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No end of choice: Media Center's hidden bonus

Rupert Goodwins ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 01 Oct 2003 12:00 BST

When television started up in 1940s Britain, the only choice the viewer had was walnut or Bakelite cabinets. There was one transmitter, one channel, one announcer in a dinner jacket. You took what the BBC gave you, and were thankful. Things got more complicated when a second transmitter got going in the Midlands -- then you had to buy either a London set or a Birmingham set. Over the next twenty years, a couple of extra channels were added, someone invented colour telly and you could opt for a remote control -- but that was about it.

Fast forward into the 70s -- the first decade that you could fast forward anything -- and things got decidedly more complex. Betamax, VHS or Video 2000? Teletext? Then the 80s, and satellite: the 90s and digital. Has it got any simpler in the Noughties? Hardly. In fact, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the simple business of couch potatodom was as complex as could be. Choice -- another word for uncertainty -- must be at an all-time high.

But wait, as they say on cable. There's more. Think of the factors that should be going through your mind when you stare in awe at a Media Center PC. If I buy this, will it work with my cable or satellite subscription? My terrestrial digital TV converter? My digital radio? If I download music onto it, can I then listen to that music on something else? What if I buy a new computer, can I move my recordings over? What if I want to save them onto tape? I want to send email while the other half wants to watch the footie: who wins? Why can't I download the open standard electronic programme guide that the BBC transmits?

Those are the easy worries. Here are some more: do I really want to sign up for the enormous legal document that's the end-user licensing agreement? Does it cover everyone else in the household -- what happens if my charming children download something naughty? And why am I buying yet another copy of this blasted operating system at full price?