ubuntu-tv team mailing list archive

[Thomas Mashos <thomas@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 5:06 PM, Jo-Erlend Schinstad
<joerlend.schinstad@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 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
>
>
>
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>

While I agree that having all those features would be pretty neat, we
need to make sure we don't over-complicate things for the end-user.

-- 
Thomas Mashos