've thought about for quite some time, selling MP3 players pre-loaded with music (The future of the iPod?). In Eric's concept, although heavy discounting is involved, the price for a populated iPod would be about $1000. That is still a pretty high price, particularly with all the DRM involved. But the price doesn't seem all that outrageous as part of the price for a new luxury sedan or SUV.
So, why not have cars marketed with an integrated MP3 player pre-loaded with a nice selection of music? Cars are mostly marketed as a lifestyle purchase anyway, often through the use of music. So, why not spice up that purchase with a generous selection of music that matches the particular purchaser's lifestyle? Why shouldn't a music package simply be one of the possible extras and accessories that car purchasers choose along with color, fabric and undercoat protection?
Apple and Volkswagen once ran a promotion in which iPods were given away with the purchase of a new Volkswagen Beetle (iPod and Volkswagen Beetle unite). Why not take it to the next step?
The San Diego Union-Tribune runs a Reuters wirestory on the difficulties some have taking time off from their TiVo (PluggedIn: TV viewers find TiVo addictive). A long list of recorded shows on TiVo apparently makes some feel guilty not watching them. While in the past, if you missed a show, you simply missed it. Now the show sits on TiVo's hard drive waiting for you to watch it. I can imagine this can be a problem for some, but most people have experienced similar feelings at one time or another. Have you ever felt guilty about not keeping up with a newspaper subscription, for example? Do you have a stack of magazines waiting to be read, eventually?
Though I don't think this phenomena particularly compelling, I do think that the social ramifications of TiVo are going to be quite interesting, as we increasingly switch from traditional broadcast to new hybrid models.
Side note ... who else thinks that the TiVo trademark is in danger of becoming genericized?
via Techdirt, see also BoingBoing
The very interesting Mark Evanier has purchased one of the new TiVo's with recordable DVD which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago (TiVo is Officially an Endangered Species?). He has written a fairly substantial review from his personal experience with the device (Toy Story). His opinion is mostly positive, though there are some v1.0 issues. Overall, though, this is the device that any TiVo lover will want (and everyone who has actually used a TiVo loves it). Forget HDTV ... this is the future of digital television, if only the FCC would recognize the fact and get out of the way.
via Gizmodo
Gizmodo reports that Sony's new personal video player will soon be available in Japan (Sony's Personal Video Player is a reality). The device can hold 31 hours of video and can be uploaded via USB 2.0. No word on when the device will be available in the US, but hopefully before the broadcast flag mandate takes effect.
Yesterday, C|Net News took a look at Toshiba's advances in small hard drives for portable devices (Tiny Toshiba drive gets a boost). These hard drives, which are only 1.8" in diameter, about the size of a credit card, can now store 40GB of information. They may already be used in the iPod and similar Hitachi drives are being used in Dell's new Digital Jukebox MP3 players. 40GB can store approximate 6 full-length movies or dozens of hours of television - all in something that fits in a shirt pocket. Heaven forbid that such innovative uses develop without the not-so-friendly regulatory arm of government controlling that development. Just how successful would the Diamond Rio have been if it had needed FCC approval first?
C|Net News reports that Amazon is now selling Linare Linux PCs for $199 (Desktop PC company begins Amazon deal). You can check out the PC here on Amazon here: Linare PC (1.3-GHz AMD Duron, 128 MB RAM, 30 GB Hard Drive, CD-ROM). While Walmart has been selling similar systems (Linux OS PCs) for some time, Walmart is not usually a store you associate with PCs.
One small problem with the Amazon technical specs page which I hope they change soon:
Special Features: Licence [sic] Free Operating System [emphasis in original]
RMS might take offense to calling something under the GNU license "license free."
Gizmodo points out how Nokia's new television/cellphones may have a significant surcharge (~$190) due to government regulation (Nokia's TV phone might cost a little extra). The Broadcast Flag? No, this surcharge is due to the license tax that many European countries charge for owning a television. At least in most European households you only have to pay the tax once, no matter how many televisions you own. In the US, the new Broadcast Flag tax will require you to pay for the additional equipment for each and every television you own.
Gizmodo points out a truly nifty little product - an external TV tuner with a USB connection that you can use for your PC or laptop (New external USB TV tuner from Canopus). The system comes with software that will let you record your favorite shows... for now. I wonder how much more expensive the device will be after July 1, 2005. I also wonder how difficult it will be after July 2005 to transfer shows from your laptop (copied while on the road) to your legacy home network - the answer according to the FCC will be "impossible for the average consumer."
Ernie the Attorney points to a neat little program called the iTunes Catalog that lets iTunes users (Mac only) create a professional-looking catalog (including album cover art) of all your iTunes music in HTML of PDF formats (What's in your iTunes music catalogue?). You can check out a sample catalog taken from Ernie's collection here (Ernest's Library). I think this very cool (though I don't have an iPod).
However, a few questions/points:
First, why do you have to pay ($10) for this software? The HTML catalogs can easily be linked into the iTunes store, thus providing lots of free advertisement for iTunes and their licensed artists. I rather expect Apple and its now numerous rivals to provide this functionality in upcoming releases for free. Heck, I would imagine that they would host the catalogs free-of-charge.
Second, where is the easy ability to publish playlists and the associated software that will let me automatically download all the music to go along with someone's playlist that I trust? I have eclectic tastes in music, but generally I don't want to indiscriminately mix genres (discriminately mixing genres for a playlist is something else). Playlist functionality would be a useful addition to all these online systems.
Third, people always talk about the social benefits of Original Napster-like collection browsing. Doesn't software like this provide almost the same social benefits (and in some ways, more), while being fully legitimate?
As part of its series on Microsoft's recently unveiled next-gen OS, Longhorn, C|Net News analyzes the strategy behind the software (Plan A for Microsoft). The strategy, according to C|Net, is a return to a "fat client" architecture, where lots of processing takes place on the user's PC or portable device, as opposed to a remote server.
Frankly, I don't really get this thin/fat client debate. The debate most often seems to be not whether there should be a server/client architecture, but how robust the client should be for the consumer. Personally, I've never really understood the value proposition for most thin client architectures, given the relative inexpensive of silicon and magnetic storage. The question for me is why consumers aren't running both clients and servers.
Many consumer electronic devices are basically computers, but they don't need to be that smart, they can be specialized. What I need for my consumer electronic devices is not easy internet access, but home network access. If Microsoft is looking for new markets for software, why not develop and sell a server for consumers? What I would like is a machine that homeowners can easily stick in a closet, but will provide media and applications functionality throughout the home. Consumers don't really need a new version of Office, they need something that will let them more easily manage their increasingly gadget-filled home.
Oh yeah, and it would be nice to easily run a server from home that handles all my internet publishing needs, but that is more of a telecom issue.
Gizmodo brings word of a brand new TiVo that includes a fast DVD burner and non-subscription basic service (Pioneer's DVD recorders with TiVo). The devices are expensive (MSRP starting at $1,199), but can store 80 hours of video and burn a one-hour show in as little as three minutes. The DVDs can then be shared with friends and family, and are generally compatible with legacy devices. Interestingly, the Pioneer Burner webpage has the following tagline:
Your VCR is officially an endangered species
