In Search of the Digital Uberdevice 176
Decaffeinated Jedi writes "News.com offers up an in-depth three-part article discussing the game industry's race to develop an all-in-one digital 'uberdevice' to combine gaming, television, computing, and other consumer technologies in a single box. The article looks at the past, present, and future of such trends, arguing that these developments in the world of home gaming consoles 'could have multibillion-dollar consequences for industries as diverse as computing, consumer electronics, entertainment and communications, while redefining household entertainment.' Of course, the article also concludes by noting the fact that consumers have thus far shown relatively little interest in adopting such all-in-one convergence boxes. Could constantly improving technology, the ongoing exodus of young males from primetime television, and a revitalized marketing push turn the tide, or is the search for an 'uberdevice' just hype?"
Uberdevice? (Score:3, Funny)
GB-Uber (Score:2)
Then geeks around the world could actually rejoin the rest of humanity, and not have to walk around like Batman with his utility belt!
And then what? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:And then what? (Score:2)
And, to use it, recite:
Go go gadget tickle-me-uberdevice!
:-)
Re:And then what? (Score:1)
the same thing but they add 10,000 to the title
Re:And then what? (Score:2)
Re:And then what? (Score:2)
Exactly. The problem with any device of this type now is that tecnology is such a moving target. HDTVs are getting better each year. The PS2 is meaningfully better than the Playstation. PDAs keep adding features.
But... if I could buy an 80" LCD display capable of 1920x1080, I'd probably never want for a better display. (And Samsung has demoed a 54" display that does just that.) Games on the PS2, Gamecube, and XBox don't look dra
Re:And then what? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:And then what? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:And then what? (Score:2)
Hah! Yeah right. 1920x1080 is nowhere near the resolution limits that human eye [clarkvision.com] can discern. And then there's full FOV stereoscopic immersion. Mmmmmmm...
--
Re:And then what? (Score:2)
Same as always (Score:2)
Big changes ahead.
give it a rest (Score:5, Insightful)
A cell phone is a cell phone.
A PDA is a PDA.
A laptop is a laptop.
A music player is a music player.
Only large, bulky, overpriced devices come out of attempts to breed any of the above.
Re:give it a rest (before it's too late) (Score:1)
Re:give it a rest (before it's too late) (Score:3, Interesting)
I agree entirely. A better way forward, looking at what works at present and ideas that have stood the test of time, is a combination of two things:
What amazes me is that none of the big cross-media types (Sony and their like) has yet developed a central "hub" technology, and standard interfaces to connect the various components that form part of any home entertainment or computer system today. The precedents
Re:give it a rest (before it's too late) (Score:2)
Not surprising at all for a few reasons:
Supporting a single standard would require paying license fees to the standard holder (an advantage that no company wants to give to another). DVD-R and DVD+R is one example.
The entertainment industry is still afrai
Re:give it a rest (before it's too late) (Score:2)
Given the choice between tilting the playing field in favor of themselves vs competing fairly, a company will act solely in it's stock-holder's self-interest.
Fixed that for you! See SCOX
Re:give it a rest (before it's too late) (Score:2)
I completely take your point about wanting to control the standards; that's why I gave Sony as an example or a company that might do it. They already make TVs, audio gear, computers and so on, all themselves. If they could establish a definitive home entertainment kit, and get everyone buying their hubs, then everyone would be buying their other kit (or somebody else's compatible kit, giving them licensing income instead) and they'd be laughing all the way to the bank.
Re:give it a rest (Score:3, Interesting)
I've been waiting for a game system like the game boy advance, wifi enabled, cell phone, PDA, web browser, music player for many years now. Of course it has to easily fit in my front pocket....
On the home side I still think you need a good stero, optical in with bose like speakers. Another machine that could decode the satalite signal, have DVR capabilities, play CDs/DVSs, link up to my computer (WebDAV?) to access my (entirely legal) mp3 collection and videos would be nice. That machine must also
Re:give it a rest (Score:2, Insightful)
But at home, I like my boxes and boxes and boxes. I want 8 computers, an xbox a ps2 a stereo etc etc etc. It's just the damn wires that are the problem. Keep separate devices, put the R&D money into figuring out cheap wireless substitutes for the 2.6 * 10^13 wires that are pe
Re:give it a rest (Score:2)
I too like my plethora of boxes. I wouldn't own an XBox, regardless of what games it has.
As for your super portable device, yeah the smaller the better, and while we're at it I'd like the input device to be some form of thought recognition. Until we're there input devices may dictate some minimum size. The screen (unless
Re:give it a rest (Score:5, Funny)
A computer is a computer.
A monitor is a monitor.
A modem is a modem.
A DVD player is a DVD player.
Only large, bulky, overpriced devices come out of the attempts to breed any of the above.
Like a laptop.
Oh, wait.
Re:give it a rest (Score:2)
Considering how fanatical owners are about them, I'd say there certainly is a market for convergence devices.
No way! Give me the HD-based PDA + Phone + Music (Score:3, Interesting)
A monitor is a monitor.
A keyboard is a keyboard.
A speaker is a speaker.
which implies laptops are bad...?
Some things naturally fit together, especially things that have redundent or related parts. A PDA + Phone + Music player of appropriate size and cost (yes, that's key, I know) would steal the market.
The onl
Re:give it a rest (Score:2)
- A cell phone...
- A PDA...
- A laptop...
- A music player..
What do all these have in common? They were all once large, bulky and overpriced devices, just like their functionality-mixed progeny.You see it as a matter of infeasibility, I see it as a matter of time.
Re: A is A, B is B, etc. (Score:2)
Bingo.
It's like trying to combine a conventional oven, a microwave oven, and a toaster oven.
Each of these things performs well for a particular problem domain.
Trying to combine them into one device (as some companies have) results in a device that doesn't do a particular job as well as using a more specialized device.
In addition, if the device breaks down, you have no backup.
My father recently bought a T.V.
Hype? (Score:2)
You will insted see a set box hub that allows all devices to plugin wirelessly to what come sdown and up from the cable/dtv internet pipe..
But we have a long way to go for the infrastructure to be in place for developers so tha tits as easy to develop for as the J2ME mobiole device market now is..
But then again I am just a small devloepr setting up my startUp in Jan 2004 as a LLC..:)
Re:Hype? (Score:2, Funny)
MythTV (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:MythTV (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:MythTV (Score:2)
Freevo is nice too.
Just letting you know some other options.
ummm (Score:1)
3DO lol
Xbox huge lol
Phantom what lol
Jack of all trades...master of none. (Score:5, Insightful)
For example, the XBox/PS2 can play DVDs, without progressive scan etc. and often are more finicky in general DVD playback.
The XBox can also do jukebox type activities... Sans playlists, song ratings, multiple file formats and ID3 tag sorting.
The multifunction device might work for the unwashed non-technical masses, but I'd like to have all of those features and more in my entertainment system.
--AlphaDecay
Re:Jack of all trades...master of none. (Score:2)
would you buy intentionally cripled devices? well, people do(xbox for example), but i don't like it.
however, adding a dvdplayer to a tv costs(ok, in a 1000$ tv it might not be that much extra even to add a 40-50$ dvdplayer) and the dvdplayer is probable to break earlier too than rest of the tv.
Re:Jack of all trades...master of none. (Score:1)
and that is the point. It isn't designed for you, it's designed for Grandma who holds the mouse upside down.
I agree that all in ones are almost always a bad idea, with few exceptions. (I love my iMac and Zire71)
Microsoft Tried An Uberdevice (Score:1)
I think that the XBox is a great system for it's time, and it's capabilities where only realized after it became modified.
New box (Score:3, Funny)
But, what will I do with my computer, my TV, my GameBoy, my iPod, my
So Basically (Score:4, Informative)
Bam, TV, computer, and games(computer).
So where are my "multibillion-dollar consequences"?
Intel Digital Briefcase (Score:4, Interesting)
This seems like panacea and one might ask how Intel would cram such capability into such a small device. See my sig for more on that...
Well of course its hype and here is why... (Score:2)
All in one is bad (Score:5, Insightful)
Or maybe every time I want to listen to mp3's, I feel like dealing with an interface complicated enough to do not only that, but also record tv, download games, and make me a tuna fish sandwich.
It'll be great! Sony will come out with the playstation 6, but instead of just going out and buying a new console, I have to also pay for a new DVD player, DVR, and microwave, because it all comes together.
Yeah, let's just bundle everything together. We all know how well that works in the software world.
Re:All in one is bad (Score:2)
If it could make you a tuna fish sandwich, it'd be worth it.
You know it would.
Re:All in one is bad (Score:2)
Video game consoles need a high-density optical disk drive. DVD players need a high-density optical disk drive. Why not use one drive for both?
Computers need a video display and hard disk storage. Personal video recorders need a video display and hard disk storage. Why not use the same case components for both?
Even with "all-in-one" convergence, nothing's stopping
I hate uber devices (Score:5, Informative)
for example, with a TV/VCR or DVD combo, if the player goes, you also lose use of the TV if you get it fixed
Also, many all in one units employ certain engineering design choices that make them much cheaper to manufacture, and much harder to repair in general, precisely due to the feed back loops between the devices. You see this especially on the cube shaped audio units, but I don't think it changes much for TV units.
even with a hi-end name on them, I can't help but think of them as junque.
I would rather have a HDTV unit with a svga plug on it, vs a combo unit.
One size does NOT fit all. (Score:5, Insightful)
* Sony Playstation 2
* Hugues DirecTivo receiver (w/ two inputs, of course)
* Sony STR-DE995 receiver
* Numerous additional specialized components...including a VCR.
It's just not possible for any one company to take all of those functions and shove them into one box. What am I to do when my core receiver dies? Toss the whole thing? I think not...and I'm definitely NOT going for that service plan shit.
This is an example of an industry which has traditionally done very well with specialized components that do their jobs very well, much like any good UNIX command...and then can be combined into whatever the enduser wants and needs.
This is like the search for the single "holy grail" system...and it's not going to happen. The huge amount of diversity only limits the market for such a device.
If I felt like adding an XBox to the collection tomorrow, it wouldn't look out of place...but it would look kinda silly connected to my uberdevice stereo/dvd/cd/ps2/vcr combination unit.
Besides, fitting all the features into one box would be prohibitively expensive...and to make something like this affordable would only result in the sacrifice of features.
Re:One size does NOT fit all. (Score:2)
Sure you will. Technology today should allow them to produce this uber-device for a cost where you can pick up a new one, or get the old one serviced, for a reaso
Media Boxes (Score:1)
The simple answer (Score:5, Insightful)
It's just hype
Divergent needs mean Convergence is impossible (Score:2)
Any device that tries to be all things to all people will fail. The device will be forced to include too much expensive hardware. Each feature and port (a hot GPU, large HD, DVI, VGA, NTSC, DOCSIS cable, ethernet) adds cost and complexity that not eve
Re:Divergent needs mean Convergence is impossible (Score:2)
I'm not sure the divergant needs is really the problem. I think the devices are at odds. For example the DVR needs to be totally reliable and on all the time. If it is integrated with a game machine what happens when I want to play Soul Calibur III
Re:Divergent needs mean Convergence is impossible (Score:3, Informative)
Just hype. (Score:2)
perhaps ot, but... (Score:1)
I have noticed a trend among comments with slashdot stories, the highest commented stories are those with political or social links/ideas. For example, a few weeks ago when a story detailing L.A. County 'banning' [slashdot.org]
Why bother? (Score:1)
A company might make an uberdevice, which is a horrible name for this idea, just to say that they did
Not quite (Score:2, Interesting)
What's really needed is just a better UI for curren
Modular... (Score:2)
I personally hate the "integrated" devices. A VCR integrated into a TV set, a motherboard with integrated audio and video adapters, such shit. This kills modularisation and customisation. It's dumbing things down, so an idiot who can't plug a VCR into TV set doesn't need to. And of course you're stuck with worse quality components attached to the better ones. Say, I buy such an all-in-one gamebox and it works great as a MP3, DVD, VCD player, sat receiver and a few more. But after short time it starts to suc
We already have it (Score:5, Insightful)
Anything less will be err less. The only thing consoles have going for them is that they are cheap. They are cheap because they are designed for one purpose - gaming. Whats the definition of a PC? A general purpose computer that you can:
Play Games
Do general computing stuff
Watch TV
Communicate on the Internet
Isn't that the 'uberdevice'?
Re:We already have it (Score:2)
And what most people seem to be afraid of in "uberdevices" is: if one part breaks, you'll have to toss the whole thing and buy a new one.
Well, the PC is modular. If part doing thing x breaks, all the others will still work just fine and you only need to replace the faulty one to get the fully ubermachine back in business.
Of course there are the obvious minuses (there's no free lunch), worst of 'em (on some machines, at least) being price and noise.
Not an all-in one device is needed (Score:1)
Re:Not an all-in one device is needed (Score:2)
My last "uberdevice" (Score:3, Funny)
Now this is a novel thought... (Score:1)
Wow, so, you mean, like, I can watch TV, play games and listen to music all the same? And maybe also write e-mail, browse the 'net and maybe do my homweork?
Wow, this is, like, totally cool!
[/naive]
Now, let's look at this in a critical way:
Music - wondering if I saw a PC lately without a sound card... hmm, gues not
TV - snap a 20-40$ TV-tuner into your PC... tada, you got a TV
DVDs/etc - (almost) any PC can do that
Computing - Email, internet, a word processor, spreadsheets, image editing? You
And what I forgot... (Score:1)
Oh, wait, isn't that called a "Laptop"?
Sidetalkin' (Score:1)
[mental image]
Imagine sidetalkin' [sidetalking.com] with a Laptop 8-|
[/mental image]
The real problem (Score:3, Insightful)
uberphone (Score:2)
Re:uberphone (Score:2)
There's that old riddle (Score:5, Insightful)
A: A Chair, a bed and a toothbrush.
Some thing we don't want to combine. If a tool does a job, then let it do its own job. Don't try to force another tool to do the same thing.
There are certain things that lend themselves to each other. However, computers and televisions are not two of these things. While they are very similar from a design poiint of view, the way we use these devices is quite different, and so are our demends for these items. I for one would prefer a smaller computer. However, I want a much bigger TV. The main difference seems to be A TV is a passive form of entetainment that several people can enjoy at once, whereas a computer typically only has one user at a time.
Certainly some things should be combined. A PVR and digital decoder can be combined, and these seem to be very popular. It would be nice to also combine these with a television. This does not mean that everything else also makes sense in this respect. My DVD player does not need to be networked. I just want it to play DVDs. If I want to play a DVD on my computer, I'll get a DVD-ROM drive.
We can combine these things. But should we?
Re:There's that old riddle (Score:1)
Re:There's that old riddle (Score:2)
Re:There's that old riddle (Score:2)
the way we use these devices is quite different, and so are our demends for these items.
Quite true. A television maker whose sets flashed blue at random and had to be unplugged and restarted on a regular basis wouldn't be making tv's long. But somehow, this kind of behavior is acceptable so long as the device is a PC.
I know some people run Linux, but the vast majority of PC buyers just accept Windows....
"Mythical Convergence Box" (Score:1)
MythTV does the trick for me [mythtv.org].
Games, music, movies, web browsing, TV (timeshifting and recording), DVDs, pictures, weather...
What else do you need in the ultimate set-top box? MythTV does all of these.
There is a selection of these "uberdevices".... (Score:2)
So far non of them seem close, they're all much of a muchness, the plans that the gaming industry seem to be talking about are just more of the same.
Things move at different speeds. (Score:2)
Huh? (Score:2)
No, seriously, though, I do use my computer to watch TV. I haven't felt the need to purchase a television since I moved back to Mexico. I suppose if I decide to actually start watching TV shows with someone else (Unlikely;
Each item does its job well (Score:2)
Ps2 with DVD controler
DVD player
2 PC's with dvd-rom drive
But overall I find I use my small $50 dvd player over the other two choices because there is no boot time and it does its job well. The problem I have with all in one devices is that it takes a realitivly long time to accsess the things you want and it is more combersome then other single fo
Why the uberdevice is not forthcoming: (Score:2)
But no manufacturer wants to share the market with other manufacturers. Microsoft and Sony will not have compatible games or accessories on their "superdevice" and because of this, consumers lose interest because they can't share with their friends and neighbors with different "superdevices," be sure of buying an accessory and bein
Convergence is always happening.. (Score:2)
Marketing vs. Entrepreneurship (Score:3, Insightful)
Marketing is the act of taking a product and attempting to increase existing consumer demand for that product.
Marketing without entrepreneurship doesn't work (despte all the marketroids wishing really hard that it would). This strikes me as one of those cases. Entrepreneurship requires the existence of a problem, and the lack of a solution. Here we have the reverse case - people aren't asking for an entertainment convergence device, as evidenced by the fact that there are already solutions on the market that aren't selling.
A quick editorial comment on why: The components advance at a different rate. Integrating those components means that when you want to get the latest Playstation, you have to upgrade your television (or whatever the converged device is). All upside for Sony, all downside for the consumer. As long as Sony (or whoever) is letting the marketing people make decisions that should be left to the entrepreneurs, these things are going to keep popping up.
Yes and no. It'll be a virtual uberdevice. (Score:3, Insightful)
What's really going to kill this is WIRELESS. If all the devices in the house can interoperate over 802.11g, bluetooth, etc, then you HAVE a "virtual uberdevice". It's just a matter of getting the functionality to be seamless, and that'll take some work. Once you can stream your video files from your PVR to any TV in your house, stream your TV's captured input to your PC to edit, stream your ipod's mp3s to your stereo etc, then who needs to put it all in one box? Intel is working on putting RF in silicon so this kind of thing will be pretty cheap to add to any device. Multiple devices will probably be more expensive overall, but easier to upgrade. Will there be all in ones? Yeah, and I'll probably buy one for my mom because she'll never care to upgrade it. But anyone who swaps TVs or DVD players every couple years (gotta have that progressive scan!) or upgrades their PC at least once a year will probably go for seperate networked appliances.
The downfall of this is getting it to work right and interchangeably. I expect Sony or someone to show up with this idea fairly soon but screw it up so that only THEIR brand devices work with each other. Then the market will bemoan this for a year or 2 until someone like Intel or MS comes up with a standard. Apple/Sony/Phillips will then come up with competing standards, and after another 3 years of fighting one of them should either win out or all devices will support all the standards because it's become cheap enough.
So we should see it around 2007-2009. Probably about the time everyone's swapping out their obsolete DVD players for HDVD players and people are buzzing about upcoming Xbox3/PS4.
People want the playstation (Score:2)
The next consoles will simply try to capture the consumers with one central device, gaming, PVR, audio, tv. People might only buy it for the gaming or the PVR or a combination but the bet is
What about a PORTABLE uberdevice? (Score:2)
Hype: and I'll tell you why (Score:2)
Why would I sacrifice flexibility? This is a similar reason that I'm just not interested in the "DVD Player selling point" of the PS2 and XBox -- I can't do both at the same time if they are the same device.
Uberdevice (Score:2)
Uber (actually it's a 'U' with two dots on the top which can be substituted with 'Ue' in emergencies: Ueber) Translates from german into 'Over'.
So it would be 'Overdevice' or 'Ubergerat' (Uebergeraet) in german.
Which in german sounds just as aqward as in english.
It's a humorous approach to the bizar and ultrafashist concept of the 'Overhuman' aka 'Ubermensch' propagated by the Nazis in the 'Third Realm' aka 'Drittes Reich' or, mixed
Fields tend to diverge, not converge, in real life (Score:3, Insightful)
Going back to what an example of convergence would have been if we were looking at it long ago, you could make a technical argument that the computer and the copier DID converge, because today's copier IS a sophisticated computer in many ways. (Even a time clock is a simple computer instead of an old-fashioned mechanical device.) But just because computer technology is incorporated into a copier, that doesn't mean it's a general-purpose converged device. Instead, it's a copier and we don't even think about the computing power instead.
Devices are defined by what users believe they are, not what they're actually capable of. Just because a cell phone can take a picture doesn't mean that the customer thinks he's buying a camera when he gets one. To him, it's still a phone. Over time, people might come to think of a camera as being a natural feature of a phone, but it's STILL going to be considered a phone.
In the same way, it would be natural -- if convergence were really the way the market worked -- that we would all have one device that was a television, radio, CD player, DVD player, speakers, etc. Instead, we tend to have a separate TV, receiver, maybe an amplifier, a CD player, a DVD player and separate speakers -- all wired together. (I suspect the distinction between a DVD player and CD player might eventually go away, but only because they use the same form factor as far as the user is concerned. The user would just consider it is disc player.)
Convergence sounds like such a reasonable idea when you hear companies laying out their grand strategies, but it just doesn't seem to work that way in the real world. Iconoclastic marketing gurus Al Ries and Jack Trout have written a lot about this subject from the viewpoint of marketing and have explained why divergence is a more natural direction for markets than convergence. Although their arguments were counter-intuitive to me from a technical perspective, I believe they're right based on both history and human psychology.
Re:Fields tend to diverge, not converge, in real l (Score:2)
Sure, you're still going to have specialized devices and equipment. I'd love to get some specialized speakers and a better soundcard for my PC, an easily portable from my PC system for my car and for ta
GNUradio-based do-it-all (Score:2)
Imagine having a PDA that can pick up HDTV signals, calculate GPS positions, make calls via GSM and monitor your local police frequencies. It could communicate via any of the 802.11 standards, participate in a Bluetooth network, unlock your car and open your garage door.
And at the bottom of it all is a software stack, able to monitor and analyze any kind
Basic Principle of Microelectronics (Score:3, Insightful)
Just like cell phones didn't take off until they fit in your pocket,
Just like PDAs didn't take off until they fit in your pocket,
Just like Game Boys were only for kids until they made one that fit in your pocket,
Just like mp3 jukeboxes didn't take off until there was one that fit in your pocket.
I look at the current convergence devices like the Clies and I wonder... I can carry my Palm in one pocket and the iPod in the other, and yet if I buy a device to serve both tasks it will not fit in either pocket. Where will I carry it?
HOWEVER this does not apply to cameras. Most of the components of the mythical convergence device can be miniaturized, but camera optics can't really. There needs to be an adequate aperture and a long enough focal length or any picture you take is going to look like dim blurry crap. I'f I want to be taking pictures I will carry a proper camera. So I would like my convergence device without the crappy camera please.
There will always be a market for Uber devices . . (Score:2, Insightful)
And of course those that are easily flummoxed by technology. I'm sure you've heard laments like "S-Video this, Component that, recievers, formats, scan this, scan the other thing, I just want it all to WORK!" Well t
Uberdevices are stupid. (Score:2, Insightful)
That would be the PADD... (Score:2)
Presume that you have invented the "ultimate" digital device. It does everything and does it well. It is convenient, never breaks, never needs consumables, and is owned (not licensed) by the user.
It's cheap, too.
The minute such a device appears, thousands of marketing drones at dozens of major corporations begin working on a campaign to convince us this one sucks and we need to buy theirs.
Why? (Score:3, Insightful)
Just Hype (Score:3, Insightful)
Combinations only make sense when one component is used exclusively with another. TV/VCR combos work because there will never be a situation when you would need the VCR independently.
But how many times have you had the radio and TV on at the same time? Or the TV, computer, and game system on at the same time? If those things were combined, you would have to interupt the game to IM your friend - and instead of just turning your head toward the TV to see what's going on, you'd have to switch modes on your one screen.
In general, I think people want more screen real estate, not less, yet combining these devices means reduces the area.
It seems more 'efficient' to have devices that do double- or triple-duty, but in reality it's as practical as those combination salt/pepper/sugar shakers that some people have.
It will fail of course... (Score:2)
1. It will have to be as reliable as the most reliable component that it's replacing. This won't happen.
2. Upgrade of a single component would no longer be possible. This will piss people off who don't want to buy a whole new unit just to play the latest game.
3. Monolithic is stupid.
Simple solution: build components designed to integrate perfectly with one another and sell them as just that--components.
Some things work fine as MF devices others do not. (Score:3, Interesting)
PC Games have pushed the development of the PC more than business computing or anything else. To turn that into a Xbox takes away from the PC where hardware makers would have to detract from the PC side to meet the demands of the console gaming side. However this may change with the adoption of high resolution TV's the demand for console systems to have PC equivalent grapics performance will begin to go through the roof. It may lead to a exodus to the PC for those in search of better gaming expericene, or you get a different group of console systems with varying prices.. such as a Xbox and a Xbox Hidef version.
One of the more annoying things however is the lack of intergration (IMO the way to go) of your home electronics. I should be able to intergrate my computer systems with my entertainment systems and vice versa which is yet to happen. I'd love to have a TiVO that would use my home SAN to save the movies on rather than on it's puny 40 gig drive.
I want my music wherever and whenever which today is still impossible due to the outbound bandwidth restrictions of my DSL lines and very few companies offer upstream bandwidth past the 128k for less than a arm and a leg. I know this was to stem the abuse of the networks but in reality that's less of a concern today than 3 years ago when the networks were relatively new.
Either way there may be a all in one device but many times unless the parts are user serviceable and replaceable for a fraction of the unit cost and upgradable they're all doomed to eventual failure.
LOL the Phantom is supposed to be upgradeable in that aspect that it (if ever released) would be preferred by hard core console gamers over their out of date xbox or PS2's.
Uberbox? Ubermediocre. (Score:2)
Having an uberbox combining these mildly related things is an interesting idea. Picture if you will if someone created an uber-box-receiver with built in cd player, tape deck, amplifier, and even comes with some nifty speakers. Oh, such things already exist. And while they can be useful (they're often a great deal), they're decidedly mediocre. Trying to merge everything into one box means that the one box is a jack of all trades, but master of none. It might make a nice base system, but if you can affo
Re:My uberdevice is... (Score:3, Insightful)
In my home office, I have a TV, I have a computer.. while I watch tv, the wife does email or Diablo..
while I slashdot, she watches Friends.. -- how many UBERdevices would I require?
the only way this works is one uberdevice per person.
Re:My uberdevice is... (Score:2)
Re:"uber" (Score:2)