Before you buy that new monitor...

taeric said:
I should be more clear, I don't think it is bullshit. I just don't think it will happen. I know they would like for it to, but they would also like the XBox 360 to be the most popular thing on the planet.

And even if VGA is going out, it is still here. They have never just dropped support for it.

Take in mind also that Mac OS is finally coming to the land of x86, if MS drops support for all the existing hardware out there, I think you could see a mass upgrade to Mac. Unless you've seen this on the Mac front? Any word there?
About Mac's implementing HDCP? Considering the large marketshare Mac has in the film industry, you'd better believe they will bend over and do whatever major studios tell them.

And I know VGA still will take a while to go away. But I think the promise of HD-everything and a 1 wire solution, consumers will switch.
 
MS will have to back off this...the consumer will not stand for having a gun put to their head, i.e., having to upgrade their monitor in order to have basic computer functionality

this will end up like the Intel security number embedded in the chip crap
 
why_ask_why said:
MS will have to back off this...the consumer will not stand for having a gun put to their head, i.e., having to upgrade their monitor in order to have basic computer functionality

this will end up like the Intel security number embedded in the chip crap
I'm telling you, the hook will be "you have to buy Longhorn to be able to see 'premium content'". The definition of what that is will slowly grow over time till it eventually encompasses everything. Besides luring them with the eye candy, they'll also start jacking up the prices on "old analog equipment" while slashing the prices on the new digital hotness.
 
theacoustician said:
I'm telling you, the hook will be "you have to buy Longhorn to be able to see 'premium content'". The definition of what that is will slowly grow over time till it eventually encompasses everything. Besides luring them with the eye candy, they'll also start jacking up the prices on "old analog equipment" while slashing the prices on the new digital hotness.

And the appeal of this hook will be?

What "premium content" are they going to be offering?

Oh... and yeah, I'm a computer dork. :(
 
taeric said:
And the appeal of this hook will be?

What "premium content" are they going to be offering?

Oh... and yeah, I'm a computer dork. :(
HD movies and higher resolutions in video games will be the first things. Then I'm sure some genius will discover how to use it to try to keep people from using pirated software.
 
theacoustician said:
HD movies and higher resolutions in video games will be the first things. Then I'm sure some genius will discover how to use it to try to keep people from using pirated software.

Movies and games will still primarily be watched/played on televisions. Microsoft may try to exert some dominance there, but they certainly don't have the monopoly in the right place to control it. (They do have a lot of money, to be sure)

So, again, what services are you talking about? Unless you see Microsoft finally getting the Media Center crap off the ground, Longhorn offers me nothing.
 
taeric said:
Movies and games will still primarily be watched/played on televisions. Microsoft may try to exert some dominance there, but they certainly don't have the monopoly in the right place to control it. (They do have a lot of money, to be sure)

So, again, what services are you talking about? Unless you see Microsoft finally getting the Media Center crap off the ground, Longhorn offers me nothing.
Based on the fact that we have 8 BF2 threads on the front page at any given time, I'd say you're incorrect about gaming. PC gaming is plenty strong. Think getting away from a PC will help? Sony said the PS3 is HDCP compliant so that won't help.

HD-DVD players and Blueray players are also HDCP compliant, so it doesn't matter how you want to what HD, you're going to need a HDCP compliant monitor to see it.

Will it hit the general web surfer/office apps user any time soon? Nah. But I'd fully expect some future iteration of Office to require Longhorn to run. That is when the screws will begin to tighten.
 
Ok..... so there are about 5 very vocal BF2 players here. Yay! :)

Seriously, though, the PC market is strong and vocal in places, but pales in comparison to the console market. Do you seriously think otherwise? And when was the last time you saw a family of non-comp nerds watching a movie on their computer?

And I strongly suspect that the wave of the future will be HDCP at some point. I just don't see it happening near as quickly as the next version of windows. So, how does Sony being "compliant" with the spec mean that they will require it, like you are saying MS will?

In other words, until HDCP is so ubiquitous that nobody cares about it, I don't see any software vendor requiring it. The same as HDTV. Wasn't there originally a federal law saying we would be there by now? Yeah, that happened. :)
 
taeric said:
Ok..... so there are about 5 very vocal BF2 players here. Yay! :)

Seriously, though, the PC market is strong and vocal in places, but pales in comparison to the console market. Do you seriously think otherwise? And when was the last time you saw a family of non-comp nerds watching a movie on their computer?

And I strongly suspect that the wave of the future will be HDCP at some point. I just don't see it happening near as quickly as the next version of windows. So, how does Sony being "compliant" with the spec mean that they will require it, like you are saying MS will?

In other words, until HDCP is so ubiquitous that nobody cares about it, I don't see any software vendor requiring it. The same as HDTV. Wasn't there originally a federal law saying we would be there by now? Yeah, that happened. :)
BF2 has apparently sold in the millions of copies. I would not call that a small shipment.

Actually, the law which you speak of still exists. Its simply that the measures that it called out for have not been met (certain # of TV stations broadcasting digital, certain % of ATSC receivers in TVs, etc) and the timetable has shifted back to Dec. 31 2007. Make no mistake, it will happen.

The PC market pales in comparision to the console market? Are you high? As soon as Longhorn ships, Dell et al will be shipping it preloaded. The average consumer will notice.

Like I said, the only place I expect to see it rolled out at first is video games and movies. Will it completely disable the products at first, no. But don't expect any sort of reasonable resolution. Know for sure, any software publisher can enable HDCP at any point (says MS's PVP-OPM system). Adobe tired of you ripping off Photoshop? They'll just enable copy protection on the next version and keep you from seeing anything. Since its a hardware level thing with bidirectional communication, you'll have a much more difficult time breaking it.