C
ChrisFrost
Software solutions are an interesting idea. They can do a lot. The Achilles heel is always usability and reliability.
Anything based on a standard PC platform is going to take a lot of looking after because PCs are, by and large, quite temperamental beasts.
If you do manage to keep the PC stable then the next hurdle is making the system so easy to use that a guest can get it working without instruction. Someone once said "Making things simple is hard". I think that's very true. Part of the reason why good multiroom systems are the cost that they are is because of the work done to make the user interface intuitive, logical, appropriate and attractive. Sonos works well because the user interface is so easy to understand. It's almost as simple as an iPod. Living Control, Nuvo, Systemline, iDyl, NetStreams, Kaleidoscape are all very good too because they work well even on a small lower resolution screen.
xlobby looks very much like an open source media centre control software package I have seen before called Bliss. The interface for that can be put on to a PDA or smartphone. The design and ergonomics though are someway behind the rest of the pack.
Anything based on a standard PC platform is going to take a lot of looking after because PCs are, by and large, quite temperamental beasts.
If you do manage to keep the PC stable then the next hurdle is making the system so easy to use that a guest can get it working without instruction. Someone once said "Making things simple is hard". I think that's very true. Part of the reason why good multiroom systems are the cost that they are is because of the work done to make the user interface intuitive, logical, appropriate and attractive. Sonos works well because the user interface is so easy to understand. It's almost as simple as an iPod. Living Control, Nuvo, Systemline, iDyl, NetStreams, Kaleidoscape are all very good too because they work well even on a small lower resolution screen.
xlobby looks very much like an open source media centre control software package I have seen before called Bliss. The interface for that can be put on to a PDA or smartphone. The design and ergonomics though are someway behind the rest of the pack.
