Digital Home Thoughts: The Promises and Challenges of an Apple DVR

"The "Apple Media Center" din is growing, again. For those of you who dare ride the bucking rumor bronco, you know that the Apple DVR rumor mill reached significant output levels in November of last year when Apple rumor sites reported that their "sources" could confirm that Apple was going to launch a DVR at Macworld in January. At the time I expressed serious doubt, and lo and behold, there was no announcement. The rumor sites, however, were so firm in their predictions that some of the faithful believed that the product was perhaps merely delayed, and would be soon introduced (yeah, that's the ticket!). The big February 28 show came and went, and still no DVR. Now rumors are heating up again because Steve Jobs purportedly said "we hear you loud and clear" in response to a vague question about Windows Media Center. There's no official transcript and no reliable information, so as you can see, all the pieces are in the right place for another round of rumors."



An interesting article on the possible reasons Apple will, or won't, release a Mac Media Center PC in the near future. The case can really be argued either way, and no one knows the real answer except Steve Jobs. That being said, he's probably got something up his sleeve. Windows MCE is picking up steam in a hurry, and Microsoft is partnering with new content providers nearly every day. Now's the time to either step up to the bar, or give up the fight.