Have you lost your mind?

Go have a look at AppleTV + ATV Flash.

Blu-ray: There is no streaming content that matches Blu-ray’s best features. You might get 720p or 1080i streaming with Dolby Digital, but no one is streaming full 1080p with uncompressed PCM audio… there’s a world of difference between DD5.1 and uncompressed PCM. Although, if I could choose, I’d actually be okay with 480p video and uncomp. PCM because, to me, the quality of the soundfield is far more important than the quality of the video (I’m not saying video quality isn’t important; just not as important), but I digress. BD discs are exactly the same price point as DVDs were when they came out in 1996 and the difference in quality (sound and video resolution) between DVD and BD is just about the same as there was between VHS/broadcast TV and DVD. Now, as in 1996 with DVDs, most people don’t have a TV/stereo that can really showcase a Blu-ray disc’s content so for those people it’s probably not worth it, and they aren’t the target demographic. The price will drop as the number of titles and players sold increases. If I recall correctly, a lot of movie studios refused to go DVD until a million players had been sold (Spielberg, at least, named this number explicitly for Dreamworks’ participation).

OTA HDTV: Get out of the city some time and you’ll realize what you’re smoking. And I don’t mean even that far. I live just east of the Hayward hills, less than 25 highway miles from the Bay Bridge, and guess what? There is no OTA HDTV out here to speak of because all the HD transmission towers are near the Bay or in Stockton/Tracy/Fresno/Fairfield (maybe one in Concord) — none of them has line of sight to here. A third of the Bay Area’s population lives in similar situation (though obviously not necessarily this particular geographic location). Remember, the federal law said analog TV broadcasts had to be shut off when a market reached 80% HD coverage or February 2009, and the SF area is nowhere near 80% coverage.

The Xbox 360 is a game machine that can act as a very limited extender for Media Center. Its noisy and it handles limited video formats. Its definitely a player in the scheme of things, but not one to “take over the living room.”

Microsoft MediaCenter has so much potential. But unfortunately Microsoft doesn’t see that potential for consumers as anything more than a “add-on” for their operating system. Until they see it as a standalone product, allow for better extenders, DVD Streaming, softsled (not just allowing streaming – but true server-client HTPC and less DRM false alarms it will never be the end-all of the living room either.

I say this as a true HTPC fan and knowing that online video will become more-and-more important to the viewer. But I think another company will step in and take that lead away from Microsoft unless they stop focusing on the OEM’s and high-end CE guys.

Thats my opinion anyway.