The Myth of the Living-Room PC

It's not just Apple that's failed to invade the living room. Computer makers have been trying to find space next to the couch for years, but so far all of these attacks have been repulsed. In January, Intel launched a huge marketing program for an ambitious PC-meets-TV brand called Viiv. Instead of a keyboard and mouse, you'd control Viiv from the sofa with a remote control. You'd download movies on demand, subscribe to TV shows, search clips by keywords, and create a personalized, self-updating video collection to watch whenever and wherever you want. This was the convergence of DVD, iTunes, YouTube, and IMDb—couch potato heaven!

Why watching TV on the computer will never take off

Slate

Tue Aug 8

8