Back to Vista, Tesco is a Yardstick and Sky is the limit

Back to Vista

Windows7 is nice, it has some new features, its allegidly faster but in all honesty the user experience is …. Vista

Anyway i`m a Media Centre fan and the new Windows7 Media Centre front end was to me at least a step forward, the new background of album art when playing music is a welcome change, the new way it handles TV/Sat tuners is great, the list is quite extensive as to the changes made from VMCE to W7MC but now i`m back on Vista. The programes i use to help my dedicated Media Centre machine run smoothly and do what i want just didnt work with Windows7, is it Microsoft fault ?? no of course not, its a matter of 3rd party software developers catching up and making there software Windows7 compatible, so as nice as Windows7 is …. its back to Vista for me, and maybe i`m just lucky but i have never really had any issues with Vista, its always been reliable for me and on my latest quad core machine is definately faster than Windows7 was when it was installed

Tesco is a yardstick

For anyone outside the Uk, Tesco is the name of a giant Supermarket chain in the Uk, in the States i guess its like WallMart, so for the second time this year i trundled down there with the wife who needed some shopping, she nearly fell over when i said i wanted to go, (its not a place i normally like to visit) but as i dont own any BlueRay films and so couldnt test some new codecs on my HTPC, i needed to go and buy one, Now bearing in mind this is a massive Multi million Supermarket chain there collection of BlueRay titles extended to a total of 20 Films, the top 20, thats it, no more anywhere !!! there collection of standard Def films was large and extensive but BlueRay, the winner of the HD war was resigned to a small display that frankly looked pathetic. So i then got to wondering why this is, it isnt the pricing thats for sure, most titles in the pathetic BlueRay section where around £14 to £17 which, whilst not being giveaway isnt exactly earth shatteringly expensive either.

The answer to the lack of BlueRay choice was to be found in the Electrical goods section, i had a shufty around, up and down isles of DVD recorders for less than a good night out, DVD players for £20 and £30, Upscalers for next to nothing and Divx players which quite frankly you wouldnt want unless you were really desperate untill finaly i found a BlueRay player…… £186, and incase you feel your eyes misread that i`l type it again ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SIX UK POUNDS. Amazed, you bet i was and its not as if BlueRay just won the HD war either, HDDVD manufacturers threw in the Towel back in early 2008, late 2007, so BlueRay has had the road all to itself for over a year now and in 6 months time it will be 2 years, so there lies the reason why the BlueRay format is still less than popular, the manufacturers of BlueRay players are utterly and completely taking the consumer or trying to take the consumer for a ride, its shameful and its counter productive, times move on very very, very quickly and before you no it, BlueRay will be a thing of the past superceeded by the next digital media

Sky is the limit

So what is stopping Media Centre becoming popular in the UK, i mean really popular, in the States its gaining popularity all the time, in Australia its gaining popularity, these countrys use it or are trying to use it as PVR`s, as fancy front ends for there televisual pleasure, they have installer conferences, and intergrater alliances but what does the Uk have apart from the Digital Lifestyle, a few dedicated developers and enthusiasts and some intrapeneurial installers   ??? very little is the answer,  so why is this !!!

Well, the answer comes from a few hundred miles above the Earth and a man called Rupert, BskyB or simply Sky Television. For the unintiated Television in the UK in the main is delivered from geosyncronus Satellites to small dishes attached to millions of homes courtesy of an American company called News Corporation chaired by Rupert Murdoch , Sky Tv supply us with the worlds most advanced PVR/Satellite reciever ever produced for next to nothing or even nothing in some cases and charge us a monthly subscription for the pleasure, it rarely brakes down, it has an easy to use and understand guide listing, it has live pause and rewind, it can record 2 channels at once it even has an ever increasing amount of High Definition channels, it outputs in 5.1 audio and has multi room functionality, it is well designed including the remote which even your grandmother can use and which also can be set to control your Tv if so needed.

Now answer me this, can your grandmother ( for example ) easily control and use your HTPC ??? No is the answer and thats why Media Centre in the UK will never become as popluar or as prevalant as it is in other parts of the world, it dosent mean Grandmothers have a higher IQ outside the UK, it simply means that here in the UK we dont need to have Media Centre as a PVR, Joe Blogs just wouldnt no what to do with it, he is more than happy with what he has already got.. Sky Tv  and if its not needed by the majority then development due to need just dosent happen.

Sky is the limit in the Uk, it limits Media Centres popularity due to lack of main stream Tv support  but it dosent stop us Media Centre enthusiasts from trying to enroll the whole lot into one, if that were to be the case one day there would be some very happy Media Centre users in the UK indeed and of course Pigs would fly !

Sky Tv on the Xbox dosent count by the way because it never got included in the Media Centre interface, but man it was close