Mac mini musings – O’Reilly Mac DevCenter Blog

Mac mini musings – O’Reilly Mac DevCenter Blog:


The Mac mini as it stands is not suitable for use as a PVR replacement. But Front Row can evolve to become the software, and something else – either a version of the mini, or an entirely separate product – will emerge as the hardware. “Mac media”, perhaps? It would need acres of hard disk to seriously compete with existing PVR machines. But it doesn’t need to be a computer like the mini is; it needs the space and the graphics power. The mini (or any other computer) can do the processing.

It may be that the Mac mini as it stands is not supposed to be the PVR machine, it never has been. It’s just a stepping stone, something to which PVR functionality can be bootstrapped in future.

I’ve been watching with interest here as the “where’s my PVR?” idea has wandered the net, becoming loud enough that Phil Schiller felt he needed to respond to it.

And I admit, right up front, that I’m someone who wants this product, and I was hoping along with the rest of you.

But the more I think about it, the more I realize the idea of a “mac Tivo-like device” is simply not all that likely. Why?

Think about it. Why do we want this? Because we want Apple’s interface magic with Tivo’s functionality — because hooking up and getting a Tivo running is a bear. Once it’s running? Pretty nice, as long as the various boxes and wires cooperate (and absolutely horrid when they don’t….), but getting it running? We want Apple’s Plug and play. It’s a jones, and I admit it.

But think about it: the very problem we want solved is the same one an Apple box would have: how to connect to one of 200 random cable or satellite boxes that may not want other boxes hooked up to them, using interconnects that aren’t standardized in any way. Now, do that in a plug-and-play way with Apple’s ease of use.

um, right. I’m not sure even the magicians at Apple can solve this problem.

Besides, the proper place for the PVR software is embedded in the channel box — which is where the PVR is headed anyway. Comcast does it, Dish does it, Direct TV does it. Adelphia does it. Some better than others, but they’ll improve over time. And they’re embedded — so they work out of the box. So this problem won’t be solved by Apple, it’ll be solved by the cable and dish companies. And frankly, that’s where this problem SHOULD be solved.

The problem Apple is working to solve is different, I think: there’s TV over IP, which is a camel’s who’s nose is barely in the tent, but otherwise, I think primarily the problem being solved is how to access media once it gets INTO the house. TV-IP likely implies that your cable-PVR and your dish-PVR are transitional products anyway (of, say, the next 10 years), similar to the difference between a Palm Pilot and a Treo.

So I’m looking to DirecTV to solve my PVR problem (once they release the Mpeg-4 channels to silicon valley for HD; until then, I’m not upgrading). And I think I’m going to look for Apple to solve the problems of how to handle things once the data gets in the house: transport, storage, display. Which to me implies some Apple-branded way to accept video onto the media-mini, ways to distribute it around the house (airport-express w/Mpeg4, anyone?), and wirelessly moving stuff to various TV’s around the house…..

Of course, that is complicated by broadcast flags, copy restrictions, and….

But if anyone can figure it out, Apple can.

You might also want to read:

  1. Blog ...
  2. Apple to mini fans: “Be patient.” Apple to mini fans: “Be patient.” – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW): ….an unnamed guy who claims to have spoken to an unspecified Apple representative...
  3. iMac, Mac Mini Updates November 11 According to… Pure Speculation iMac, Mac Mini Updates November 11 According to… Pure Speculation | The Apple Blog: Yesterday, Macsimumnews.com published a piece in which editor David Sellers claims...
  4. Musings From Yellowstone National Park Laurie and I did a week in Yellowstone — which is obvious if you’ve seen what’s being posted to Flickr. One little amusement was that...
  5. The Future of Communities Blog » Blog Archive » Planning for Incivility – Why your online community needs moderators The Future of Communities Blog » Blog Archive » Planning for Incivility – Why your online community needs moderators: We know from our experience that...