CES: How the hell am I supposed to make this stuff work together?
Connecting.
It seems like companies had no problem doing that at CES. Everybody was in a partnership with everybody else and was in a hurry to tell people about it, I'm not even going to make the lame high school compariso...oops.
But seriously, after all the talking is done, I still don't know what is going to work with what, or how. I can't even imagine what it's going to be like for the average consumer this year, because this stuff is gibberish to me. Let me run down a list just of the things I'm left with far more questions than answers about.
Intel:
Viiv: I still don't know what this is. I know that Intel has partnered with everyone and their mother. (Seriously, at this point I wouldn't be at all surprised if I visited home and found that I needed at the least a software upgrade before I could eat some DRM protected home cooking). The questions I need answered are, will I absolutely need to buy an Intel PC to take advantage of this content? How will I take advantage of it, can I build my own Viiv PC? And what does this mean anyway?
Microsoft:
Congratulations, the Xbox 360 is getting HD-DVD playback. How much, how will it connect to my 360 and my TV and when can we expect it, until you answer those questions I'm not excited in the least.
Is Wintel really dead? Viiv relies on Windows Media Center, but Microsoft is partnering with AMD on their competing AMD Live standard, (btw, everything I said about not knowing what Viiv is, goes double for AMD Live).
Now that Google is using DivX, is Microsoft going to add support for streaming to the Xbox 360 or am I going to have to wait for a mod chip?
Continue on for questions for Google, Sony, HANA or provide your own answers/questions.
Google:
Great, you're offering lots of video content for download, and have partnered with Intel, like everyone else. But no high definition? All I've got to go on is the vague "better than SD" to go on? pish posh I say.
Sony:
Where is the damn PS3? I'm not going to ask twice.
So, if Intel is supporting HD-DVD along with Microsoft, what is going to happen when Sony makes a Viiv PC, is it going to blow up when I put a HD-DVD or Blu-ray disc in it? The world awaits the answer.
Some Blu-ray players might not support features like BD-J? Even at a "discounted" $1000 or so, thats a joke, whether it is you or your parters, get it in there.
HANA
Where were you guys? Not at the cable press conference, no mention in conjunction with next gen game consoles, you were AWOL at IPTV announcements, what's the deal? Did anybody stop by the booth?
What questions do you have now that the information / tech / entertainment companies have shown you the future, or can you answer any of mine?
