simplicity

I recently got an invite to beta-test Boxee. While, I have only used it on my Macbook Pro, I’m in the middle of debating whether to purchase an AppleTV or MacMini, I find it to be a great tool. If something like this gets integrated into TV-set or cable-boxes it would make the TV watching experience ten-folds better. Although, Boxee will be a great asset to non-live television you can’t assume that it will be able to get rid of cable because of live tv.

The issue comes down to how will people be able to watch sports? Until we can stream sufficient live HD content, I don’t think this will truly replace the cable.

At some point I would love to be able to see Boxee or something similar start to be able to use the internet to it’s advantage. Such as being able to hit info during a show or movie and getting the IMDB page and cast listing. Also, what about if you are watching baseball and want live statistics or information on whose on first and what the percentage of their steal attempts is. It’s these things that I think will eventually be where the television and cable experience is headed.

Mr. Ronen said he has been brainstorming about Boxee with a childhood friend, Tom Sella, since 2004. They were inspired by XBMC, another open-source software originally configured for the Xbox.

“We bounced around ideas on what the future of TV should look like,” Mr. Avner wrote on Boxee’s company blog a few months ago. “What a truly connected experience means? How people will share? How would they interact? How would they discover content? What is the role of the Web? What kinds of apps people will run on their TV? We drank beer. We smoked. We dug deep. We called it Boxee.”

They released their first version of Boxee this spring. By 2009, Mr. Ronen wants to attract one million Boxee users.

Source – It’s Living Room 2.0 | The New York Observer