If there is a PC bandwagon rolling you can be sure that one of the first to hitch a ride on it will be Intel. The company obviously has a vested interest in selling more chips, so any re-invention of the computer delivers a real chance to expand its business.
Thus, not surprisingly, Intel has suddenly become very evangelical about the role of the PC in the digital home.
Earlier this week it flew a group of technology journalists to the Cannes Film Festival to share its vision for the role of the computer as an entertainment device.
According to Intel within a couple of years the space under our TV sets will feature not video recorders and DVD players but jack of all trades entertainment PCs delivering video, image and audio content to our screens.
Intel is also banking on the rise of a home server, a computer with a huge hard disk that harnesses wireless systems, especially the faster 802.11g, to stream video, audio and web content to devices and screens throughout the home. Users will be able to clear the CD and DVD clutter from their living room, instead downloading the movies and music they want from the web.
It isn't just Intel who sees the re-invention of the PC as a home entertainment workhorse. Sony also has grand plans for developing home networks. Last week in Brussels it unveiled the RA401, a highly specified desktop PC designed to act as a server distributing video and audio throughout the home.
All of this begs the question: are consumers ready to embrace these kinds of computers? In the short term the answer, in the UK at least, is probably no. Microsoft's Media Center PCs, which major on CE style content and can be controlled via a remote control, have hardly captured the imagination of buyers. PC peripherals like Philips Streamium (a hi-fi system that offers access to MP3 stored on a PC and internet radio) have sold in hundreds rather than thousands.
There are still many hurdles to overcome before the digital home becomes a reality. Here are five that are currently concentrating the minds of the more AV focussed PC hardware makers.
1: Not enough fast broadband connections
A key issue for many Britons is likely be their Internet connections. While numbers of broadband users are rising the greater percentage have speeds of either 512kbps or even less, which is clearly not fast enough if you own a network of PCs accessing bandwidth hungry content like high definition video via the web. The cable providers and companies like Bulldog are pioneering faster services - but these are so far the preserve of a small minority of home users.
2 Lack of sexy legitimate content
While Americans have a choice of audio download systems from iTunes to Sony's Connect, as well as movie download sites like CinemaNow, Britons are still waiting for these services to arrive in the UK. Sure - iTunes is certain to drive the digital home market with users seeking ways to listen to the files they have paid for in other rooms of their home. But we are however a long way from seeing any compelling video content.
In Cannes Intel painted a vision of the future whereby films would be launched simultaneously at cinemas and for private viewing over the internet. Somehow we can't see the movie studios ditching their existing, and very successful business models, to adopt this just yet, if at all.
There's also the issue of piracy. Legitimate US and European sites already have their hands full with Russian music download service All of MP3 which offers a significantly cheaper and superior music service to its kosher rivals, and whose status is unclear in terms of Russian law. What is to stop a video based download site based in another country with less developed copyright laws than our own delivering a similar service in the near future?
3: Dodgy hard drives
It is probably a generational thing, but I can't see anyone over the age of 25 completely forgoing buying discs like CDs and DVDs in favour of a file sitting on a PC. There really is no substitute for actually having a copy of the software item complete with the artwork.
Chances are too that anyone over the age of 25 has experienced the trauma of a hard disk crashing on them. Given our rather lax attitude to backing files up, users run the risk of a hard disk error deleting not just work files, but also treasured and irreplaceable images taken on their digital camera as well as expensive music files. An obvious solution would be for each file to be backed up automatically by an online server.
The trouble is that with broadband uploads speeds in the UK of just 128Kbps it would take an age for a large file like a film to be stored.
4: Too many formats
There are now four (MP3, AAC, WMA and ATRAC 3) competing compressed audio formats being offered as music downloads. This is likely to be repeated with video downloads too, with Microsoft pushing Windows Media while other manufacturers favour various flavours of MPEG and DivX. Confusion over formats has seriously undermined the growth of the DVD recorder market and once again it is sure to have a detrimental effect here.
5: Reluctant British consumers
From the consumer's perspective the major reason for investing in the digital home is that offers even more software choice. But maybe we already have enough to choose from already. Although Sky has shipped millions of digital boxes, a huge percentage of the UK population seems perfectly satisfied with the more limited Freeview digital terrestrial offering. They simply won't be interested in more choice.
