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So if I understand it correctly, the desire is for a simplified SqueezeCenter "appliance" that Joe Blow the non-PC user can buy. He can just insert a CD and everything will be taken care of - the music will show up on his Squeezebox, properly tagged and ready to play. A few questions, then... Where does the tag info come from? Mr. Blow doesn't have a PC, so why would he have an internet connection? I guess you could embed the FreeDB database into the SqueezeCenter box, but we all know FreeDB isn't that accurate or consistent - and how would you provide FreeDB updates? How would you provide updates for new SqueezeCenter versions? And what about album art? Mr. Blow doesn't have a network either - do you include a wi-fi AP in the SqueezeCenter box? And how do you control the SqueezeCenter settings and the ripper/encoder/tagger settings? You'd probably need a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. OK, PCs have been around for decades and Joe has never found a reason to buy or use one. But he's going to buy a SqueezeCenter PC and Squeezebox just to listen to CDs he already owns? No. Seems to me this whole idea of "expanding the market" has no merit. Joe Blow is happy with CDs and radio. He's much more likely to want XM or Sirius than a Squeezebox. And if he does want an all-in-one appliance that includes ripping and storage, there are many companies that already offer that. For the price of a Squeezebox and SqueezeCenter PC he could just buy an Olive. ______________________________________________________________ If, on the other hand, the desire is for a minimal PC optimized to run SqueezeCenter, then I think there's an opportunity for a 3rd-party PC builder to fill that market. There's no reason it has to be Logitech. This system should be: A small, fanless mini-PC that runs SqueezeCenter 24/7 and plugs into the router. It should have room for 1 SATA drive and USB ports for expansion and/or backup drives. Should have enough CPU and RAM to handle a large library. All control would be via a browser interface from another PC on the network. No optical drive or ripping, no graphics card or monitor, just a small, quiet box that runs SqueezeCenter headless so you can turn your PC off. It would also be handy for taking a Squeezebox on the road or to another location. It should cost no more than $300. -- Pale Blue Ego ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pale Blue Ego's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=110 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=43198 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
