Net Soup: Frank Beacham
Another Shotgun Wedding for the PC and TV
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| Moxi Media Center |
The news from January’s CES was like turning
the clock back five years to that high-tech reality distortion field
when world-changing ideas were a dime a dozen. Once again –
long after it appeared dead – the marketers were back spinning
another vision of the long-sought convergence between the personal
computer and the television set.
Deja vu all over again? Another shotgun wedding of
technologies, though they have proven as different as oil and water?
Not this time, contend the proponents of the networked home where
the PC and TV live in harmony rather than attempting to displace
each other.
At CES, Microsoft’s Bill Gates endorsed the marriage,
showing a prototype of a wireless tablet-like device that combines
PC and TV capability.
But the boldest proponent of the resuscitation was
veteran convergence warrior Steve Perlman of WebTV fame. In case
you forgot, Perlman – formerly of Apple, Microsoft and General
Magic – was one of the first engineers to seriously attempt
to merge PC functionality into the television set.
Even though he sold WebTV (now MSN TV service) to
Microsoft in April 1997 for $425 million, the central concept of
Net surfing via the TV has been a failure. Despite the grand promises,
most Internet users soon learned that the computer works best for
accessing Web pages and the TV works best for watching passive entertainment
programming.
Now Perlman has a new idea and a new company to bring
it to market. The idea advances and attempts to simplify the integrated
home networking of entertainment media. The company, launched at
CES, is called Moxi Digital (formerly Rearden Steel Technologies).
Again, Perlman integrates the PC and TV, but this time he allows
each device to be used in the way its owner desires.
SOMETHING NEW
Perlman’s new product, the Moxi Media Center,
essentially combines five electronic components into one. It’s
a digital cable or satellite receiver, music jukebox, personal video
recorder, DVD player and cable/DSL modem with Internet gateway.
The new device, which replaces the set-top box, can be networked
to four television sets in a home – each having full access
to all media (with the exception of DVD).
Why not DVD? Ah, a big gotcha that we’ll get
to in a moment. But first, the sales pitch.
With the Moxi Media Center, users can access hundreds
of video channels and record and store more than sixty hours of
video. The built-in jukebox allows the storage of as many as 500
of the user’s personal compact discs. The modem allows Web
access to TVs, PCs, Macs and Palm devices over wireless, coax (existing
cable wiring) and Ethernet transports. Everything can be accessed
from any connected TV or computer in the house.
This concept of a networked home entertainment center
is a big vision. But it comes with some serious catches that might
cause many users to opt out. The "gotcha" involves severe
restrictions involving copyright protections. In the fine print,
Moxi notes: "Due to licensing restrictions, remote DVD playback
is not available in homes using wireless networking." It also
uses the term "secure" quite often, a term that in the
real world has proven quite unfriendly to home recordists.
Perlman makes it clear that Moxi will use strong encryption
technology to stringently enforce the digital rights of music and
video content providers. Barriers to prevent sharing of copyrighted
materials will be built into the system. However, the Media Center
box will be so user friendly, suggests Perlman, that subscribers
will find the convenience worth paying for.
Perhaps. The first test will probably come with EchoStar
subscribers. The direct-to-home satellite provider has announced
it will adopt Moxi Digital’s technology in future receivers.
More importantly, the companies said they are developing a new service
platform to sell content. "Beyond the core set of video, music
and data applications in its flagship product, Moxi has architected
its platform for the delivery of future services such as IP telephony,
digital imaging and online gaming so that network operators can
enable new revenue-generating applications easily through software
upgrades," said a news release.
DIGITALHUB
Not everyone buys into Perlman’s latest convergence
vision. Apple Computer’s Steve Jobs sees the personal computer
– without the TV – as the center of a "digital hub"
that allows users to do such multimedia tasks as edit videos, burn
DVDs, build MP3 music libraries and operate a digital photographic
darkroom.
"Do we think that PCs and televisions are going
to merge? No. The next great age of the personal computer is going
to be the digital hub," Jobs told Reuters at the MacWorld tradeshow
in January.
Significantly, Jobs has not shackled Apple’s
video, music and photographic applications with severe copy protection
restraints. Following last year’s Napster meltdown, Apple introduced
its iPod portable music player, at a pricey $399, into a crowded
market of MP3 portables. Unencumbered by copy protection, the iPod
was an instant hit, selling 125,000 units in its first 60 days on
the market.
Though Steve Perlman’s idea is compelling, he
faces two severe obstacles. One is whether average, non-geek media
consumers actually want a networked home (big question, even if
it is simple to operate). And, if enough do, whether they will accept
the copy protection restrictions. I suspect that even if the first
obstacle is overcome, the second won’t be.
Steve Jobs, on the other hand, may win by simply giving
the people what they want. Through a series of powerful new bundled
applications, Apple lets the user easily configure a Macintosh for
the given task – whether it be handling music, video or photographs.
No restrictions or roadblocks.
And the TV … well, the TV remains what it has
always been: a display to passively watch video programming. No
more, no less.
Frank Beacham is a New York City-based writer and
producer. Visit his Web site at http://www.beacham.com.
E-mail: frank@beacham.com.
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