Why the media centre PC is destined for the home office

By Asher Moses on 28 March 2006

Asher Moses, CNET.com.aucommentary The forthcoming update to Intel's Viiv will see the media centre PC move from the living room to the home office. Asher Moses explains why.

Before anyone mentions it, no, we haven't been smoking any particularly potent herbal products lately, nor were we repeatedly beaten over the head with a two by four on the way to work this morning. Hear me out.

Thus far, every play to bring the PC into the living room has revolved around plonking an entire machine down in the lounge, right next to your existing home theatre equipment. In our opinion, this method was doomed from the outset.

The only moderate success of Windows Media Center-equipped PCs has highlighted the fact that most consumers aren't interested in having an all-singing, all-dancing computer in their lounge room. We're not interested in editing word documents, manipulating spreadsheets, browsing the Web or playing games in a three metre interface from the couch (as opposed to sitting directly in front of the screen like we normally do when interacting with a PC). Rather, we'd simply like to watch/record TV, view DVDs and play other audio/video files on-demand through a simple, intuitive interface.

This is where the genius of Viiv comes in. Shortly, Intel will release a range of "digital media adapters", which connect to your existing home theatre components (e.g. your TV, stereo system, etc) and can stream content wirelessly from any Viiv-certified PC. Bingo!

The existence of digital media adapters will totally remove the need to have a media centre PC taking up space in your living room, unless you're one of the few users that finds it practical to do anything other than passively soak up multimedia content whilst relaxing on the couch.

As a result, the PC in your home office will likely act as a digital media hub, distributing content wirelessly throughout your house to various media adapters. And since the Windows Media Center Edition operating system used by all Viiv-enabled machines is virtually identical to Windows XP when it's not in media centre mode, you can go about your regular office-related tasks -- word processing, web browsing, etc -- while others are seamlessly streaming content in the lounge.

Such multi-tasking makes dual-core processors a necessity, which explains why Intel requires all vendors of Viiv machines to adopt a dual-core processor before gaining certification.

Suddenly, the logic surrounding some manufacturers' decisions to offer Viiv machines in an office-like tower form factor -- for example, the Acer Aspire e650 -- is beginning to make sense.

What do you think? Will the PC pull out of the lounge room, leaving your home office machine to act as both a media hub and a productivity workhorse? Have your say below!

Topics: pc, media, viiv, office, centre, lounge, room, machine, home, digital media

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Comments (44)

  • Methusela commented on 11/09/2008 14:02

    If only Amiga had VGA!

  • Jeff Archer commented on 29/11/2006 16:40

    I currently use the media centre PC as a media storage device located in the office. I use an Xbox 360 as the interface in my living room connected up to a denon home theatre and projector system. You are correct the P.C belongs in the office where you can download media from the net and enjoy it on the couch from the simplicity of the Xbox remote. I have tried wireless streaming media options but the quality is very poor. The Xbox is connected to the office PC via cat 6 cable.

  • cubicleslave commented on 04/04/2006 01:32

    You guys have all missed the whole point of viiv. True, almost everything it does could technically be done before, but remember, the general population is not technical. We're talking about a population that often complains how hard it is to program their VCR! What viiv brings to the table is mainly interoperability and appliance-like ease of use through the use of standards. Will your mom or dad know about setting up WEP passwords, WPA, gateways, and IP addresses? Maybe a few moms and dads could, but I'd argue that the vast majority can't. And another thing: Viiv will enable all the devices you own to share DRM-protected content. I don't think you could do that before (legally). And lastly, I would prefer to sink all my money into one super-kick-**** machine (quad processor?) rather than spreading it out over several lower performing machines. That makes a good case for using media center adapters.

  • balder commented on 29/03/2006 20:54

    True all that ViiV does, can be done now. And this article seems based on bias or ignorance.

    But let's not forget that this is mostly about standards and usability, when judging ViiV.

    We can build a fanless system doing all this, but it takes knowledge and time. Try asking people in the street, what a htpc is, how you build a silent one, and how you make it connect wirelessly, and then see how many you have to ask before getting an answer.

    Let's also remember, that we are the superusers and that there are quite a lot of users for everyone of us. This is about what they didn't know they could (and needed).

    And I for one is pleased, that factors like energy, noise and connectivity is getting increased attention from the big companies. Even Intel is getting with the programme now.

    If Intels competitors realised, that marketing actually works, we might even see improved competition in the market.

  • jgag commented on 29/03/2006 16:13

    The idea is fine. I do this to some degree now with a sqeezebox / slimserver, which offers higher audio quality and less DRM. (and I have paid for everything I play!). But I still use my laptop!

  • Anon commented on 29/03/2006 10:56

    Viiv is a heavily DRM infested and technologically restricted system. Buying a proprietary incompatible system like Viiv is a consumer nightmare. Viiv simply will not work with anything except Viiv.

    What the consumer really want is an open interoperable system that is not contaminated and crippled by DRM. You want something like a Myth box or Myth client/server system. Geeks can cheaply build a Myth system out of old recycled computers, and non-geeks can buy pre-built Myth systems from a number of places such as MonolithMC.com

  • Mark commented on 29/03/2006 10:40

    Gee wiz, I have just built a media centre PC based on Suse 10 & Myth TV. According to this article I've made a terrible mistake as I used a single core Athlon 3700, let me say the system does everything the article mentions and more and the Athlon handles it all just fine.

  • Nemo commented on 29/03/2006 10:26

    Pie in the sky...oh wait lemme guess, you wanna watch that DVD at full resolution and have some rediculous 6/7 or 8 way speakers too? well just sit down on the DRM verification probe and we'll get started...

  • asher.moses@cnet.com.au commented on 29/03/2006 09:29

    Hi guys,

    Thanks for the comments, however, I'd just like to clarify a few things.

    1. We're an Australian publication writing for what's predominantly an Australian audience. Digital media adapters/extenders aren't yet available here, at least not in anywhere near adequate quantities.

    2. Since our's is a mainstream audience, Viiv is a big deal for us. Of course, tech savvy users have ALWAYS been able to do these things long before the technology trickled into the mainstream. However, what Viiv has done is make this a seamless process that even mum and dad can configure.

    Cheers - of course, any further feedback is welcomed.

  • efra commented on 29/03/2006 09:22

    living room pc won't move to home-office. The opposite makes more sense. pc will shrink and get a better look then will serve as the long waited converged system - tv+hifi+recorder+phone+internet+games+*. But this may be bad for industry...

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