This self-indulgent post is all about how I’ve ended up with a Crystalbuntu AppleTV in basement. The How to begins in the Next post: Part 1 – An Introduction to Crystalbuntu
I love digital media…
And, I especially love the techie gadgets that make it all possible. In fact, I think I may have a bit of an obsession dating back 2002 when I bought a shuttle SS40 to make a (seriously over priced…) MP3 Jukebox complete with serial remote and monochrome LCD character display. At the time I had not even considered the possibility of using a computer to play video on my TV for anything more then a novelty, but that first try at a media PC started me me down the path to building the ultimate HTPC media hub. Now, a few years later and with literally dozens of motherboards, cases and video cards bought and sold on Craigslist, I finally gave it all up in favor of an Apple TV…
I think that says a lot about the current state of the set top box media player industry since it is now possible to spend about $100 and get all the video processing power that used to be locked inside a full blown computer. My very last HTPC served me quite well running both Media Portal and Hulu desktop. The fact that I could have a relatively cheap device (grated it was the size of a desktop computer…) that looked like a piece of stereo equipment and would allow me to use Netflix, watch live TV and play high-def videos with ease was a point of pride. I mean seriously, what kind of techie worth his or her salt doesn’t have a PC in the living-room?
The problem though… was that the whole setup was just a bit too buggy for every day use by anyone but myself. Inevitably, when my wife would want to watch something there would be some kind of windows update or other Media Portal quirk that made the whole setup useless. Not to mention the fact that a PC is loud, requires someone to push the power button when you want to turn it on and… Was never really polished enough to act like set top box that just works. Sure, I could have spent more time and money making it really, really good, but at the end of the day, its a hobbyist toy for a techie and not a user friendly appliance.