XBox II Revealed, Maybe 117
aka-ed writes: "PC Format in the UK claims to have scooped the world with a look at Home Station, an apparent successor to XBox. A multimedia gateway that sits between you and that broadband window on the world, with MS the Gatekeeper. It looks cool, and it's a product of Satan! Who wants to be bad?" "Claims" is the operative word in the above. Update: 09/09 12:42 PM GMT by M : And it's even a duplicate story. Well, news is a little slow at zero-dark-thirty Sunday morning...
I hope... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I hope... (Score:2)
Wow, and I thought that stacking similarly sized boxes along the axis of their least dimension might actually reduce their visible surface area. Thanks for the tip!
3) KISS.
'Keep It Simple Stupid', my ass.
Re:I hope... (Score:2)
No it isn't. I'm saying that the xbox is a totally repugnant design anyway, and all the curve does is make it harder to pack it away under the TV along with the video and other consoles.
Ugh. I would want to see how you decorate your apartment.
Heh, I just got a mental image of you typing that message in an apartment decorated entirely in curvy black plastic with translucent green trim. How I decorate my house is to hide horribly-designed crap from view as much as possible.
Re:I hope... (Score:1)
Looks like its basically a newbie's computer.
Re:I hope... (Score:1)
All Nintendos since then have been curveyed topped, so you couldn't do that.
Likewise, if you put a VCR on top of a DVD player, bad things will happen.
Interesting how times change... (Score:1)
Re:Interesting how times change... (Score:1, Interesting)
Both of the two "revolutions" have meant that M$ has had a hard time keeping its foot in the server market, which has led to diminishing returns where usually frequent upgrades are necessary. Meanwhile most home and office desktop users rely on Windows, because GNU/Linux just isn't easy enough for them, nor is it marketed half as well as Windows. So Microsoft still dominates the desktop market, and still has a foot in the server market. The point is that people aren't buying new computers or operating systems as much any more because the market is nearing saturation - almost everyone has now bought a PC. This is why they've deliberately made Windows XP so incompatable - to drive more sales.
M$ have realised that software won't be able to suppor them anymore, so they've gone back to hardware. So yeah, it's gone full circle in a sense, but not for the reasons you cite. It seems M$ are finally aiming for Bill Gates' dream which he outlines in his awful book "The Road Ahead" - a world where electronic gadgets and computers fit seamlessly into our homes, and everything we do runs off Microsoft software and Microsoft connections.
Re:Interesting how times change... (Score:2)
Re:Interesting how times change... (Score:2)
They still make their money on software. (Score:1)
Re:They still make their money on software. (Score:1)
Also, I was thinking, how long do you think it would take someone to make an emulator for pc that will play XBOX games?
looks a lot like this (Score:1, Redundant)
hacking (Score:1)
whether you can actually play games on it or not, Linux on the Xbox will be too cool (and spite MSFT like nothing other
Re:hacking (Score:2, Interesting)
>MSFT like nothing other
Anyone taking bets that MS will try to get something into the license that would somehow make it a violation of the DMCA to run any other OS on this thing?
-l
Re:hacking (Score:2)
Re:hacking (Score:4, Funny)
Re:hacking (Score:3, Insightful)
sounds like a good deal to me. i get a nice linux box, microsoft loses money. everybody wins!
Re:hacking (Score:1)
Or are there differences I don't know about?
Umm... Haven't we seen this here already? (Score:1, Offtopic)
Slashdot wants to make things look more controversial? Well, it succeeded -- when I am sick of Microsoft and Microsoft-inspired idiocy at work, I look at Slashdot and see more Microsoft idiocy. I mean, ok, there was one announcement about HomeStation, people talked (and karma-whored) a lot about it, we have hard multiple times again why everyone except Microsoft supporters should just wrap himself in a sheet and slowly crawl to a cemetery because Microsoft will own everything, but why should we be subjected to this bullshit again?
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Umm... Haven't we seen this here already? (Score:1)
We are nearing the point now where "intellectual property owners" are capable of keeping their IP in their "physical possession," in the form of copyable bytes on a remote server.
In the new licensable-not-purchasable world, MS would like to be the gatekeeper. This story describes a device that sounds like a box-o-fun, but is designed to channel your credit card transactions, and funnel a good percentage of those funds to the gatekeepers.
As an illustration of Microsoft's current strategy and its logical destination, this article is either skillful fiction, or scary fact. Despite the "artist's concept" illo, I suspect this story is entirely true, because it dovetails so well with what is known about MS and its plans.
I do not think this is a good thing. I like owning my CD's and videos and games. I don't want my credit acct to be charged a nickel every time I play a song. I won't enjoy music much under such circumstances.
That is why I think this is newsworthy. Michael says it's a duplicate story, but I don't know what it duplicates, a search for "Home Station" brings up zip.
Re:Umm... Haven't we seen this here already? (Score:1)
Re:Umm... Haven't we seen this here already? (Score:1)
This is the best link about it! (Score:4, Redundant)
... no more comments about Slashdot editors.
Re:This is the best link about it! (Score:2, Troll)
yes, flamebait (Score:1)
Now, the REAL question is whether or not THIS post will get modded +1 Informative.
Linux based set top box?!? (Score:1)
Please support the Linux project - I don't want to watch MSNBC all day!
I remain unimpressed (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I remain unimpressed (Score:1)
And let's face it, is there anyone better at adding useless or unwanted 'features' to a product than Microsoft?
Xbox II?? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Xbox III?? (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Xbox III?? (Score:1)
Re:Xbox II?? (Score:1)
From a marketing perspective, it makes a lot of sense for a company with enough resources to do this sort of thing, and it's (obviously) been a very successful tactic in the past. Microsoft can afford to bury their unsuccessful products -- like the oft sited Bob, which undoubtedly had a second revision waiting for release in the event that Bob 1.0 was a huge success.
Fine, slashdot editors. (Score:5, Funny)
Can I have my 4 karma points now? (with apologies to Ayon Rantz [slashdot.org].)
Re:Fine, slashdot editors. (Score:1)
Got 'em. (Score:1)
Planned Obsolescence, Anyone? (Score:2, Insightful)
--
Insert witty URL here
Yes it's a "Manufactured" image, BUT- (Score:1)
Did you see a Photograph of the Playstation 2 when people first started hearing about that? No, of course you didnt, you saw a Computer-Generated image of what they thought it was going to look like.
Of course the image is Manufactured, The Product hasnt been Made yet. Because it's manufactured, does that make it
vaporware (Score:1)
just the national enquirer of tech.
What good is a rumor like this anyways? (Score:1)
what about XBOX 3 ? (Score:1)
Re:what about XBOX 3 ? (Score:1)
in other news... (Score:2)
not like this article is premature or anything...
wait a second... (Score:1)
Marketed by SNL (Score:2, Funny)
B: "Its a Digital Recorder."
A: "Game Machine!"
B: "Digital Recorder!!!"
MS: "Its a Game Machine AND a Digital Recorder!"
Sound familiar?
IV
Leak,just days after Justice Dept says no breakup? (Score:1)
Time to postpone my home entertainment purchases (Score:1, Flamebait)
You can be sure any company in the "home entertainment nexus" business, and there are many, who sees that Microsoft is going to enter it some time in the future is going to get out of the business soon enough. The fact that we've seen nothing but XBox news for most of 2001 even though the XBox was never sold and probably never will be is immaterial. What matters is the perception.
Just as Microsoft might as well have sold millions of XBoxes in 2001. Microsoft might as well have sold millions of HomeStations in 2001 too.
Clarify please? (Score:1)
And, since I posted this Saturday afternoon, what's this about early am Sunday?
Don't be messing with my karma!
Re:Clarify please? (Score:1)
Content on Demand = No HD (Score:2)
The ideal entertainment center (from MS's point of view) is broadband plus a smart card reader, game controller, DV camera, microphone, speakers and monitor. With that set up, not only do consumers get content on demand by payment on request, but they also get videophones that double as a spying device! Otherwise, customers have privacy and piracy, which they don't want us to have.
So, as long as MS is using broadband and hard drive in the same sentence, they're not that serious about becoming entertainment leaders.
vaporware (Score:1)
Re:vaporware (Score:2)
Morons (Score:1)
if i run .... (Score:1)
Anit-Homestation Rant part dux (Score:1)
Personally I am really, really, really sick of this whole "computer as a componiant philosophy". Computers will always be distinct from entertainment systems. This is just another technology that noone asked for like HDTV, WAP and Webterminals. The only people who dig shit like this are marketing exec's who fantasise about total market penatration and hardware geeks who what to put linux on it. Not to dis M$ but they seem to be falling into this trap hook, line and sinker with the xbox and now this home station. This thing is never going to float
Amiga tryed this same idea years ago with the cdtv and it was a complete flop and since then it has been shown over and over again that the market does not what to pay more then $199 for a console with the failure of the 3do etc etc
Feature creep and hardware bloat are all right if your are a monopolistic software company only interested in crushing any possible competition before they can even gain ground but they are not the things that you what to see in a console. Consoles are simple single use item's that my grandmother could use, who the hell is going to do ten different thing's from it just cause all the games aint worth playing.
Clearly, at some stage the point of computers got perverted.
The whole point of computer's are not to provide a mean's to access MSN or AOL but that of simple personal empowerment. PC's where created becasue some guy/girl got sick and tired of having to rent time on the local college mainframe. Computers are used for writing reports, compiling program's, touching up photo's and, recentlly, editing home movies. Could someone please tell M$ that cause they dont seem to have a clue if they continue to come up with crap like this IMHO.
Xbox2??? (Score:1)
Metroid and Pole Position II will live forever-- or at least longer than Pokemon.