Latest and greatest fad....

[GMichael]

What's going to be the next great fad? We've been through the CD craze, the HT craze and now the IPOD craze. What will be the next great fad to sweep through the industry? Games come and go. They will always be around, but they aren't really a new idea. The newer IPODs have video now. But they only output to compossit jacks (as far as I know). Will they come out with HDMI connections? Will the next generation have enough memory to hold music and high definition videos? What do you think will be next?

[elapsed]

The next great fad will be.... The Zune

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/top/micro...une-186359.php

I don't care how good this device is, there's no way I would be caught dead carrying around something called the Zune!

[hermanv]

What's going to be the next great fad? .....[edit]..... What do you think will be next?

Please, does Audio review send you a check for each response you elicit?

Sorry GMicheal; nothing personal, but this has got to be considered a pretty lame post for someone with 3273 posts to their credit.

Aw come on, at least star a flame war or make a pronouncement. Say "I think the next great fad will be: M'pingo wood CD sleeves to suck unnatural tones out of the digital bits.." or maybe "liquid cooled cables to prevent thermionic signal contamination". Better yet, "A mechanical stylus amplifier using exotic ceramic and carbon fiber horns" Anything useful.

Stay away from satire though.

[GMichael]

Please, does Audio review send you a check for each response you elicit?

No, do you think I should ask? Hey Eric, what do you say?

Sorry GMicheal; nothing personal, but this has got to be considered a pretty lame post for someone with 3273 posts to their credit.

I thought it would be fun. Most of my 3273(4,5,6,...) post have been lame. Don't you pay attention? I'm the comic relief around here. Start laughing or else.

Aw come on, at least star a flame war or make a pronouncement. Say "I think the next great fad will be: M'pingo wood CD sleeves to suck unnatural tones out of the digital bits.." or maybe "liquid cooled cables to prevent thermionic signal contamination". Better yet, "A mechanical stylus amplifier using exotic ceramic and carbon fiber horns" Anything useful.

Stay away from satire though.

No satire? What will I say? How will I survive? No no no. You can't make me stop. I don't care how long you tickle me.

[GMichael]

The next great fad will be.... The Zune

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/top/micro...une-186359.php

I don't care how good this device is, there's no way I would be caught dead carrying around something called the Zune!

Thanks, looks cool.

Ditto on the name though.

[hermanv]

In a more serious vein, I just bought a "home music server". It promises to deliver hundreds of CDs stored on the internal hard drive to up to 20 remote stations (wireless no less) each playing different songs or playlists.

With inexpensive 24/96 DACs and lossesless compression this does indeed move the digital distribution of a private library into the mainstream marketplace. It was certainly possible to do this previously with a PC, a wireless router and some kind of remote what, laptop hooked to speakers?

Now it takes no skill (begining to see why I purchased this?) and the grand convergence between computers and entertainment is on its way. The unit was quite inexpensive (by high end standards, it would barely buy a decent interconnect cable)

The big problem I see is that an anal purist (me again) now needs to buy reams of exotic amplifiers and speakers to take advantage of this wireless distribution of high quality music.

[JohnMichael]

.

Aw come on, at least star a flame war or make a pronouncement. Say "I think the next great fad will be: M'pingo wood CD sleeves to suck unnatural tones out of the digital bits.." or maybe "liquid cooled cables to prevent thermionic signal contamination". Better yet, "A mechanical stylus amplifier using exotic ceramic and carbon fiber horns" Anything useful.

Stay away from satire though.

Guess what? There are cables with water filled jackets.

[JohnMichael]

I think the next step will be implants in the brain that are linked to a satellite. When you think of a song and artist the satellite beams the music to your brain and it will be like listening to the song live.


Ooops gotta go something about time for my pill.

[hermanv]

Guess what? There are cables with water filled jackets.

Yeah, I know.

The water is not circulated nor is it for cooling, if I remember, the water absorbs some mystical particle that destroys music. Kind of like government funding of the arts.

[GMichael]

I think the next step will be implants in the brain that are linked to a satellite. When you think of a song and artist the satellite beams the music to your brain and it will be like listening to the song live.


Ooops gotta go something about time for my pill.

Got an extra pill? I was thinking we could do the same with video.

[hermanv]

With enough pills the technology for sound and music direct to the brain exists today.

[JohnMichael]

Got an extra pill? I was thinking we could do the same with video.

GMichael I am sorry but it won't work with video. Imagine all the people walking downtown in major cities watching videos stepping out into traffic. Splat. Now for porn in the privacy of your home, that might work.

What do ya mean another pill. I am calm.

[GMichael]

GMichael I am sorry but it won't work with video. Imagine all the people walking downtown in major cities watching videos stepping out into traffic. Splat. Now for porn in the privacy of your home, that might work.

What do ya mean another pill. I am calm.

The other pill is for me. Because I must be crazy too. Look at my crazy idea (video).

I need some calming.

[hermanv]

GMichael I am sorry but it won't work with video. Imagine all the people walking downtown in major cities watching videos stepping out into traffic. Splat. Now for porn in the privacy of your home, that might work.

Might be OK, currently all the drivers are watching Navigation systems, DVDs or applying makeup

[topspeed]

Media Hubs...at least this is what Microsoft and Sony are betting on. A single box to control gaming (online as well), DVD playback including HD-DVD/BluRay, satellite, music server for all your cd's plus downloads via Sat, and internet access. All in one component.

Watch. It's coming.

Sooner than you think.

[kexodusc]

I'm holding out for one them holodeck jobbies....give me a holodeck and I'll be set for life....

[Resident Loser]

...a CD whose program material will make your magic marker look greener?

[JohnMichael]

I'm holding out for one them holodeck jobbies....give me a holodeck and I'll be set for life....

Ya a holodeck now that's a great idea! What happens in the Holodeck stays in the Holodeck.

[nightflier]

Not to freak anyone out, but one of the technologies currently being researched heavily at the UC campuses hooked into Calit-2 is holodeck-type technology. They have eggheads and sociologists working on this and have several full-imersion rooms developped already. They are still rather primitive and can easily be recognized as artificial constructs, but that is what the researchers are trying to change. And yes, one day I'm sure there will be adult-entertainment applications as well, considering how profitable this has been and how it has helped advance technology on the Internet....

To address the other poster who said that we would have entertainment directly wired into our brains from satellites, that is not that far off either. Implantable nanobots have already been able to eradicate cancers in laboratory animals. These will also have entertainment value if this is found to be economically viable. To believe that an implanted network of nano-bots is receiving direct input from the local XM satellite is not a big stretch...

Come to think of it, neuro-nanobots will one day become the poor-man's holodeck simulators, instead of the multi-million dollar "real experience" of an actual holodeck. After all, there won't be any safe "outdoor" experience left because we continue to destroy the environment with our suv's and our wars....

Be careful what you wish for....