Recently I upgraded an old computer with an HDMI-capable video board and a wireless keyboard to make it my home theater PC (“HTPC”). I plugged it into my TV, sat on the couch, and happily experienced Windows 7 on a 52″ screen. Two weeks in, my experience is:
- Zero time watching cable TV any more. Zip. Nada.
- Hulu rocks! Colbert etc. – not available with my skimpy cable package – is now available when I want.
- Some time browsing the web from my couch. It works OK, but the experience is inferior to a laptop, so this won’t be a heavily used application of my HTPC
- Music rocks! I can now play music on my home stereo using my favorite PC software and/or Pandora. It’s incredibly easy to use, ie a a great form factor, and the sound quality is as good as your home stereo. I believe that HTPC’s are a serious competitive threat to Sonos et al.
- Photos rock! This was the biggest surprise. Remember your father’s slide shows? This is the new shiznit, and photos look spectacular. It’s a significant upgrade in experience from looking at photos on a PC.
My anecdotal experience agrees with my thinking (here and here) about the decline of the cable industry.
Oh, and Henry Blodget has a nicely written post on the topic as well.