------------------------------------------------------------------------ A poll associated with this post was created, to vote and see the results, please visit http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=43198 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Question: Do you agree with this posting? - Yes - No - In the middle ------------------------------------------------------------------------
I voted "In the middle", the reason being that I don't think we need a NAS that comes with pre-installed SlimServer, but I do think a small computer with pre-installed SlimServer would be of some interest. The difference being that the focus should be on the "computer" part and not on the "storage/NAS" part. The only reason we even mention NAS is because it is actually a small computer, but the problem with most NAS boxes is that they are focused on storage while they also can act as a computer, but they really hasn't got enough power/performance to do so in a good way. SlimServer/SqueezeCenter really needs more performance to give a good consumer experience. I think a box that did something like the following would be of some interest: - Was able to run SlimServer/SqueezeCenter with satisfying speed, a guess is that we are talking about a box with at least 256-512MB memory and maybe 1GHz processor. This is something that almost none of the NAS boxes have. - Come with pre-installed/preconfigured SlimServer/SqueezeCenter - Had a CDROM player and necessary software to allow the consumer to insert a CD and automatically rip it, tag it and put it on the correct place in the music library. There already is a third party prototype plugin in the developers forum that tries to do this. Now, even though I think a device like this would be of interest, I really don't want Logitech to focus on making the hardware for such device. So I think the best solution would be to establish some partnership with a third party vendor which would provide the box and Logitech could still just focus on the SlimServer/SqueezeCenter software part. However, the main obstacle for this this device to be a success will be the price. My guess is that we are talking about a box in a price range a bit below the Mac Mini. The result would be that this will add maybe $500 to the total price of the SqueezeBox system, making it less price competitive compared to solutions from other vendors. I think one of the reasons the SqueezeBox system today feels like pretty cheap is because most people doesn't calculate the computer price into the price of the whole system. Today most people think of the price for a SqueezeBox system like: - SqueezeBox device ($299-$399) - Computer ($0, since they already have a computer) - Amplifier/Speakers ($0, since they already have a amplifier and speakers) Total cost: $299-$399 I think one thing that Logitech would like to avoid is to make people think of the price as: - SqueezeBox device ($299-$399) - SqueezeBox Server ($500) - Amplifier/Speakers ($0, since they already have a amplifier and speakers) Total cost: $799-899 So back to pippins question, which no one seems to be willing to answer: - What would you be prepared to pay for the device suggested in this thread -- erland Erland Isaksson 'My homepage' (http://erland.homeip.net) 'My download page' (http://erland.homeip.net/download) (Developer of 'TrackStat, SQLPlayList, DynamicPlayList, Custom Browse, Custom Scan, Custom Skip, Multi Library and Database Query plugins' (http://wiki.erland.homeip.net/index.php/Category:SlimServer)) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ erland's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3124 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
