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November, 2004 |
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BUSY, BUSY TIMES AT SILICON EAST |
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Having just finished two solid days of Microsoft and Intel technical briefings this week, and three days of intensive meetings at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, WA last month, there is a good amount of information I want to bring our clients up to date on. So let’s get right into it …
The Next Big Thing
Being in high tech for nearly three decades, I’ve witnessed and participated in many seminal advances in technology. While I was visiting Microsoft last month, Bill Gates announced what may be the technology advance of this decade. It’s called Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. But what it really is is the long anticipated, but never before quite realized, convergence of computers and home entertainment. Take the time to read on, because this changes everything about, for example, watching TV, listening to music, and viewing photos.
Microsoft’s vision, of course, is that the home PC should be the center of home entertainment. This is fundamentally what Media Center is all about. You can record one TV channel while watching another, pause live TV for a snack break, instant replay anything watched for the past 30 minutes and, in 30 second increments, skip commercials. You can quickly program Media Center to record an entire season of say, Desperate Housewives (but no repeats). And being the Rod Stewart fan I am, I can program Media Center to automatically record every appearance Rod makes on any show at any time for the next year. It’s like TIVO on steroids, with one more big difference – the program guide comes to you over the Internet for free. You can of course copy your entire CD and DVD collection onto your hard drive. You can (legally) download music in many formats, and you’ll never have to visit Blockbuster again – there are far more movies available for rent over the Internet than in any video store, and you can watch most at any time and as many times as you wish for 30 days. You can store your entire collection of photos in Media Center. You can view them in many very cool formats, with background music, beautiful fades, etc. If you want a print, you can submit them right over the Internet to Kodak and have the prints mailed right to you, or of course you can print them yourself. You can even interface Media Center to home control hardware to turn lights on and off, adjust thermostats, and truly never leave your couch.
That all sounds great, but who wants to sit in front of their PC to be entertained? No problem – you can add little boxes called Media Center Extenders which wirelessly connect to any screen or audio system in your home and give you all this content there. There is even an RF remote control that works both at the PC and at any extender.
How compelling is this? One of the instructors in our course, also a Microsoft System Builder, put one of these systems in his home. A few weeks ago he held a World Series party. By the end of the party, he had orders from ten of his friends for systems. Business Week devoted three full pages to this in three different issues last month. One Microsoft partner has already come out with a package to disrupt the entire DJ business, and another is producing content for doctors and dentists waiting rooms.
Where is Silicon East on this? We’ve spent two days this week with Microsoft and Intel, learning everything we could about this technology directly from the experts. Monday night we were invited to attend a private “Integrate Your Own Media Center PC Party” organized by Microsoft. We built and took home two of them. We will begin delivering these systems to clients within the next two weeks, and will even consider client requests for systems for delivery by the end of December (I want to stress this offer is only for our clients). Early next year, working with our homebuilder industry clients, we want to begin to deploy this technology in model homes. It is so compelling that we believe it will actually help sell more new homes. As a client of ours, here is my advice. Do not spend another dollar on home entertainment without talking to us. A product manager at Microsoft told me that the value of audio equipment in the Seattle area is plummeting, as so many Microsoft employees are dumping their “legacy hardware” in favor of Media Center, that supply far exceeds demand for legacy gear. This is absolutely a leading indicator of a nationwide trend over the next couple of years. Remember that you heard it first from us. And all the info is at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/evaluation/default.mspx
We’re Making Movies
We and one of our clients were recently selected by Microsoft to be featured in two videos. Both videos seek to highlight the synergies of Microsoft’s Small Business software – Small Business Server 2003, Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2, and Office 2003. The first is a video case study telling the story of our client W&E Baum and how their business has been transformed by our efforts, with special emphasis on the benefits of Windows XP Service Pack 2. The second video tells our company story, and describes the success we’ve had with you, our clients, in impacting the way you do business. Both of these videos were (very) professionally produced and will be shown nationwide at Microsoft events during the next few months.
We’ve Got A Typhoon
Did You Know?
Virtually all of our clients have licenses for Microsoft Office that include Software Assurance. The primary benefit of SA is that it provides for automatic upgrades as soon as new versions of Office are released. There are several other great “side” benefits, one of which I’d like to highlight for you here. Home Use Rights allows you to legally install a copy of Microsoft Office on your home computer, using your company’s license key. There is no extra charge for doing this, and of course there is a tremendous savings for you. Read more at http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/sa/productivity/home_use_rights.mspx
Tax Planning
As 2004 draws to a close, there are some considerations with respect to technology planning that can seriously impact your taxes. Microsoft has posted a nice web page with good information for you and your tax professional – http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/issues/finance/tax_advice/5_year_end_tax_strategies_that_pay_off_year_round.mspx
This webpage is part of a much larger site that Microsoft supports for its small business customers. It’s worth some browse time … http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/default.mspx
Until next time, Marc
Copyright 2004 Silicon East Inc. |
