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Boxee Box (Media Center)

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26 pointstortilla25 comments

Blah. It looks nice, but I hate it when hardware manufacturers forget that people have other hardware in their cabinets to consider. Now there's this oddly shaped thing that you can't put anything on top of and won't fit in standard shelves.

Yeah, I appreciate interesting device design, but I think they'd be better off with something MacMini shaped (they could still make it black and shiny).

It was not the hardware manufacturer's choice. It was Boxee's choice. They chose this design. This issue was discussed at the unveiling last night.

It could be that you're just not Boxee's target audience.

It seems as though there's much less incentive for an individual with a rack full of legacy entertainment equipment to purchase an all-in-one device.

Specifically regarding the visual cues we see in the design - the box is literally breaking the plane of whatever it's placed on; the cube sinks into or emerges from what's below it.

The aesthetics of the product seem to indicate that it's aimed at an audience who doesn't own a collection of hardware it wouldn't "fit in" with; for these folks it might function as a centerpiece, rather than a tumor in a homogenized amalgamation of units.

That's a lot of "design and marketing" nonsense.

What makes you think there is a "rack full of legacy equipment", or that you're dealing with a "homogenized amalgamation of units"? You're just lining up straw men.

What multitude of devices does the Boxee Device replace that makes it an "all-in-one" device? It's one of many media streaming devices being released (though one based on very good software, granted), but all-in-one means it replaces a current multitude of devices. It does not.

I'd also like to point out that "literally" is not a term to be used when you want emphasis, the word you are looking for is "visually". Unless the device is a physical cube that you stab into the surface, it does not literally break the plane.

I think there are legitimate justifications for the design, if only that it needs to stand out in a market of plastic rectangles, but I don't think the reasons you gave are at all valid.

I take it from your tone, and from the first line of your response, that you think "design and marketing" is nonsense. I'd like to introduce you to this cool company I heard about called Apple (www.apple.com); learning about them could be a fun and enriching experience for you.

I also think you must have missed the comment I was responding to, so I'll excuse what sounds like a case of unbridled pedantry as mere ignorance. Take a minute to read the parent comment and see if you can divine the logical connection between my "straw men" and the context the comment came from. Is it possible that "sensible female spouses" might inhabit a household that already has an entertainment center?

I posit that if you can see past your nose, you can see that for people who aren't already burdened with a hoard of physical media they want to continue to consume, Boxee has the potential to stand-in for everything in an entertainment setup except the TV.

And yeah, I'll concede that I should have qualified "literally" with "appears to" - I just didn't imagine that anyone here would be douchey enough to quibble :P

I take it from your tone, and from the first line of your response, that you think "design and marketing" is nonsense.

No, I'm a big fan of design and find marketing very interesting. What I think is that your comment is full of pseudo-design nonsense with infomercial-style marketing, which is why I put "design and marketing" in quotes. It's not real design and marketing, it's some kind of cheap knockoff.

You use vaguely negative terms to describe existing equipment ("legacy", "homogenized amalgamation of units", that new devices don't "fit in" with) and vaguely positive terms to describe what you're promoting ("all-in-one").

Your argument is vapid nonsense, it reads like a Snuggie informercial.

It's a risky move. I imagine a fair amount of sensible female spouses will veto its purchase off hand. Personally I wouldn't have it in my living room either. It's kind of embarrassing looking. I have the feeling I would be constantly asked about it. What does it do? Why does it look like that? Followed by a brief discussion where I have to explain that I actually prefer sensible, sleek, minimalist industrial design instead. I'm not interested in having this conversation with people so I won't buy it.

An interesting assertion, given that the design of this device, perhaps more so than any other piece of equipment in recent memory (excepting the iPhone), epitomizes the visual aesthetics of minimalism.

It's a cube. The only challenging element here is that it's seated off-axis. I'm amazed that such a simple translation of form has provoked such markedly vehement negative responses from a certain cross-section.

Again, I think this is probably evidence that Boxee has targeted a very specific market segment. I doubt they're interested in appealing to "sensible female spouses" - those people already have an entertainment center and are signed up for netflix or blockbuster by snail mail.

I'd encourage all the folks immediately tempted to rage on the design of this device to take a step back and realize that if their first reaction upon seeing it is violent revulsion and nausea, it's probably wasn't intended for them in the first place.

Think about the market segment who, in recent history, has dominated CD purchases and what this device might mean as a distribution system targeted at them - but for tv, film, etc.

You may be right about the target market, but it's not fair to say it's just a cube. It's had its corner lobbed off, and it's off-kilter. Those changes aren't simple; the result completely lacks the self-contained stability of the cubes and grids that minimalists revere.

Please tell me that the logo on the front isn't backlit by one of those infuriatingly bright LEDs.

Cool design. I absolutely love Boxee. My problem with THIS device is this: just like all these media streaming devices, the box is another toy. I'd rather spend something in the range of a mac mini that ran a real OS, had boxee as one option, let me add other apps, and store all my media. There's a chance this has nvidia ion in it, but i doubt it does full 1080p.

The AspireRevo nettop I picked up for $200 has an Atom 230 and a NVidia Ion chipset in it, and has zero problems playing back 1080p video in XBMC for Linux... Honestly, I'd be more surprised if it didn't playback 1080p.

EDIT: I will say based on the fact they're supporting hardware decoding on Windows (and maybe Linux?), I'd much rather pick up an Ion-based nettop and install Boxee as a software app.

It's hard to get away with anything less than full 1080p on a standalone player these days, due to the advent of low-cost 1080p players like the WDTV (~$80).

I'd put money on this being Ion based with 1080p support.

I wonder when we're going to have Android, Chrome OS, or another of its ilk running TV sets?

inside of the tv or as a HTPC with an os specifically made for the tv?

The Archos 5 is Android-based and connects to a TV via HDMI. All the usual Android apps are available on the screen, you can watch (and download) video, and you can connect a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. So I think we are there, actually.

(The device then detaches from the TV dock and is a portable media player / Internet tablet. It was buggy at first, but I am liking it a lot now.)

When I saw the Litl (before Chrome OS was revealed) I thought that it would make a pretty good AppleTV competitor, with the added benefit that when not in use in that way it would act as a portable web access device.

(Though as far as I can tell, neither Litl, nor Google are pushing their devices in this way. Though it wouldn't be too hard to stream your audio and H.264 video via the web onto ChromeOS)

From a strict technical point of view it seems that my PS3 is capable of doing most if not all of this. However, after watching the introduction video, I think The Boxee Box might be worth picking up for the great interface and ease of use alone.

That's always been the issue. Technically many computers can do this, from AppleTVs, to custom Linux Myth boxes, to PS3s. Where Boxee shines is connecting to web-based media through an easy-to-navigate interface. Have fun trying to get Hulu videos to play fullscreen when your interface is only a remote.

Boxee has done a terrific job making internet media accessible. All they're doing now is giving you a pre-configured box so you don't have to do any major hacking/configuration yourself.

I hope they do well. I think that disconnecting streaming media from the browser will help move the industry along as a whole.

I have PS3 too, it can do almost anything like boxee here. However, I have old xbox (first one) with xbmc installed on it - now, that can do everything! (except HD on xbox last time I checked).

http://xbmc.org/

For obvious reasons the PS3 can't directly play pirated mkv files, which is the target use (albeit tacitly) for many of these streaming boxes.

I already have this. It's a $25 HDMI cable that connects my netbook to my TV.

You have purchased an overpriced HDMI cable too.

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