Actually, the set top box makers and the TV manufacturers have been doing their own programming since before MSFT heard of the concept. You guys ever hear of OpenTV?
The little mini satellite dish, for instance, gets its signal processed by a computer chip, OS, and applications inside its little box. Already happened, you see. Some of the folks at Tompson developed that.
And they have gone way beyond that, as have other companies doing sets and boxes in Japan. Sony, for those who don't know, is way big in programmble devices related to the TV set.
Since all the basic problems have been getting solved without putting Windows in those boxes, why have it? To pork their requirements up? To run Windows apps at low res? If you start out with the assumption that you are connecting to the Internet, putting Windows in there as a means when you have Java and other solutions available doesn't necessarily follow from the technical point of view. Nor the business point of view. Would you automatically think of partnering with a company that has little experience or credibility in television business or technology and is known to be dangerous to bed down with?
If you want to get hip to this field, I would visit three conferences: NAB, SMPTE, and SIGGRAPH. There you will see, especially at SMPTE, all the programmable TV gizmos you could wish for.
Chaz |
