I've got to say - the first few comments here are from the normal flock of net turds that look around for a place to whine. The guy calling the Roku a polished POS - you clearly have not used the device, do not have an HD TV, and I'm quite sure the CEO of the company needs your *expert* business advice as far as his market is concerned. He's the CEO of a successful audio/visual company (his 6th business) and you are... well... NOT.
The fact that he is going after an EMERGING market is excellent.
I FOR ONE WOULD be interested in using my 42" plasma to display an aquarium or roaring fire, or perhaps even a Monet or Picasso. HD images are stunning, and with the utter lack of great HD TV to watch - it's cool to see a company find a creative device to use with my damn expensive display. I spent $3000 on my plasma tube, I would like to use it for more than 30mins/day for 1 HD show on Discovery.
I've also grown tired of the DRM debate. I do buy songs from the iTunes music store, but only songs I don't really care about. My entire CD collection (400 cds) is ripped into Lossless format. Anyone that really cares about the sound of music doesn't use a lossy format anyway. I PREFER cds - the crime isn't charging me $.99 for a DRM'ed file. The crime is charging me $.99 for a file that is 128kbps.
SOME people have music systems that CAN distinguish between lossy and lossless. On my iPod, obviously I don't care. On a decent system, it makes a big difference.
Honestly. Apple's DRM restrictions aren't bad. I have not yet run into a situation where the DRM hinders my abilty to listen or to share my music with my fiance, friends, etc... however - I can see where the DRM WOULD hinder my abilty to share the file with, say, 1000 people. Which is EXACTLY what it's there for.
These devices are exactly what I've been waiting for - a chance to quit using cds for anything other than their original source files. That's all I want them for. I want the lossless file. The quality. From there, I don't want to see the cd ever again.
The day iTunes starts selling DRM locked, high-quality audio I'll start buying entire CDs from there.
And one last thing - why would you (any of you) expect the CEO of Roku to explain, advertise, and recommend software from the their biggest competitor?
Geeeez. Here's an idea - go use and TRY these products before you slam them. The HD1000 is quite cool, the aquarium in hi-def is hot. And the SoundBridge's are awesome - I stream Lossless files from a 400 cd collection to 2 and 3 rooms at the SAME TIME. WIRELESSLY, then go optical into Harman Kardon receivers. It's IMPRESSIVE.
Sadly, I still have to shop for music the same as I did 15 years ago. Go to the store and buy it. Or order from Amazon or Buy.com and wait. And wait. And wait.
Keep up the good work Roku and Squeezebox (just bought Squeezebox for my 4th room) - great products. And please don't listen to haters on the HD1000, it's a worthy product. Everyone that sees it and plays with it is seriously impressed.
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I've got to say - the first few comments here are from the normal flock of net turds that look around for a place to whine. The guy calling the Roku a polished POS - you clearly have not used the device, do not have an HD TV, and I'm quite sure the CEO of the company needs your *expert* business advice as far as his market is concerned. He's the CEO of a successful audio/visual company (his 6th business) and you are... well... NOT.
The fact that he is going after an EMERGING market is excellent.
I FOR ONE WOULD be interested in using my 42" plasma to display an aquarium or roaring fire, or perhaps even a Monet or Picasso. HD images are stunning, and with the utter lack of great HD TV to watch - it's cool to see a company find a creative device to use with my damn expensive display. I spent $3000 on my plasma tube, I would like to use it for more than 30mins/day for 1 HD show on Discovery.
I've also grown tired of the DRM debate. I do buy songs from the iTunes music store, but only songs I don't really care about. My entire CD collection (400 cds) is ripped into Lossless format. Anyone that really cares about the sound of music doesn't use a lossy format anyway. I PREFER cds - the crime isn't charging me $.99 for a DRM'ed file. The crime is charging me $.99 for a file that is 128kbps.
SOME people have music systems that CAN distinguish between lossy and lossless. On my iPod, obviously I don't care. On a decent system, it makes a big difference.
Honestly. Apple's DRM restrictions aren't bad. I have not yet run into a situation where the DRM hinders my abilty to listen or to share my music with my fiance, friends, etc... however - I can see where the DRM WOULD hinder my abilty to share the file with, say, 1000 people. Which is EXACTLY what it's there for.
These devices are exactly what I've been waiting for - a chance to quit using cds for anything other than their original source files. That's all I want them for. I want the lossless file. The quality. From there, I don't want to see the cd ever again.
The day iTunes starts selling DRM locked, high-quality audio I'll start buying entire CDs from there.
And one last thing - why would you (any of you) expect the CEO of Roku to explain, advertise, and recommend software from the their biggest competitor?
Geeeez. Here's an idea - go use and TRY these products before you slam them. The HD1000 is quite cool, the aquarium in hi-def is hot. And the SoundBridge's are awesome - I stream Lossless files from a 400 cd collection to 2 and 3 rooms at the SAME TIME. WIRELESSLY, then go optical into Harman Kardon receivers. It's IMPRESSIVE.
Sadly, I still have to shop for music the same as I did 15 years ago. Go to the store and buy it. Or order from Amazon or Buy.com and wait. And wait. And wait.
Keep up the good work Roku and Squeezebox (just bought Squeezebox for my 4th room) - great products. And please don't listen to haters on the HD1000, it's a worthy product. Everyone that sees it and plays with it is seriously impressed.