B. Mann Consulting

I went shopping for a TV with my friend Jamie last night. I myself ended up making the decision to buy an LCD TV rather than a monitor several years ago (LCD TV vs LCD monitor, no difference between them, and my eventual BenQ DV2680 purchase). The technology has evolved in the meantime, and Jamie ended up with a 22" LG LCD monitor (L226WA - $349 at Future Shop). The neat thing about this monitor is that it also has direct composite video inputs, so it can be used for any video source.

mark_tar_mark posted a long comment about how he uses the Pluto Home along with the Squeezebox:

I just setup a Pluto Home system (smarthome + media server). It’s really cool and works great with SqueezeBoxes. Just plug the squeeze box into an Ethernet jack. When it sees the squeezebox request an IP address it automatically installs the slimserver and sets everything up on its own. There’s no software to install at all. And if you have a Bluetooth mobile phone, that turns into the remote control—complete with cover art, access to playlists, etc. Plus, it knows how to control all the other stuff too—so when I start playing music on my squeeze box it automatically turns on the stereo and sets it to the right input.
mark_tar_mark: Cool new application for SqueezeBox—a Sonos killer

I wrote about Pluto in early 2004, around the time I first posted about the Squeezebox.

Finally, mark asks "So, is anybody out there working on a C++ squeezebox2 player? This is the only small piece that’s missing. With that piece this would be a total sonos killer." Sonos is a whole home digital music player. It's quite slick and has a dedicated wireless controller, but is expensive and only does music.

I'm still looking at LCD TVs and/or monitors, and haven't made a choice yet.

My next bit of information is about video connections. DVI is a new~ish interface for video, but it's already being replaced on the high end by HDMI. HDMI is a smaller, more compact cable than DVI, but actually has room to transfer more information, and it can include audio.

Two good articles I found basically said it was a good interface, but that most devices today only transfer simple 2 channel audio. And, there hasn't been any adoption in the computer market yet. Based on the quote below from AnandTech, HDMI has copy protection baked in, so we're likely going to see it overtake DVI over the next couple of years.

Read on for some HDMI links and a listing of some different models and prices that I looked at.

Om's post about the Sonos Digital prodded me to write up my Mac Tablet prediction (and Media Mac and movies from iTunes).

Well, that, and I said it out loud talking to Marc Canter and Robert Scoble at BBS05, so I need to make sure I stake my blogosphere claim.

(Note to Scoble: I'll get around to turning on full posts again one of these days. Sorry about that.)

Should I get an LCD TV for my Media Mini Mac?

To tell the truth, I'm a little confused between the two. The two categories are definitely merging. The main thing seems to be that units that call themselves LCD TVs have low native monitor resolution.

But, they tend to be cheaper than LCD monitors. Harry pointed out the Dell W2600 to me, which is 26", has two TV tuners (so it can do picture-in-picture), and even some basic built-in speakers, for $1999 -- $100 more than the 23" Benq, with 3" and tons of features.

Yes, I think I'm getting one.

I'm looking at the Mac Mini to be our new desktop, stay-at-home machine, as well as to form the basis for a media center.

Mike Davidson has a good outline for the Media Mac that he wants to see from Apple, but I'm going to outline how I think the Mac Mini (plus a few other pieces) is going to work for me today.

I last wrote about Axentra when they had changed their name from OEOne back in October 2003. Marc Benglia, the CEO of Axentra, came by and left a comment on that post, so I went and checked out their new products.

Marc had specifically pointed out their Net-Box Home Series, which are two server appliances targetted at home network use. The entry level model is $499US -- much too expensive in my opinion, but I still understand the lure of having a full-featured server on your own network.

I'm in the process of getting rid of my local Linux server. Obviously I'm not the target market for these products, nor is anyone that can build their own server. But I think that Axentra is going to have trouble explaining the benefits -- and making it easy enough -- for the average end user.

Data storage is becoming cheaper at rapid rates. This is one reason why I don't ever expect a totally converged information superhighway, supplying our television, computer, music listening, etc., all in one service. Why obsess over your piping when you can have milk delivered cheaply at your doorstep? Netflix and Google's Gmail, rather than Verizon, may represent our cultural future. Data storage and delivery also tend to be less regulated than centralized piping, plus they limit natural monopoly problems. Under this alternative model, I might receive "cultural disks" in the mail, every month or week, and decide what on those disks I am willing to pay for. Yes there will be hackers but we will be rich, the discs will be cheap and convenient, and they will offer ancillary services of organization and presentation. I can hardly wait, except now I remember I don't even have time for the current menu of cultural offerings.
Marginal Revolution: The economics of storage

This is similar to a discussion I had with Roland a little while back. His argument was that he wants a little broadband router sized device that takes care of all his services for him. My argument being that sure, I can do many of those things today (like my own gallery vs. Flickr), but that economics of scale will always see advances first happening in a centralized fashion then becoming decentralized as they become commoditized/processing power increases at the edge/etc.

The new TiVo technology, which will become a standard feature in its video recorders, will allow users to download movies and music from the Internet to the hard drive on their video recorder. Although the current TiVo service allows users to watch broadcast, cable or satellite programs at any time, the new technology will make it possible for them to mix content from the Internet with those programs.
The New York Times: New Service by TiVo Will Build Bridges From Internet to the TV

Also mentions TiVo's purchase of Strangeberry, which is likely where these features are coming from. I talked about Strangeberry back in January.

This changes things.

With AirPort Express, Apple continues to advance wireless, delivering the first device to pack wireless networking, audio, printing and bridging capabilities into a single affordable, portable unit.
Apple: AirPort Express

$129US. Wireless support in the iPod can't be far behind. Apple is busy raising the bar in wireless, music, and home connectivity all in one go.