[sapnho]

Having had my HTPC Jukebox for a few months now, I can't imagine going back to a "life" where you had to put in a CD everytime you wanted to listen to music. I have ripped all my ca. 800 CDs to the computer and enjoy the mixes and the ease of the user interface via the Pronto enormously.


Do you think that this will also be the commercial way forward? There are a few MP3/WAV jukeboxes out there but more often for a walkman like replacement than a replacement for the CD player. Will the majority of people be reluctant to the one-off effort of ripping your CDs? Will copyright protection prevent the launch of future devices?


What are your views?

 

[Phat Phreddy]

I belive it will become mainstream as I also believe that media will become digitally distributed and the physical medium will become antiquated....


What worries me is the lowest common denominator 128kbps MP3 may be the format that gets the masses... I do hope that there are systems that involve both buy once own for your use anywhere and high resolution and bit depth....


I also recently took the time to make a media store box and ripped all my CD's to APE... Not only are my purchases safe and backed up (no more scratches / lost CD's but the whole system is easier....

 

[Phat Phreddy]

I belive it will become mainstream as I also believe that media will become digitally distributed and the physical medium will become antiquated....


What worries me is the lowest common denominator 128kbps MP3 may be the format that gets the masses... I do hope that there are systems that involve both buy once own for your use anywhere and high resolution and bit depth....


I also recently took the time to make a media store box and ripped all my CD's to APE... Not only are my purchases safe and backed up no more scratches / lost CD's but the whole system is easier....

 

[greggplummer]

I think it will become mainstream if products like Microsoft's Media Center PC become mainstream. With more manufacturers building PCs to look like entertainment system components, HTPCs will become more popular.


I also think the advanced functionality you get from a software jukebox player is very attractive. I especially enjoy the auto-playlist features. This kind of functionality doesn't exist on any STB system.

 

[Bill Gaw2]

Someone will have to come up with a program that will make it easy to use, and add DD and DTS , and at least DVD-A decoding internally. Two channel is on its way out.

Bill