Bill Gates idea about convergence are great. But I don't see it happening any time soon. My biggest problem is the current software. Of course in my case Windows Media Player. The player does communicate with other parts of the OS or even other parts of the player. In specific the Help File.
The Help Files should _know_ your problem and bring up a solution. The current help docs in WMP do just about nothing to really help. Sure, they tell you the the error text in most cases, but the users have no idea what the hell it means.
Example: If I'm playing a DivX encoded AVI and have not installed the DivX Codec WMP should look up the 4CC and bring up a help file that has something other than “File Format Not Supported”. That implies that WMP doesn't support the AVI file format. Since 90% of the WMP do not know that AVI is a container format or even if we told them they wouldn't know what it means then they come into the newsgroups demanding to know why WMP doesn't support AVI's.
In the real world of convergence WMP should get that 4CC, open the help file for _specifically_ for the 4CC of DIVX, or DX50, Etc. In that file there should be _two_ different explanations. (1) Simple, cookie cutter explanation. (2) The technically explanation. Why DivX isn't support, what DivX is in full, etc. Even if it's not Microsoft's codec we still need to let the users know what it is b/c they go off thinking it's Microsoft's problem and the software is crap.
So, before my watch can communicate with my shoe and my shoe communicates with my car and my car has is running Windows XPe and that car adjusts itself for me, and it can buy me things i want and suggest places for me to go, i what WMP to tell me what's wrong _and_ why something went wrong, _and_ how-to fix it.