Digital Home Thoughts: PC PVR Needs Vista and PVP-OPM!

"Using Windows is your best hope for a PVR that will continue to include the ability to do more with what you pay for, in this case, your TV. Since Microsoft is taking on the task of building a system to allow playback and capture, you benefit with the ability to do just that. Media Center is of course an application that will greatly benefit from this. Having the new ability to capture the currently protected TV that you already pay for, pay next-gen DVD’s that require a playback path that is protected, and more will all be brought to life with Windows Vista. I’m going to assume, but don’t know for sure, that Microsoft will allow other programs to tap into this. This would most likely be the same type of method used for Windows Media Rights Management currently. The third-party software developer would license the technology from Microsoft, giving them the ability to bring these new opportunities to their applications."

I think Chris Lanier is missing the point here. Once Windows Vista comes out, consumers will be forced to upgrade if they want to use their PC as a PVR. Rather than offering consumers an option if they have an existing Media Center PC, they will have to buy new hardware and software to get the same funcitonality they've already paid for. Situations like this are what keep the average consumer from buying a Media Center PC. It's only useful until the latest and greatest innovation comes along. Frankly, I'd be livid if I spent $1500-2000 on a Media Center PC, only to find that it was outdated just 12-24 months later. A scorned consumer spends his or her money elsewhere, something Microsoft is about to learn.