PC Gaining In Entertainment Value

from the so-sayeth-Microsoft dept

For years, people have debated whether or not the computer was going to be the center of the home entertainment system of the future – or if it would be some other device, pushing the computer off to the periphery. Microsoft, of course, has been pushing the vision of the computer at the center, so it’s really no huge surprise to have them come out with a study saying that the PC is surpassing the television and the stereo as the home entertainment medium of choice. Also not surprising is the fact that this trend is strongest among the younger generation, with teenagers being described as “fearless”. I pretty much agree with the findings, though, part of the blame has to go to consumer electronics makers who have done very little to really embrace a connected world. Sure, there are some products out there, but many are still living in a pre-internet world.


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Comments on “PC Gaining In Entertainment Value”

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1 Comment
Doug says:

Interpretation?

The news article wasn’t detailed enough to really see if the data supported the inferences.

61 percent view the PC as more important than the home stereo while 43 percent see it as more important than the television.

Me too. I don’t have much interest at all in recorded music any more, and there are only a few TV shows of interest. In contrast, I’m online with my computer during much of my free time. The article, however, drew the inference “These results indicate people look to their computer as a TV, DVD player, stereo and CD player combined.” Not me. I use mine as a computer.

Among teenagers, 73 percent said they want to access music files on their PC from anywhere in the home, compared with 35 percent of the adult respondents. Likewise, 52 percent of teens are interested in having a home network to connect multiple devices in the home — such as televisions and stereos — to the PC, compared with 35 percent of the adults.

From this they draw the inference “teenagers are fearless when it comes to technology. They’re using it to the maximum potential and trying new things.” Or might it merely be that teenagers on the whole are, in the words of Douglas Adams, “so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea”?

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