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MrSinatra;267564 Wrote: > ha, funny. i was actually thinking "of a scoundral" by lisa simpson. Didn't Lisa Simpson say that "prayer" was the last refuge of a scoundrel rather than "sarcasm". The original quote was Samuel Johnson who said that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. Anyway, having read most of this thread, I think it has wandered down some semantic and technical side alleys (albeit interesting ones in some cases). On the semantic side, there is the debate about what is or is not a "computer" (i.e. PC, NAS, Tivo, etc). I think we can all accept that just about any of devices discussed here (real or hypothetical) are "computers" and in many cases "general purpose computers". However, when our less technical friends and colleagues talk about whether or not a SB or any other music system requires a "computer" they would generally mean their PC. Since in many cases they barely know how to use this PC (and it's probably full of trojans anyway), there can be advantages to having a dedicated piece of hardware for their music system. For example, I have a number of colleagues who own the Sonos and while I am sure that the ZonePlayer is actually a computer, they wouldn't see it that way. For these kinds of users, installing SlimServer/SlimCenter on a NAS would be just as unsuitable as on a PC (not because of the pros/cons of a NAS discussed here, but because they wouldn't be able to do it). Personally, I love the SB and the flexibility of SC, with its ability to tweak, customize, install plugins etc, but I know that doesn't suit everyone. The starting point for the original SB made a lot of sense: since most people already have a PC and router, take that as given and create a "slim device" music player. However, there are many people who find even that too tricky. The direction Logitech is going with the Duet suggests to me that they do want to produce a product for this segment of the market rather than leave them to Sonos. SqueezeNetwork notwithstanding, as I understand it there is still the expectation that people will still run SC (could be wrong there). I do think that there is a place for a fully pre-packaged Logitech music-server "box" that comes with SC and storage, and I'd argue that this should probably be separate to the SBR (although maybe it could have one SBR built in and then you could add more SBRs around the house). Here's where the technical discussion comes in: how much would such a box cost? I'd have to defer to others on this question and course experts/hobbyists/enthusiasts like myself could certainly always build something cheaper, but that's not really the point. I doubt I would buy such a box myself, but I know others who would. As an anecdotal example, I have a colleague who is currently renovating and is looking for a music system. I have been advocating the SB, but I may be unrealistic: several months ago I sold him my iPod (I was upgrading to 160G from 80G) and he still hasn't attempted to work out how to get music onto it, instead he just listens to the music already on there. For him the perfect music system is one that someone from the hi-fi shop sets up and "just works". A pre-configured SB server could be just the ticket, but instead, sadly, he's likely to spend more, get a Sonos and just listen to Rhapsody. So, I agree with the OP that there is an opportunity out there for Logitech, although it's to tap people who aren't like me. I'm happy with what I've from SlimDevices already. -- smc2911 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ smc2911's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4388 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=43198 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
