Thinner is a winner
I went shopping for televisions and monitors this week and was stunned at the continually dropping prices for HD-capable thin flatscreens (starting at $350 for a 20 incher at Costco). CPU power is inexpensive, fixed storage prices have dropped and now displays have gotten cheaper. The total package price for a functioning, graphically intense computer system is now well under $1000. At that price, things start to happen. Computers become more directly competitive with game consoles and will accelerate their convergence on a universal media platform.
The first thing that they need to do though is to become transportable or at least omnipresent throughout the house. One of the biggest impediments towards having a computer drive entertainment systems is the need for a dedicated computer in the family room. The form factor isn't right either; computers look out of place almost everywhere in the house.
This is the real power of Apple TV--an attractive, low-key computer that fits well into an AV rack in an entertainment area. They should be able to out-Tivo Tivo eventually.
Posted on April 11, 2007
