Why Aren’t People More Excited About Media Center?
So as you’ve probably seen by now – Media Center has sold over 20 million copies. This is quite cool. When I started on the team about three years ago we’d only sold about 750 thousand. It has been quite an opportunity to grow with the team.
That being said I don’t see a lot of people using Media Center all the time. We don’t get a ton of press and sometimes I feel like Media Center is getting lost in the general Vista wave. I personally believe that a significant portion of those 20 million users don’t even know Media Center is there for them to use.
As I’ve said before, people on the Media Center team are huge enthusiasts for the product. Everyone on the team uses Media Center at home. Personally I use two XBOX 360s to stream content through my house (TV, music, videos, etc).
I love using this and everyone who visits is pretty excited and impressed. I sometimes sit back and think about the fact that I live in the “home of tomorrow” today. Ten years ago this type of setup would have been outside of the realm of realistic and now we have it.
Without going into too many specific features that you might want, why do you think most people are not aware or don’t use Media Center? I honestly believe Media Center is pretty good value with no guide fees and easy upgrade routes, especially if people are already buying a new computer.
I have my opinions but I don’t want to taint the responses. I’d love to understand what the community thinks is missing to get the average user excited and interested. I’ll be in the comments as usual.
Comments
Anonymous
October 16, 2006
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October 16, 2006
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October 16, 2006
I have often asked myself the same question, and a have a similar set-up at home (once Xbox, one 360 though). Everyone who visits (a) no only doesn't know this is possible, (b) wants it for their own home immediately, and (c) thinks having multiple iPods scattered around the house is the same thing. MCE is a wonderful thing. Why isn't MS pushing it harder? Why aren't WMP and MCE the same thing? Why aren't there cheap, abundant v2 extenders flooding the market? I could go on, but this seems to be the heart of the issue...Anonymous
October 16, 2006
When I was looking into MCE it wasn't a stand-alone product. You had to get it as part of a new PC purchase. I build my own PC's, so I have no way of getting a copy to use. I wanted to setup a nice system and connect it to my 360 and xbox, but couldn't do it.Anonymous
October 16, 2006
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October 16, 2006
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October 16, 2006
Doh! That should have read "I do wish there were cheaper extender/DVD player combos".Anonymous
October 16, 2006
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October 16, 2006
Over the past week I have got a great amount of feedback (more feedback) from my question about switch...Anonymous
October 16, 2006
Over the past week I have got a great amount of feedback (more feedback) from my question about switchAnonymous
October 16, 2006
We have got 60 or so reasons so far about what's missing, what should there and isn't etc at http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/archive/2006/10/10/167546.aspx and http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/archive/2006/10/16/180756.aspxAnonymous
October 16, 2006
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October 16, 2006
Here are a few of the problems.
- When you go to Best Buy or equivelent there is no information given about an extender. None.
- Retailers don't showcase the power of the Media Center ecosystem. They are in the computer section. There should be one in the computer section, but also one in the TV section hidden with an extender hooked up.
- Retailers don't show that you can even watch TV. They don't have it hooked up. Somebody go purchase a Terk TV5 and put in an ATI HD Card and show the thing off!
- People still think you have to have the computer connected to the TV, they don't want a computer hooked up to the TV. They think that sounds hard and requires an expert (It probably does)
- First extenders weren't that great for the price. They need to be $199 or less and include a DVD player. If they were out there I'd own two immediately.
- In order to stream HD content to extenders you really need 802.11a or wierd (most people don't have either)
- They just don't know. It's a combination of advertisement and partners not getting the message across.
Anonymous
October 16, 2006
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October 16, 2006
I use MCE as a server to four Xbox 360s, and just started using MCE after the Xbox360 was released. Previously I used Tivo or ReplayTV on only one of two TVs in the house. We moved to a larger house right before the 360 was released and so I moved to an MCE based system then. The thing that makes MCE really attractive to me is the fact that it is a centralized system. Apps and updates only get installed to one machine; I can select programs to record from any extender and watch the resulting shows from any extender, etc. These advantages would not be nearly as great if I still only had one TV on which I needed to view media. Indeed, in that situation I would probably still go with a Tivo. The fact that MCE is PC based makes it more expensive and less reliable than Tivo. The fact that it is a PC doesn't make it INHERENTLY less reliable, but in order to realize any of the advantages of a PC (i.e. expandability with hardware and software, use of other apps when not watching TV) you have to tinker with the PC and that introduces potential unreliability. I love the way I use MCE, with rock solid Xbox360s as extenders and an MCE machine in the basement that hardly gets touched except to add some significant functionality (i.e. not to try out every new app that is released). But my situation is not the norm, and I think my analysis above shows why MCE isn't as attractive in other situations.Anonymous
October 16, 2006
I would love to use MCE for TV viewing, but I simple cannot. I live in Prague, Czech Republic. I have access to DVB-T and DVB-S. I cannot have both TV lineups in the TV Guide and MCE does not support DVB-S natively anyway. Only 4 out of my 11 DVB-T channels have TV listings. The rest does not. So I am forced to use ProgDVB even though it does not have such pretty UI as MCE. I am very disappointed that none of my problems will be solved in Vista MCE.Anonymous
October 16, 2006
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October 17, 2006
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October 17, 2006
The reason people aren't more excited about MCE is that people don't want a PC in the living room. MCE is developed and marketed as an HTPC and it shouldn't be. To do so opens up all of the issues of form factor, cost, windows UI sneaking in and confusing things that come with an HTPC. Instead Microsoft needs to change tactics quickly on the marketing front to a "you already own it" strategy where the PC stays in the den as a sunk cost and the upsell is the extender in the living room. That is a concept that the mass market can get behind and that is why Apple got more buzz in one press conference than Microsoft has gotten in several years of MCE. I wrote more about it a few weeks ago on my blog, I think MS needs to rethink their target market. http://www.thenears.com/archives/156Anonymous
October 17, 2006
Still getting lots of great feedback from everyone, and even better thanks to everyone out there we haveAnonymous
October 17, 2006
Peter, You are absolutely right! That is the key!Anonymous
October 17, 2006
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October 17, 2006
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October 17, 2006
Why all the comments about MCE not supporting HD? It has supported ATSC for a long time now.Anonymous
October 17, 2006
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October 17, 2006
All of these comments are great to see - it really does show there is a ton of passion around Media Center. The product team really does listen to these concerns. Hopefully we've made some of this better with Vista. I'm trying to pull out a few key things from what everyone has written. I'll go back to my earlier comment that it appears we need to spend more time explaining and pushing our extender strategy. I've thought for a while that extender was where it was at - but didn't realize how much Softsled was really in need. I don't work on the extender team within Media Center but you can be assured I will send this feedback to them. Keep the feedback coming.Anonymous
October 17, 2006
@Blake: Because it's such a small subset of the available content. You can get 3 or 4 channels (other places a few more) of HD content on an ATSC tuner. Sure, it supports HD. Now if you could only get 3 or 4 cable channels, would you still say it "supports" cable? I wouldn't.Anonymous
October 17, 2006
> didn't realize how much Softsled was really in need Remember the audience here though David. Geeks like me who read your blog via RSS really want softsled. Relatively speaking, that's a small market and it's the market you already have mindshare in (but would be good to have some initiatives like this to keep that mindshare). If it's mass-market excitement you're looking to correct however, softsled isn't the answer.Anonymous
October 17, 2006
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October 17, 2006
Softsled is a must for enthusiasts AND MCE novists since it could encourage people with multiple PCs (including older XP systems) to start discovering the value of the MCE connected ecosystem -- media sharing and home networking. Softsled should provide as-full-fidelity-as-possible remoting of the Vista MCE interface on XP systems. Then the extender becomes an easier upsell once people get addicted to the media-anywhere concept. The extender needs more retail support and MCE systems MUST have cable connected in-store for demoing DVR functions at retail kiosks. Also, Media Center and WMP need to become ONE product with three views: 2-foot, 10-foot, and mini/PIP (this could be exposed as a desktop gadget). Finally, there should be a Softled-mobile that provides an Orb-like experience on Windows Mobile and smartphones. Orb is a killer app but needs a dedicated interface (non-browser-based) that only MS (?) could pull off. Why is it that I don't get a slick, tightly integrated media experience across my MCE PC, XP laptop, Windows Mobile device (6700), etc. --- without resorting to an endless array of hacky third-party addons that become headache inducing for even a seasoned media-geek???Anonymous
October 17, 2006
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October 18, 2006
Bryan Socha -- your comments are right on! I could not put it better.Anonymous
October 18, 2006
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October 18, 2006
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October 18, 2006
HD setup and reliability MCE has shown how to do it. Now Apple will package it up, make it breathtaking (HD), simple and bulletproof, and the press will declare it genius.Anonymous
October 18, 2006
@Albert at leastATSCHDTimeWarnerHDATSCI donSoftsledwhere you live but I livMCEn Kansas City Kansas and with the ATSC tuner I have I can't get a single HD channel. Maybe if I put in the time and money to get a nice outdoor antenna I could perhaps get the biSoftsled as it is my cable provider (TimeWarner) provides roughly MCEHD channels (including the locals and excluding Pay channels). So ATSC doesn't do it for me. And I know atMCEst 3 other people that have trouble pickin frontmore than 1 or 2 of the local channels. Now, Softsled would be a boon to the MCE market if it were made available in the retail pipeline. Many (most?) house holds have multiple PCs now, and many of those have a home network setup. It seem obvious to me that Softsled would be a great product to leverage the capabilities of MCE to the other rooms of the house. Once people get use to watching/scheduling Television (as well as other MCE content) around the house and not just infront of the TV, it could really drive further Extender sales as people want to have that same experience everywhere in the home.Anonymous
October 18, 2006
It is amazing to read the comments in this post. People reading and commenting on this blog, are for the most part MCE fans and well informed. Still, almost unanimously, people predict that MCE chances of success at becoming a mass market product are small. Not only because of implementation flaws and lack of features, but because of its very own essence, that is being an addition to Windows (PC in the living room, price, not integrated with TV, noise, security,...) I agree with it, but it is quite depressing, isn't it?Anonymous
October 19, 2006
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October 19, 2006
DRM - not a problem specific to Media Center per se, but...
- 1.5 billion songs have been purchased from the iTunes Music Store (legally) and none of them will play via Media Center...unless you have a circa 2004 HP Media Center with hpTunes (which is no longer supported or updated)
- Zune & Plays for Sure - Why has the Zune dumped Plays for Sure support? Will Media Center integrate with Zune? Having not seen a Zune or used one, the little I know about leads me to beleive that the Zune team thinks PlaysForSure is a dead-end. It's just too hard to enjoy the content I already LEGALLY own!!
Anonymous
October 19, 2006
I've just been amazed with the comments here over the past few days. Your opinions and insights are great. My gut is that right now Media Center is in an evolutionary phase. We have gotten to a point where networking is catching up to us, consumers are starting to get the concepts and our initial designs are coming up short. That being said I work on the Media Center team because I believe in the product. There are some cool things coming with Vista and planned for the releases afterward. I think that you will see a shift in our strategy a bit, but even I don't know what that will be - and I'm not sure the rest of the team does yet either. The one thing I will say about the Media Center team is that we move fast and we truly do listen to the users and the market. Though I wish we could do everything at once, that's just on the way of things here (or anywhere else realistically) so we’ll continue to evolve and get better.Anonymous
October 19, 2006
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October 19, 2006
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October 19, 2006
@ Matthew: Here, Here. Great post!Anonymous
October 19, 2006
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October 19, 2006
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October 19, 2006
>>>>>Record whats in buffer if you press RECORD and program already started <<<<< This feature is available on all DVRs (for more than 5 years) but MCE. I am still amazed that even in Vista they haven't fixed this! This is really a shame. This is another reason why MCE does not succeed -- Microsoft does not fit and finish their scenarios. MCE covers a broad set of scenarios, but none of them is complete. You always miss something and you are never satisfy. In the end, everybody disappointed... It would have been better for MCE to concentrate on a few scenarios, and make sure they are 100% complete.Anonymous
October 19, 2006
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October 20, 2006
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October 20, 2006
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October 20, 2006
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October 20, 2006
Have to agree about the feature of being able to record a show in the buffer is long overdue. Dave, is there a hugely complex reason the team hasn't implemented this feature?Anonymous
October 22, 2006
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October 22, 2006
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October 27, 2006
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October 30, 2006
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November 16, 2006
What keeps you from using Windows Media Center...? (Charlie Owen) | Charlie Owen is asking what...Anonymous
November 16, 2006
What keeps you from using Windows Media Center...? (Charlie Owen) | Charlie Owen is asking what is keeping