2014-01-10, 16:50
Krusty's recent teaser has made me sit up and take notice of Mediabrowser.
I'm a relatively recent convert to XBMC and am currently in the throws of trying to get a good PVR and integrated home network setup sorted, so it looks like a very promising and interesting fit. However, it also rasied a few thoughts and questions in my mind that Google didn't (or in some cases can't) answer...
1. MB's vision seems for it to be the glue that will bind your media world together. Use XBMC as HTPC front end, make apps for Roku, RPi, Android, smart TVs, basically anthing that you consume media on, so MB becomes the core that everything else runs off. This does have great appeal, and combined with MB3's format and stricter interpretation of the content providers T&Cs (e.g. no Youtube app without Youtube's approval), makes it far more likely than XBMC ever will to bridge the gap between opensource and the content providers.
2. MB has really made some great strides recently and I like its strategy. They seem to be very good at pulling Devs in to fill in the gaps (e.g.Krusty), and are very active promoting their product and broadening their appeal. However, there is something contrary in me that dislikes being pushed into anything & any hint of a hard sell tends to raise my suspicions. Which brings me to my next point......
3. MB3 is opensource which is a big +1. However unlike the XBMC foundation it's ownership is not quite as open & hence I worry over it's comittment not to try to screw as much money out its customer base as possible at some time in the future (e.g. Plex). Or to use the current jargon to monetise its customer base in some way...
4. The other thought that occurs is that in the above scenario XBMC is only really useful as a HTPC front end and a vehicle to play content (e.g. Youtube) that MB does not want to be seen getting its hands dirty with. If MB IS the way forward then are we (the XBMC community) wasting our time developing functionality that MB does as well or better. Should the development path be concentrated on just being the front end & integrate with MB for everything else, or should we continue to develop and broaden functionality.
My aim is not to stir controversy here, I'm just thinking out loud as a relative novice who would like some feedback from people who are far more knowlegeable on the subject than I am (and rubbish me where appropriate
). For any MB people reading, an About us/Mission statement section on your website would be a good counter to point 3 IMO.
I'm a relatively recent convert to XBMC and am currently in the throws of trying to get a good PVR and integrated home network setup sorted, so it looks like a very promising and interesting fit. However, it also rasied a few thoughts and questions in my mind that Google didn't (or in some cases can't) answer...
1. MB's vision seems for it to be the glue that will bind your media world together. Use XBMC as HTPC front end, make apps for Roku, RPi, Android, smart TVs, basically anthing that you consume media on, so MB becomes the core that everything else runs off. This does have great appeal, and combined with MB3's format and stricter interpretation of the content providers T&Cs (e.g. no Youtube app without Youtube's approval), makes it far more likely than XBMC ever will to bridge the gap between opensource and the content providers.
2. MB has really made some great strides recently and I like its strategy. They seem to be very good at pulling Devs in to fill in the gaps (e.g.Krusty), and are very active promoting their product and broadening their appeal. However, there is something contrary in me that dislikes being pushed into anything & any hint of a hard sell tends to raise my suspicions. Which brings me to my next point......
3. MB3 is opensource which is a big +1. However unlike the XBMC foundation it's ownership is not quite as open & hence I worry over it's comittment not to try to screw as much money out its customer base as possible at some time in the future (e.g. Plex). Or to use the current jargon to monetise its customer base in some way...
4. The other thought that occurs is that in the above scenario XBMC is only really useful as a HTPC front end and a vehicle to play content (e.g. Youtube) that MB does not want to be seen getting its hands dirty with. If MB IS the way forward then are we (the XBMC community) wasting our time developing functionality that MB does as well or better. Should the development path be concentrated on just being the front end & integrate with MB for everything else, or should we continue to develop and broaden functionality.
My aim is not to stir controversy here, I'm just thinking out loud as a relative novice who would like some feedback from people who are far more knowlegeable on the subject than I am (and rubbish me where appropriate
). For any MB people reading, an About us/Mission statement section on your website would be a good counter to point 3 IMO.
) trusted by the content providers yet integrated with XBMC might provide a bridge that would avoid some of the ugly hacks and brick walls that XBMC currently faces when accessing legal content.(wishful thinking?)
