I dont think the PC is dying either. Its not impossible that Windows could die one day in the future, but as you pointed out, the Mac is mostly PC hardware these days. The ever changing set of standards for different bits that make up PC hardware, and make it 'PC compatible' is not going anywhere from what I can see.
Here in the UK Apple had hardly any presence or market share or even brand awareness, until the last few years (eg they opened the second UK apple store just under 2 years ago). Until I got into VJing I didnt know anybody at all with a Mac. Now I have 3 Macs, and one reason for this is that I love how quiet they are. I love my macbook because it has no fans on the base, but then again maybe Apple products dont always live as long as PCs because Apple have different thermal standards maybe? Just speculation, My oldest Mac is not 2 years old yet and Ive been blessed with no failures so far, but they will certainly be harder to salvage when something goes wrong than the average PC. So anyways Im interested in Ruperts opinions of the Windows Media Center thang, why he thinks it is right. I havent tried it much but I was under the impression it was mostly compatible with wmv,a nd whatever microsofts format is for recording digital tv. So I assumed media of other formats has to be converted to be watched, which is an instant turnoff for me. Have I got this detail all wrong? I dont think a comparison between a computer with windows media center on it, and Apple TV, is comparing like for like. The equivalent Apple thing would be a full mac computer (eg mac mini) with front-row on it, and the Apple TV is more like what Microsoft promote as 'windows media center extenders'. These are devices such as the Xbox360 that are connected to the TV and can play media that is stored on the Windows Media Center computer, via network. Although I think they need to stream it live, wheras the Apple TV has a hard drive? Still at the end of the day personally it comes back to how loud the hardware is, and what formats it can support. As I got on quite well with eyeTV for recording, id probably get a mac mini, use eye-tv, itunes & frontrow on it, and then use VLC to support more formats. Granted this is still too fiddley as only frontrow really has the right UI designed for distance TV use, but even if I went for a PC solution I think Id end up looking for 3rd party stuff I guess, to deal with format issues. Remote control is another issue, I think I prefer Apples simplistic approach, although it has limitations. Been experimenting with getting Wii remote to work with computers, seems more stable & flexible on PC than Mac at the moment unfortunately, but really enhances the possibilities of what interaction if feasible from a distance with a remote, great stuff, and makes a full-blown computer with net surfing etc as well as media playback, an attractive thing to connect to a tv. Its a shame the Wii itself doesnt handle a wider range of media and have some nice storage options, as its dead quiet, probably doesnt use too much power, is small and the remote rocks. The web browser for it is interesting and the news/weather aggregators are very nice ways to interact with & watch data from a distance. Youtube works on it (flash 7 in browser) but thats about the only commonly used vlog format I think I can watch on the Wii. Cheers Steve Elbows --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, Rupert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Randy, > I'm a Mac fan and have both PC & Macs (PowerPC G4 x2). One of my > many freelancing jobs is helping people sort out their computer > problems. I don't think the PC is a slowly dying dinosaur. PCs are > here to stay because people like what they know. You could look at > Mac's transition to Intel as a slow convergence towards a world of > oneness where both exist together in a compatible PC world. Macs > are now really just smart-looking high-spec PCs, with a slightly > different OS. Vista has learnt from and copied OS X in its > appearance and functionality. The next computer I'm going to buy > is not a Mac - I've had too many hard drive failures on my G4s and my > iPod to love Apple hardware any more. It's all about features. I > have all the design and editing software I need on Mac already, but > what I want from PC is Windows Media Center - integrated TV, HDR, > Video on demand, Podcasting, RSS, Music, blah blah blah. This is > traditional Mac territory, but Vista has done it better this time. > Apple TV is seriously short on features. > > Rupert > http://www.fatgirlinohio.org > http://www.crowdabout.us/fatgirlinohio/myshow/ > > > > > On 15 Mar 2007, at 17:39, humancloner1997 wrote: > > Daryl, you mention that you would also have "pc accessability" while > working with flash. Would the new Mac with the Intel chip that can > run Windows qualify as "pc accessability". > I'm planning on buying a second computer. I considered a good pc but > then decided the new Mac with the Intel chip would work just as > well. I edit with iMovie but like programs like Microsoft Word in > the PC. However, since switching to Mac, I view the PC as a slowly > dying dinosaur. > Is there any reason I should consider getting a top of the line pc > instead of a new Intel Mac? Money is not an important > consideration. I never worked with video on a PC because my old PC > didn't have the strength. > > Randolfe (Randy) Wicker > > --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "Daryl Urig" <daryl@> wrote: > > > > Rupert, thanks for comments. > > > > With flash you can add navigation buttons if you want to have a > little more than a video, > > you can have an interactive video. Also, with flash you can save > out a quicktime and still > > have some of the navigation capabilaties. > > > > Coming from a flash perspective, as I am, what kind of file formats > would you make > > available on your vblog site to keep the most viewers happy? > > > > I am working on a mac so would probably use Imovie to to video > editing, and also have pc > > accessability. > > > > Daryl > > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >
