ubuntu-tv team mailing list archive

[Jo-Erlend Schinstad <joerlend.schinstad@xxxxxxxxx>]

Den 29. nov. 2011 01:46, skrev Ian Santopietro:
> But then why have an Ubuntu TV at all then? Why not just take a
> desktop and hook it up to your TV? If that's what you'd like, then why
> bother with the TV mode at all? Instead, it sounds like your setup
> would work best with a full blown Ubuntu desktop installation, rather
> than a customized Ubuntu TV installation.

To answer your first question, because hooking up a computer using wires 
requires wires and work. Powering on your netbook does not require and 
work or cables. Even if I'm only watching TV, I might well want to use 
the laptop in front of me to enter search strings, for instance. And 
even with dumb TVs today, I often have a laptop nearby to chat or surf 
while watching TV. If the TV becomes a computer anyway, I don't see any 
reason why it should not be possible to hook up a keyboard and mouse to it.

Because this _is_ a PC. It is a PC that is primarily intended to be used 
to watch video, but other than that, it provides the same features as 
any laptop or desktop. I don't understand why you can't have additional 
software installed to make the physical product as valuable as possible.

The large majority of users see TVs as consumption devices, and that's
what they'll expect on a SmartTV as well. The consumption
opportunities are there, but they're expanded upon to bring in more
content from more sources, like the internet. But the idea of
developing a SmartTV OS that's just a desktop OS is antiquated, and
not a good idea.


I have never suggested anything like that. I'm just saying we shouldn't 
prohibit running normal applications on the users computers. If you are 
allowed to view video on your laptop computer, why shouldn't you be 
allowed to view a spreadsheet on your living room computer? Because that 
_is_ what these products are. They are big screens with powerful 
computers built into them, many times more powerful than the desktop I 
had when I first installed Ubuntu desktop. They have USB, HDMI, DVI, 
etc. Modern TVs have been computer monitors for quite some time now, but 
the new ones have PCs built in.

I see no reason to use Ubuntu TV if all it does is to allow me to have 
some fancy menus on screen. To me, that would be similar to having a 
desktop that could only use spreadsheets and was designet not to allow 
me to watch video, because it was designed to be a productive computer 
and not for entertainment.

Jo-Erlend Schinstad