Chris Lanier's Blog - All Comments

re: Microsoft Unprepared for Digital TV Switch

Anthony — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:26:30 GMT

Ha what to you mean STIIL? I get no KABC (ABC), no KCAL (Ch 9), no KTTV (Fox home base) and no what used to be UPN (Ch 13).

Unable to watch/record the IRL race on ABC in HD (OTA) unless this is fixed, I tried the XML trick, I don't wanna delete the whole file when other channels work.

Whatever... MS you hacks nevermind the Low Bit Rate error I have never seen before (Vista, XP)

re: Does Home Server & Media Center Mean a Connected Future?

vince — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:10:19 GMT

I agree with Geoff.

I am a techie have tons of storage and I don't want WHS! It is such a incompelete product it's like buying tires and rims for a car that doesn't even exist. Meaning even if you wanted to you could never really use them.

WHS's only hope would be as an add on for Media Center! Media Center is a real product, WHS a software add on!

The only way I see Media Center working is:

Release a Media Center Server with WHS installed (I know it doesn't work like that but I'm saying it like that for a reason). Make it an appliance as WHS today, not monitor option at all! No Keyboard, no mouse no nothing!

What does that solve. Well for one cablelabs and anyone else should be happy. You can stream it encrypted to Players.

Speaking of players. They need to have some kind of solid state ROM to boot off of, or at least install Media Center Extender on the HD. I mean it is not going to work for the main stream to tell them to press this button and wait 30 seconds for media center to respond!

I should preface this with I have been an MCSE from 1999 upgrading all the way to today!

DO I think this will ever happen. No. I don't think Microsoft has ever gotten anything right, except for maybe MS Exchange! I waited for Microsoft to get it right for years, but it never happned. Where does that leave me today? With a brand new iPhone 3Gs and Macbook Pro... Granted I have Vista installed on VMWare Fusion, but for the most part I've switched!

Someday I think Apple will step in any make Media Center the right way. Someday I will go to Richmond and ask these people why and how they always get it so wrong!

re: Does Home Server & Media Center Mean a Connected Future?

Geoff — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:05:54 GMT

new to this blog, but I need to add a few comments.

1) WMC works great for me. We don't have Cable Card here (Australia) and OTA digital TV is HD. OTA is how most people watch TV. WMC does all of this very well. Adding (digital, analogue, SD, HD, whatever) tuners to a PC has been - for many years - as simple as adding a printer or any other peripheral. This stuff 'just works'. I read the comments about tuners and think that Cable Card is a US-only complication.

2) I don't 'get' WHS at all. What does it actually do for me that I can't do already with a normal PC (and/or perhaps a NAS hard disk)? And because it can only be bought as a hw+SW combo, I can't install it on an existing PC and see for myself. So nobody buys it. Do I really want another 'PC' (or server) in the house? Especially one I can't use for even simple tasks (email/web)?

3) Conclussion: Kill WHS. Put those functions into Windows 7. Leave WMC in Windows 7.

4) Noisy PCs are not a good experience in the TV room. We need either *SILENT* PCs (eg: Dell mini 9 - no moving parts at all), or *SILENT* extenders. Silent PCs can't do HD graphics, so extenders will be the best option for a while yet.

5) I currently use the Linksys DMA 220 DVD/extetender. It's great. I won't be replacing it until there's a Bluray version, although I'm in no hurry to do Bluray just now anyway. I guess I'll keep using the Linksys for a while.

6) Whatever happened to remote desktop? This seems like an ideal solution. Remote Desktop transports the *entire* PC screen to a thin device - so it means the TV (or whatever) can do everything that the host PC can do. Want to straighten a picture? Want to surf the web? Want to run MS Oulook? Want some bizzare new codec? Want to play chess or solitaire? - no extender can do all of this, and it isn't the best way to try. Remote desktop to a 'real' PC and present the screen onto my TV. That way I get everything. Wyse - where the hell are you!!!

re: Microsoft Unprepared for Digital TV Switch

Ralph Knox — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:53:13 GMT

This is still not fixed - evening of 6/17/09

thegreenbutton.com/.../369596.aspx

re: Microsoft Unprepared for Digital TV Switch

Funny — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:56:20 GMT

Wow, Microsoft is officially in the same DTV camp as Grandma's. I am reminded of that DTV conversion commercial of the elderly lady holding the DTV converter box up to her ear next to a jumble of cables.

All that brain power at Microsoft and they still can't figure out Media Center. Simply amazing.

re: Microsoft Unprepared for Digital TV Switch

MWB — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:15:24 GMT

Microsofts support here is dismal. Media center still doesn't have at least 2 major channels remapped. More important (for me) is that NONE of the secondary channels (minor channel numbers > 1) are in the M$ atscchannels database, and while it is pretty easy to add those manually, there is no way to find and map the channel listings properly, as those channels don't show up in the listings editors.

re: Microsoft Unprepared for Digital TV Switch

Ryan COnway — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:04:18 GMT

What's really sad is this was a known issue with stations that changed early. Take a look on Microsoft owned The Green Button and you will see quite a few posts, including one of mine.

re: Microsoft Unprepared for Digital TV Switch

PeterFnet — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:23:29 GMT

It is rather sad. There were similar problems after the 'first' round of switching.

re: Does Home Server & Media Center Mean a Connected Future?

Cassandra Soo — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:07:50 GMT

Nice article. Some people mentioned TiVo's OTA in their comments. TiVo is actually pushing their message about getting free HD over the air signals through a YouTube video: www.youtube.com/watch

re: Xbox 360 Sees Record Growth in 2009

Cinevidia Home Entertainment Solutions — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:24:21 GMT

Glad to see people are seeing the XBox360 as more than a gaming machine (a great one at that). But it really does open up entertainment throughout the house in a nice simple easy to navigate way.

re: Does Home Server & Media Center Mean a Connected Future?

The Jedi — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:00:43 GMT

The Idealist versus the Realist. (Ben and Jon versus Chris). I'm more of a realist myself (pessimist, cynic?), but I guess we all have to have a baseline of the ideal to refer to.

I don't have a point, I just want to thank all the parties involved for this very stimulating debate. As a small time OEM I just find this discussion extremely fascinating.

I think historically it's only wise to question Microsoft's commitment to follow through.

As a Microsoft partner I do appreciate the opportunity to carve out a niche and evangelize what they have enabled, but maybe have failed to properly market.

re: Does Home Server & Media Center Mean a Connected Future?

chrisl — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:37:11 GMT

You give your business a fantastic name by calling your potential customers "foolish." If you can't believe people listen to me, why you are reading and replying? By association that makes you foolish, no?

You heard of Saturn and Pontiac? Look at what GM built over the years, now they don't exist because they have to focus on "core platforms."

How many Media Center's have you sold over the past month? Seems your doing just great, so maybe you should focus your time on your business instead of getting online and calling your customers "fools."

re: Does Home Server & Media Center Mean a Connected Future?

Ray Casey — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:01:50 GMT

Chris you are not as smart and informed as you think you are. Your hubris is truly offensive. Simply look at Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura re how they built brands over years. But trying to make a point to you is willful and useless... I cannot believe people listen to you BS and ranting... U r a fool with a foolish audience... There is a place for Xbox, Media Center and WHS just like there is a market place for a lexus and toyota (same platform fool) and suv's and hybrid's (different form factor and purpose). Just because they make a Hybrid and a SUV does that mean their market is challenged, or they don't listen to customer feed back? NO. You logic stinks... Get back on whatever you where on when you went quite for a while... u need more time off to correct your ego and anger

re: Microsoft Connects the Dots with Zune HD, Zune Marketplace, and Xbox

PeterFnet — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:44:36 GMT

If you buy content from zune on XBL, does it transfer over to your mobile zune? I'm not a zune owner, but that would be my main question. I'd also expect the reverse. If I purchase content on my zune, will it show up on XBL?

re: Does Home Server & Media Center Mean a Connected Future?

Luke — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:35:42 GMT

Hi,

i agree with you on one point:

this WHS+MC will probably not integrate very well with zune, Xbox, ... maybe in 5 years, but not in 2010. just to expensive

But:

i think this stand-alone tuner-server-box is necessary for the TV on the PC scenario to work because:

-Normal PC's will not be reliable enough. if this product is not VERY RELIABLE, it is not useable

-if you simply put tuners in your normal PC, you have to leave it on all the time and think about it: this is WAY too complicated

-Most people don't even have desktops in their homes anymore!!!!!

so my point is that this "server" is not more but much less complicated than adding tuners to your desktop(if you even have one).

The only question for me is: how do you get people to buy this thing?

1)the cost for purchasing this box can not be too high

2)marketing: show people what the box can do in a very non-nerdy way

re: Xbox 360 Sees Record Growth in 2009

Wayner — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:51:35 GMT

[sarcasm]That release sures spends a lot of time talking about the Xbox360's capabilities as a Windows Media Extender[/sarcasm]

re: Does Home Server & Media Center Mean a Connected Future?

Jon Deutsch — Thu, 28 May 2009 00:02:25 GMT

Hey Chris,

If by "Joe" you mean "Jon," then yeah, I'm interested. You'll have to let me know which direction you think would be better to take -- Digital Lifestyle or TGB.

It'd be great to be another voice in the ecosystem -- thanks for the offer.

Please email me at jon@capitalddesign.com to continue the conversation.

Thanks,

Jon

re: Microsoft Announces the Expansion of the Zune Entertainment Service to New Platform and Markets; Confirms New Zune HD Portable Media Player

Wed, 27 May 2009 19:45:37 GMT

I'd be shocked too, but it's an interesting idea

re: Microsoft Announces the Expansion of the Zune Entertainment Service to New Platform and Markets; Confirms New Zune HD Portable Media Player

digitalfreak — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:11:59 GMT

I would be absolutely shocked if it worked as an extender.

re: Microsoft Announces the Expansion of the Zune Entertainment Service to New Platform and Markets; Confirms New Zune HD Portable Media Player

SoundFor[ — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:23:40 GMT

Does the ZuneHD Support Media Center Extender Functionality? Pretty much a no-brainer given the GPU / CPU in the ZuneHD, but can you confirm if the ZuneHD supports Media Center Functionality? This is sorely needed, as Linksys and HP have killed their extenders off, and we are only left with an *extremly* loud Xbox360 as the choice. Letting the ZuneHD with it's small form factor and quiet running seems obvious.