AidenShaw said:
Yes, how very "Apple" of Microsoft to include the media center in a hardware bundle.
(Customer: "I'd like to buy FrontRow, please." AppleStore: "Sorry.")
Once Apple makes Front Row a requirement for Whiz-Bang Media Player TV Box(tm)... then I agree. But this is a case of a hardware bundle being used as part of vendor tie-in with another product. Front Row isn't there (yet).
Valid point - MS didn't include the tools to allow stealing DVDs in the base product. There are freeware downloads, however, to manage VIDEO_TS libraries withing MCE. (No "ripping" per se, just copy the DRM-protected files from the DVD to the hard drive.)
Thanks for the vote of confidence there... sure appreciate the assumption. Of course, MS and Apple do include the tools to allow stealing CDs (if we want to call it that, instead of the copyright infringement it is)... and yet we don't commonly refer to it as stealing, now do we? If I want a free DVD, I can just steal the disc itself and face lesser charges than copying a rental disc. Although until someone comes out and offers a legit solution for handling a video collection like iTunes/WMP/et al do for music... the commoner will download it or rip it themselves into formats like XviD + AVI.
MCE is currently more TiVo-like, with an off-the-air focus.
Which is I think one reason why Apple is shying away from the full package. IPTV is a potenially huge push in the coming decade, and would allow Apple to try to jump into the market with a combined solution which handles both streamed content, and stored content without requiring extra hardware to provide it.
Sony, however, sells MCE with a 200 disc DVD library (with double-layer burner) that handles the problem.
The 200 disk changer
can be connected to any MCE PC, and can be daisy-chained to manage thousands of DVDs. (and it's much cheaper than buying hard drives to copy 200 DVDs to
)
That is a bit of a monster, and in less space I can just do what I do now: NAS RAID-5 box which stores my DVD collection in H.264/MPEG-4, and a Mini hooked up to the TV. And my solution is a little cheaper it seems (I originally thought it was more expensive, until I saw the 3 grand price-tag, mine is under 2 grand).
Right now... there is nothing that 'just works' for the full package. MS tries to offer the full package, but falls flat thanks to crappy OEM support, and vendor tie-in on first party products. Apple provides the front-end for a single computer, and ignores the full package... but what they /do/ have works. I don't think we will see a clear solution anytime soon either, especially with hi-def disc formats potenially displacing DVDs in the next 10 years and the massive storage requirements for 1080p, and IPTV on the horizon which makes both MCE and Front Row TV solutions easier/cheaper/cleaner in the future.
Remember... Apple is NOT an innovator in new and unproven markets, at least with SJ back at the helm. If the iPod shows us anything, it is that Apple will likely wait until the market is just proven enough to show that it is viable, but still in disarray.
