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+--- Thread: The Death of the HTPC (/showthread.php?tid=172160)
The Death of the HTPC - Budwyzer - 2013-08-26
With better and more complex hardware becoming standard in todays televisions, does anyone else see the HTPC becoming obsolete? While it will definitely be a few years before this is truly possible, but it does seem possible soon.
My current television is a few years old and already has a built-in media player that can access my NAS. Though the supported file-types are few and it likes to mix up what file is in which folder, still the thing is there.
While I'm sure the topic of getting a version of XBMC for Yahoo Internet Apps or Google TV has been discussed. What I'm proposing is the death of the HTPC and, inherently, XBMC if it does not adapt.
HDBaseT 2.0 FTW
RE: The Death of the HTPC - GregiBoy - 2013-08-27
Good luck!!!
(2013-08-26, 23:55)Budwyzer Wrote: With better and more complex hardware becoming standard in todays televisions, does anyone else see the HTPC becoming obsolete? While it will definitely be a few years before this is truly possible, but it does seem possible soon.
My current television is a few years old and already has a built-in media player that can access my NAS. Though the supported file-types are few and it likes to mix up what file is in which folder, still the thing is there.
While I'm sure the topic of getting a version of XBMC for Yahoo Internet Apps or Google TV has been discussed. What I'm proposing is the death of the HTPC and, inherently, XBMC if it does not adapt.
HDBaseT 2.0 FTW
RE: The Death of the HTPC - calev - 2013-08-27
Absolutely! In 2045 all htcp's will become obsolete when televisions become self aware and kill all of humanity except for a noble fighting few. Budwyzer, your son heineken will lead the resistance.
Edited for grammer.
RE: The Death of the HTPC - Dougie Fresh - 2013-08-27
I hear WMC is dead too.
And watch out for the 24p bug.
Seagates are faster than WD Reds
Macs are better than PCs or is that the other way around?
AMD is better than Intel is better than Nvidia (or some other order).
Or, something like that...
RE: The Death of the HTPC - aesalazar - 2013-08-27
(2013-08-27, 01:24)calev Wrote: Absolutely! In 2045 all htcp's will become obsolete when televisions become self aware and kill all of humanity except for a noble fighting few. Budwyzer, your son heineken will lead the resistance.
Edited for grammer.
LOL!!!
RE: The Death of the HTPC - nickr - 2013-08-27
I have two smart TVS. But my XBMC machines are far smarter, actually have a usable interface and plays all formats you can throw at it.
RE: The Death of the HTPC - saudagar - 2013-08-27
subject of this thread sounds like a sci-fi thriller... which will never happen
RE: The Death of the HTPC - nickr - 2013-08-27
As Mr Twain said "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated".
RE: The Death of the HTPC - teeedubb - 2013-08-27
Doesn't matter if manufacturers put card sized super computers into TVs if the interface, codec and plugin support is garbage. My smart TV is really dumb compared to xbmc.
RE: The Death of the HTPC - DJ_Izumi - 2013-08-27
I think HTPC's have always been a sorta hobbyist niche. Typical consumer options are pretty good but always have their limitations. DivX playing DVD players that couldn't do MKVs. WDTV boxes that couldn't do 10bit h.264 and have issues with certain compressed header formats which, while in the h.264 standard, were uncommon when the WDTVs came out but are in some encodes now and cause issues. Stuff like that. HTPC's let you make something that can play anything you throw at it (Though you may need a good amount of CPU power for stuff that can't be hardware accelerated) and can be highly customized to the users demands. It's not what MOST consumers need but it's what SOME need and those people that need HTPCs love them. ...Even if they need a little TLC at times to work right.
RE: The Death of the HTPC - Dilligaf - 2013-08-27
I would rather see the death of the "Smart" TV for an extra $500+ they throw in a bunch of half working useless garbage. It's getting harder and harder to find a "Dumb" TV, just a screen with no useless stuff added. I just bought a Samsung 55" 3D dumb screen for $800, the equivalent in a "smart" tv would have been over $1500. The extra $700 would buy a very nice HTPC that is much smarter than any "smart" tv
RE: The Death of the HTPC - Vampirebat - 2013-08-27
The HTPC getting smaller i could see as it is already moving that direction in the form of ATV, Zotac, Android boxes, Rpi.
Those smaller boxes don't have the muscle that id like in an HTPC but that doesn't mean their successors wont.
That said the HTPC offers far too much versatility that i don't ever see a smart tv matching simply because the companies that make smart tvs don't want you to be able to do "whatever you want" on or to their products.
They have a "this is what were giving you take it and like it" attitude.
Not all users are the same thus the need for a versatile media solution such as the HTPC and programs like XBMC.
Smart tvs will never be smart enough for "all" users because every user wants something different from their media and only an open source project such as XBMC where people are free to add whatever they like and customize their media experience to their tastes can provide that just right viewing experience.
RE: The Death of the HTPC - Ned Scott - 2013-08-27
This last year and even before that, I've seen an increasing number of what could be considered "HTPCs" being sold in retail stores. Roku, various Google TV devices, that thing that Netgear has, and just today I saw two Android based STB for sale in a WalMart, both that are capable of running XBMC.
It's really that "on-demand" TV is on the rise, which is why HTPCs are so awesome. Smart TV features are an indication that more people are interested in this kind of TV, but it's not going to take "market share" away from HTPCs. Most households don't have any kind of device like that, so it's really just that everything is growing in the on-demand market, both SmartTVs, real-HTPCs, and the things that are in between.
Just because a TV comes with some features doesn't mean people aren't going to keep buying stuff for their TVs. There's also a reason people use XBMC even when you can buy network players for dirt cheap. There's a reason why Samsung payed out the butt for Boxee employees. We're still top in the GUI area, because all these smartTVs and such have a horrible interface.
Let's not forget the part where XBMC doesn't have any DRM restrictions. Want to play a bluray ISO on your smart TV? Won't work if it's got embedded DRM in the video data (See Wikipedia:Cinavia (wiki)), but it will work in XBMC.
XBMC's download and add-on usage stats show considerable growth each year, and we're just one part of the HTPC market, which is just one part of the on-demand market. Death? ha. fat chance.
RE: The Death of the HTPC - jammyb - 2013-08-27
Face it. XBMC is the reason we justify our usenet/torrent requirements.
We wanted posters, fanart and descriptions too! :p
On a serious note. Smart TVs are basic and will never have what we have in our little boxes. Why do you think XBMC doesn't use DLNA? Says it all really. [well it does but it's main function is a play all via SMB/NFS]
RE: The Death of the HTPC - Qefx - 2013-08-27
HTPC? Hm Maybe, if I look at Android development and look at the Android TV boxes I could imagine that android takes the place over the place of HTPC´s in classic sense and replace them. (If you want a more open platform than just YouTube and MKV videos) I got for example a mele a1000g and I´m pretty happy so far with it. (Even it looks like firmware won´t be updated anymore)