The digital home

1
The digital home

• The Economist, Sep. 3rd 2005

2
Introduction

• Digital home
• A home in which all sorts of electronic devices
  from the PC to the TV, the stereo, the game
  console, even the garage door and refrigerator
  are connected, both to one another and to the
  Internet.
• Intel, Microsoft
• Sony, HP, Apple, Cisco.
• Demo
• Intel The digital home

3
Intels platform

• At the recently concluded Intel Developers Forum
  (IDF), Intel launched its next-generation of
  digital home platform called VIIV.
• The name in itself is quite interesting with VI
  and IV standing for 6 and 4 in Roman numerals,
  which further translate into 64-bit.

4
Requirements

• All VIIV PCs must use Intel's driver stack. They
  must also use Intel's Instant on/off drivers.
• The system must run Windows XP Media Center
  Edition.
• Monopoly

5
Challenge

• Explaining what the digital home is supposed to
  be.
• The lack, among most consumers, of any sense of
  crisis about the status quo in entertainment. And
  the settings kill time very much.
• Customers who tend to buying solutions rather
  than products.

6
Vendors say

• When you ask customers what they want, they will
  never tell you. You have to show them first,
  says Craig Mundie, one of three chief technology
  officers at Microsoft.

7
Talking the same language Interoperability

• File formats and codecs
• MPEG-2 for video and MP3 for audio ? MPEG
• WM9 ? Microsoft
• AAC ? Apple

8
Talking the same language Interoperability
(cont.)

• Digital-rights management software (DRM)
• Windows DRM ? Microsoft
• Helix ? RealNetworks
• OpenMG ? Sony
• FairPlay ? Apple
• Consumers cannot mix online services, gadgets and
  software from different vendors

9
Prisoners dilemma

• The vendors are refusing to make their
  technologies interoperable, thus potentially
  killing their own vision.
• Egoism makes the progress slow.
• But collaboration will maximize the benefit

10
Winner takes all?

• The only certainty is that all these mighty
  companies will continue to preach
  interoperability while pursuing proprietary
  hegemony. (Increasing the market share)
• Could lead to several scenarios.
• One company, or camp, wins. A repeat of the
  Wintel.
• Technology wars end with a truce, perhaps become
  the open standards. Make the digital home a
  reality much sooner.
• The wars continue, but consumers continue not to
  care