Monday, January 10, 2005
Incompatibility Threatens Digital Lifestyle
Posted by Janak Parekh in "ARTICLE" @ 10:30 AM
"For the digital lifestyle to become a reality, consumer electronics makers need to overcome one major consumer frustration: incompatible technologies, a panel of experts agreed Friday. Many hardware makers at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week are showcasing devices such as entertainment hubs, digital media players, gaming devices, cell phones, and digital cameras, as well as a plethora of multipurpose gadgets, but many of those products don't work together."
No kidding; we could have told them. If I could highlight my main source of incompatible frustration, it would be DRM. :evil: It's frustrating that the most popular music player handles a DRM scheme that can't be used by my Pocket PC or Smartphone without cracking the DRM, and it serves as a reason as to why I'm sticking to a lot of legacy technologies -- like CDs -- and I'm a technophile! I can't imagine what the average consumer would think. But it's not the only thing (wireless, sync, and so on), and I'm sure you have your own "digital lifestyle" incompatibility stories. I wish companies would grow up and realize standards are actually good for them. :|
No kidding; we could have told them. If I could highlight my main source of incompatible frustration, it would be DRM. :evil: It's frustrating that the most popular music player handles a DRM scheme that can't be used by my Pocket PC or Smartphone without cracking the DRM, and it serves as a reason as to why I'm sticking to a lot of legacy technologies -- like CDs -- and I'm a technophile! I can't imagine what the average consumer would think. But it's not the only thing (wireless, sync, and so on), and I'm sure you have your own "digital lifestyle" incompatibility stories. I wish companies would grow up and realize standards are actually good for them. :|
