By The Way, I’m Back
March 31st, 2008I neglected to mention this, but I’ve been away for the past two weeks due to a trip to China and Korea. (Sorry.) During the trip, I had the chance to meet with a number of different companies, but I was most interested in some of the technology companies and their vision for the future. By far the most prominent meme we saw at consumer electronics companies was that of digital convergence, the somewhat played-out concept that eventually all devices will converge into a single “master player” - say, a central unit that plays games, watches movies, connects to the internet, and so on.
It was with that in mind that I read about the new deal Microsoft has inked to make 10 minute short episodes for Xbox Live. Convergence is definitely alive outside the US; Korean consumer electronics were far beyond anything that I’ve seen in the States, and for a variety of reasons. Yet at the same time, I’m skeptical of its eventual promise: the best Asian products were those that did a specialized function extremely well, rather than trying to be a jack of all trades.
The problem with convergence is that only certain functions of each product are identical - the rest of the features are highly distinct. For example, a remote control is a great way to manage a television; but it’s very hard to surf the internet with it. Simply adding multiple interfaces to a single device is an extremely inefficient and clunky way to manage this style, and it’s the reason that I think these ideas have largely failed to catch on as quickly as we might think.
The reason I bring this up is because I’m somewhat skeptical that the deal in question is going to work out, and not just because the company in question has a dodgy track record of product quality. It’s just too hard to search and download videos on Live - or really, via any console type of product - relative to other media (like a web browser), and so the value proposition just isn’t there. I’d rather console manufacturers concentrate on making great game devices while developing improved interfaces behind the scenes. In my opinion, the technology just isn’t there yet.
Posted in Geoff, Xbox Live |
March 31st, 2008 at 8:14 am
“Korean consumer electronics were far beyond anything that I’ve seen in the States”
You can’t tease something like this! Tell us, what did they do that was “far beyond”!? Any hint that said technology might migrate here?
March 31st, 2008 at 4:20 pm
I’m a longtime skeptic of convergence devices. They make sense in a few areas, but overall I have always found that trying to pack too much functionality into one places results in a device that performs none of its functions well.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:51 pm
In terms of simply released technology, the products really spanned the range. Mobile devices that served as full-on video phones (you could press a button to display a fairly high-quality video of yourself and your caller, or twist the screen sideways to get local television at a widescreen resolution before switching between the two)… smart appliances like fridges that were designed to open automatically when you held their handles for three seconds and were designed in such a way as to reduce odor transfer (no doubt useful in a country with kimchi)… 80″ PDP televisions (still not really at a consumer price point though)… and these are just the products that are already on the market. Additionally, simply style itself was far sharper in the Korean and Chinese products - mahogany matching washer/dryers, co-branded and highly-detailed laptops, entire product lines that don’t exist from those manufacturers outside of their home countries.
Some of these products are out in various markets, like Europe, so you might not be terribly surprised. But there are major structural problems in places like the US, where cellular carriers dictate the hand- and feature-sets that are available in the market, that prevent them from being released wide-scale. My best guess is that they’ll migrate, but it will take at least 2-5 years in many areas, and up to 10 in some.
March 31st, 2008 at 10:43 pm
^^Cool, thats what I was wondering. Sounds like its a pretty broad area of development too, not simply phones, or TVs, but a wide range of electronic integration in everyday items.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:37 am
“But there are major structural problems in places like the US, where cellular carriers dictate the hand- and feature-sets that are available in the market, that prevent them from being released wide-scale. My best guess is that they’ll migrate, but it will take at least 2-5 years in many areas, and up to 10 in some.”
Blame this on conservative “the Private market will take care of it, LOL” naive idealists on Washington and some. I mean, did you hear the two FCC Republican representatives’ comments regarding Comcast’s recent public decision to stop filtering their paying customers’ pipelines? Like jesus, how can you be so naive? [naive = euphemism for 'stupid']
regarding convergence: ummm….hellooo? PC? anyone?
Lemme tell you a story, Jeoff: soon, I will be a proud non-owner of a radio, cd player, tv, etc etc… I’ll be recording my music, watching movies, watching Jon Stewart’s TDS [the only thing worth watching on TV nowadays], DLing and listening to music, PC/indie games, and more….through my already-higher-definition-than-1080p monitor, and not bother with anything non-gaming on silly ‘convergence’ consoles that are really nothing more than a gimped, DRM-version of PC.
Yes, this point is so important I shall repeat: no matter how ‘convergent’ consoles get, they will always be gimped, DRM-version of the personal computer. Hell, all consoles are best described as ‘closed’ limited PCs, rather than ‘dedicated gaming machines.’ PS: I still love certain consoles, dont get me wrong.
Plus, mouse control >>>>>> remote control, gamepad for anything other than some gaming genres.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:39 am
fuck. the above was mine ;p
April 1st, 2008 at 7:10 am
@laspy,
“fuck. the above was mine”
We knew, this gave it away,
“Blame this on conservative….”
You’re the only one who starts off half their posts with that line.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:47 pm
i almost always hyperbolize and exaggerate my posts for dramatic effect :p
it’s how i roll ;p
April 1st, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Don’t worry Laspy, we love you just the way you are…….even us conservatives.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:51 pm
….
wat
WHAAAAT
cisco = conservative???
oh fuck
this is like finding out your wife has slept with another man.
Well, i bet youre one of those who voted for this wonderful administration twice, you fool!!!!!11111!!!
you can consider our e-friendship over, buster! *grumble*
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:11 am
Hey, cisco, Jeoff/Geoff. Do you guys frequent any online forums? I really like and respect all you guys and would like to hear more opinions. Btw, I’m talking about non-gaming discussions like politics or whatnot. Neogaf has an excellent Offtopic community, but the mods sometimes suck ass, so any other forums you guys visit, please tell me?
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:34 am
I used to, but I found online discussion of politics to be a little too “intense” for my liking.
Although, if you know of a good one, where people don’t hate you for opposing viewpoints, I’d be interested to give it a shot.
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:54 am
They always say that you should never talk about either politics or religion or you’ll end up fighting.
Since part of the purpose of this site is to try to inject some civility back into online discussion, I generally avoid being too explicit about my non-gaming views.
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:21 pm
^^Bingo.
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Sorry, I put this the wrong way.
I should have said Offtopic, Nongaming discussion, rather than simply politics.
And yea, I obviously knew from the beginning that this should be a strictly gaming site, not a non-gaming site, so thanks, Geff. [side note: can you please include more discussion on PC goings-ons? Such as Nvidia vs ATI, Intel vs AMD, Instantaction, ..... you guys are missing out!]
PS: cisco: as I mentioned, GAf has one of the most hilarious communities in gaming. And the offtopic forum is better than the gaming forum. You have no idea how many hours i’ve spent laughing my ass off in the offtopic forum….as long as you stay out of teh idiotic religion/politics forum, you’re OK.
PPS: Vote for Ron Paul!!!! har har har