Scoble writes an interesting piece on where he sees software playing a part in consumer electronics. This got me thinking about what software is inserted into my life today and what I might like to see in the future.
PDA – I use a Palm Tungsten E PDA that works well for information retrieval and light data entry. I’m sure many other have the problem of syncing up data on a home and work computer. It seems like regardless of how careful I configure the hot sync software, I end up having to baby-sit the data. Sometimes I end up with multiple instances of the same appointment or contact. I’ve used a number of Pocket PC devices and ran into the same problem. Both the Palm and Microsoft software seems to be made to work well on a single computer. Adding another computer to the mix is a crapshoot from my experience. Does anyone have a good solution to this problem?
Car – Currently we have a DVD player in our car for those times we take trips with the kids. It would sure be nice to be able to move programming off my Tivo and onto a DVD and then into the car for viewing. I know that the newly released Tivo-to-Go will eventually allow this, but I use a DirecTivo unit which will never have this feature. I can only hope that DirecTV releases a tuner which allows this but I’m not holding my breath. I have a nice iRiver H-120 mp3 player but I don’t like the idea of moving it to and from my car. I keep enough CDs in the car that I’ve always got something to listen to, but I would like an easy option for making my mp3 collection available in the car without having to tote devices back and forth. Lately I’ve preferred to listen to sports radio or NPR. I’m strongly considering adding a Sirius or XM Radio receiver to my car.
Home Entertainment – Like I mentioned, we own a DirecTivo received with dual tuners. I can’t imagine watching TV program any other way. I would love to be able to to control my DirecTivo from my computer like Series 2 owners can do but I’m not willing to give up dual tuners at any cost. I’m concerned about the complexity and cost of a Microsoft Media Center and don’t like the idea of having a PC in my living room, but I would like my PC to work hand in hand with my Tivo allowing programs to be passed back and forth. I’d like to be able to move programming I download off the internet over to my Tivo to watch when I want. I’d also like to be able to move programming off my Tivo and onto my PC where I can burn to DVD to watch in the car.
Kitchen – I currently don’t have a PC in the kitchen and used to laugh at the notion. But I can see how it would be handy to be able to access recipes, news and music from the kitchen because we spend so much time there as a family.
I don’t quite understand the buzz surrounding the Tablet PC. My main problem with the Tablet is that I type about 70 WPM and I can’t reach anywhere near that speed on a Tablet. When I worked at Microsoft I had access to a Tablet, and it was very handy taking meetings notes especially having campus-wide wireless. It came in handy during boring meetings. Instead of nearly falling asleep or acting like I was engaged, I’d instant message friends. But I’d still prefer a tiny Sony notebook that’s just as mobile as a Tablet but contains a keyboard for faster input. I will admit that one instance where a Tablet came in handy was on a trip from Seattle to Utah when I put several “Dora the Explorer” episodes I’d downloaded off the internet onto the Tablet for the kids to watch on the drive down. This was before I installed the DVD player in the car so it wouldn’t be as critical now, but at the time it was huge sanity saver.
I would think that I’m the type of person that Microsoft would target for it’s Media Center PC, but so far I’m just not very interested. It still seems way too complex for the rest of the family to use with any degree of confidence. Given that it runs on Windows I’m sure it requires frequent updates and too much babysitting. Now that we are used to Tivo, any device that would take its place would have to come with its elegant simplicity. My DirecTivo just works. That’s the best compliment I can give it.
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