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I Want My MTV... PC? 261

Posted by michael from the look-for-them-in-real-world dept.
Tsar writes: "MTV Networks is putting their imprimatur on a line of entertainment-oriented PC's to be available early this year. Targeting the college-age crowd, they'll have TV &amp radio tuners, DVD players, remote controls, and 'MTV-specific content.' CNN has this article on CNN's SCI-TECH page, but the original story was posted last Thursday on IDG.net. There's also news of MTV's impending digital music player, which uses DataPlay's 500MB matchbook-sized discs with built-in digital rights denial^H^H^H^H^H^Hmanagement."
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I Want My MTV... PC? More

I Want My MTV... PC?

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  • Everyone knows the MTV generation has a 15 second attention span and I haven't heard of an OS that can do much of anything usefull in 15 seconds. Certainly Windows can't. ;)
    • Warning: I was not a STAT major, but it my my belief that:

      if they include specific pictures of nude music superstars (*cough* Spears *cough* Twain *cough* Hill *cough*) as wallpaper then I think that the 15s attention span might actually go up to 17 - 20s instead.

      Some people might take longer b/c pictures would obviously have to be downloaded from www.thehun.com and sometimes depending on traffic that could take sometime, especially over traditional connections. That could bring the attention span all the way up to a *mind*-blowing 30s.
    • Everyone knows the MTV generation has a 15 second attention span and I haven't heard of an OS that can do much of anything usefull in 15 seconds. Certainly Windows can't. ;)

      Windows can crash in 15 seconds. That's the most useful thing I can think of right now. ;)

  • Anyone remember? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Beltec ( 548130 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @07:37PM (#2834024)
    Anyone remember the other theme based PC's and what happend to them? Barbie ring a bell? Ok, so this may have more of a chance, but really, MTV doing a computer?? Besides, I'd rather build my own anyhow, so I guess it really dosn't matter to me :)

  • Digital Rights Denial? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    If this thing has digital rights denial built in, that must mean it's made to allow pirating of any copyrighted material whatsoever, thus denying the Constitutionally given rights of content creators and copyright holders, no? That sort of thing ought to be illegal.
    • "Constitutionally given rights"? Which country's constitution would that be in?
    • thus denying the Constitutionally given rights of content creators and copyright holders, no?
      The US Constituon does not give rights to content creators and copyright holders at all. All it does is permit Congress to enact copyright legislation:
      Section 8. The Congress shall have power ... To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
      Nothing is guaranteed in that statement.

    • Obviously, the poster's use of the phrase was meant to refer to the denial of the user's rights, not the copyright holder's.

      You, AC sir, seem convinced that citizens do not have any rights in this matter, and all rights accrue to the holder of copyright. In this you are opposed to established case law, as well as to the intentions of the framers of the Constitution. ("To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries...")

      Here. [stanford.edu] Go read up. Please don't post on copyright matters until you do.

  • Apple (Score:2, Insightful)

    by brodiedreamyou.ca ( 542180 )
    Sounds very similar to the digital hub that apple keeps talking about, i think i'd personaly take the apple, but it is interesting that they have tv and radio tuners, kinda like the sony vios... hmm sounds like alot of this stuff has been done before:)

  • Funny (Score:2, Funny)

    by DJ rCn ( 546098 )
    I hope this is a hoax but if not oh well. I think this is going to be a failed marketing attempt for MTV. Even if you are a college student, would you want your computer to come from a channel that headlines a show where people pierce their asses? Not me, I just don't see this idea being sucessful.
  • This is just another pathetic attempt for MTV to control everything that people see and hear, so they can jump their advertising sales.

    Not to mention MTV is mind rotting dumb, and mainly consists of them interviewing N'Sync all day.

    I know a lot of people that just sit around watching crap like that, and it makes me really sad, I can't watch stuff like that for more than 5 minutes without feeling my brain cells explode. I'm serious, it's just painful.
    • This is just another pathetic attempt for MTV to control everything that people see and hear, so they can jump their advertising sales.

      Yes and let's not forget that MTV is owned by that big corporation Viacom, a major content provider.

      To me, this whole thing reeks of trying to ween people off onto some digital disc (with moving parts, I might add) so they can continue to control content through some sort of copy protection scheme. It sort of surprises me, though, that this dataplay device plays mp3s; then again, Viacom doesn't yet own any major record labels I know of at this time (although they certainly do business with those companies). Of course it also plays QDX, so maybe this is a way for them to inch a new format onto the market and eventually control obsolesence hat way. Or maybe I'm paranoid ;)

  • They should probably really just focus on the digital music player and eliminate this insane PC idea immediately. I mean to enter an already saturated market like that is dumb (but then again these are the people who brought us "The Real World").

    They might have a chance to crack the whole digital music for pay thing though if the player's worth while. Those disks I imagine, would be difficult to play and pirate on anything but that device.

    • Umm... Not that I really watch Reality TV, but I do have to point out that "The Real World" came out years before any of the other shows. In fact, MTV pioneered the entire idea.

  • I could see this... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by PeeOnYou2 ( 539746 ) <chokeondis&hotmail,com> on Sunday January 13, 2002 @07:42PM (#2834045) Homepage
    You have to realize how hardcore a lot of teens are about MTV. Yes, the rest of us can see how lame it really is... but those who are sucked into it eat, sleep, and breathe it. If MTV says something is, IT IS dammit!

    I should know.. my little sister would die without it. I think she even has withdrawals sometimes.

    I can't wait to see if she wants one of these once they start advertising them all the time.

  • mtvml (Score:2, Funny)

    by moosesocks ( 264553 )
    the new mtvML markup language. Written specificly for the new line of pcs.

    Yo, buy this PC!
    You will be hip
    It is da bomb!

  • MTV Specific content... yes! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Foxman98 ( 37487 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @07:43PM (#2834047) Homepage
    4 Words...

    Jenny.
    McCarthy.
    Nude.
    Screensaver.

  • College age crowd? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by CajunArson ( 465943 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @07:43PM (#2834049) Journal
    The last time I saw MTV (and its been a while) it was more geared
    towards teenie boppers than college students

    Maybe they are hoping a whole bunch of stupid freshman with
    rich parents will buy? Or is this more for the N'sync/Brittney Spheres crowd?

    • Re:College age crowd? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by nomadic ( 141991 ) <`nomadicworld' `at' `gmail.com'> on Sunday January 13, 2002 @08:01PM (#2834110) Homepage
      College students these days ARE teeny boppers. I swear, most of them seem to see college as just an extension of high school...

      • At least from my end, it seems like things have gone the other way. I'm now on the advisory board on the "college" (somewhere between the dorm room and a frat house) where I used to stay, and so I have to keep an eye on things. It's not that long (only 3 years since I left), but the kids these days take things so seriously! They don't drink much, they turn up to lectures (even the unnecessary ones), they read their textbooks before swotvac . . . utterly disasterous, if you ask me :)

    • Brittney Spheres

      Nice Freudian slip. (Or maybe it was on purpose?)

      ;)
    • With a Rush song in your sig, I'll bet it's been a while.
    • The PCs should ship in the first half of the year and are likely to be priced starting at about $1,800, according to an MTV spokesperson.

      If the CNN article is accurate, this is going to flop just because of the price. Most college students don't have $1800 to drop on a computer, and I doubt their parents are going to chip in for such a ripoff.

      College students download songs because they don't want to buy an entire $16 CD for 1 or 2 decent songs on the album. So I don't expect them to pay extra for programs that already come with the average computer.

      One of the first things students learn when they get into college is the value of the word free (as in beer), no matter how much their parents make.

  • Say it ain't so? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Brontosaurus Jim ( 528803 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @07:43PM (#2834053) Homepage
    Damn, doesn't MTV remember the past? They've tried this sort of thing before, and where did it get them. I think it was in 95 or 96, they considered releasing a similarly themed "Media Box" that was part laser disc, part cd player, part tape deck, part vcr, etc, etc

    Needless to say it failed (You don't see any around anymore, do you?). During it's short lifespan (Remember those annoying commercials with the flashing colors and slow, loud beat?), a friend of mine picked one up.

    I've never seen a worse piece of consumer grade electronics in my life. The laser for the cd must have been loose or something, because it would skip on just about every damn cd. And the tech support? It was a nightmare.

    Basically my friend was told to bugger off because they had stopped production. In the warrenty it covered against this, so he was SOL.

    And now they want to try this sort of thing again? God I hope they do a better job.
    • WOW!! I thought I was the only one to remeber these! I usually dont post on this site (as per lack of anything interesting to say) but I HAD to reply to this! A friends uncle had one and I always heard good about it, I picked one up at a flea market a few years back, unfortunately it hasnt gotten much use. I dont own any laser dics or VHS tapes really except for some old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoons I taped when I was younger. It isnt too bad, has a tendency to jam up often though. The cd player skips way too much so I use my computer for that. Over all Id say it was a good idea gone bad, glad to see theyre rethinking a classic.
    • Though I much doubt it. You could expect reasonable demand for something that would let you grab music from MTV's catalogue or build personalised play-lists which could then be dumped onto a digital walkman or your car. If it's an end-to-end proprietary solution similar to the revocable certificates .NET is talking about, they can placate the music publishers and even get them an income stream. Even I would consider paying for a personalised MTV.

      Why it won't work: Rather than an appliance (ala TiVo or an XBox), they are putting in a PC which will be much more expensive to buy and altogether a greater PITA to support. Even for audio only, I'd hate to have this thing hooked up to anything other than a broadband connection; people don't expect to wait 30 minutes for a song to download when they start their radio, and they sure don't want video clips that stop and start. They'll also have to rely on a lot of technology (content control for a start) that is scarcely beyond vapourware.

      If it was a hardware manufacturer with a rcord for delivering consumer PCs maybe, but MTV???

      Xix.

    • Re:Say it ain't so? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by demaria ( 122790 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @08:38PM (#2834215) Homepage
      "Remember those annoying commercials with the flashing colors and slow, loud beat?"

      You've just described....every MTV commercial, ever. :)

      Although failure the first time around doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't try again, after learning which mistakes you made in the past.

  • Wrong Audience (Score:3, Interesting)

    by fleabag ( 445654 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @07:46PM (#2834060)
    People at college...

    - Have lots of spare time
    - Don't have much money
    - Are subject to a LOT of peer pressure in respect of the technology/clothes/whatever they own.

    MTV aim to satisfy them by:

    - Stopping them from ripping their friends CDs
    - Appealing to "convenience" (look, you don't have to waste time with normal PCs and that Linux stuff...)
    - Guaranteeing that they will have the credibility in class of an AOLer

    Am I the only person who sees something strange in this...or do you need a qualification in marketing to see how this works?

    • Re:Wrong Audience (Score:5, Funny)

      by HoaryCripple ( 187169 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @08:03PM (#2834114) Homepage
      So true. I would not be caught dead with one of these bimbo boxes. But you know what, many college students have no freaking clue about computer hardware. Hard to believe in this day and age huh? So these people are the ones targeted. They will buy the stupid mtv computer, and marginalize the the crowd that knows hardware (not that this isn't already the case) as a bunch of quacks/dorks.

      When you say that college students are subject to peer pressure -- I don't think that the hardware saavy (sp?) individuals are exerting peer pressure on anyone other than their hardware saavy friends.

      Speaking of peer pressure, I am reminded of the time three other friends and I were in a bar. My one friend was kicking it to some woman, and my other two friends and I were talking to her somewhat cute friend (another female). Well, I was inebriated, and so naturally the topic changed to operating systems. In an uncanny moment of smoothness, I asked her if she used Windows. You can guess that she said "yes." I immediately replied that people who use Windows are idiots. Well, that pissed her off, but the amazing thing was that my other two friends joined in ripping on her because of her choice in operating system. What a fiasco that turned out to be for my (normal) friend who was hitting on the other woman. Needless to say both women left.

      And if you're wondering, It's GNU/Linux all the way baby.
      • Who knows, maybe they're marketting to the parents of the college crowd. Maybe the folks will think "hey, MTV is cool, so this should be too... little Johnny will love it." After all, how many college kids can actually afford to buy themselves a computer? I can totally see this as being a high school graduation gift.

        Let's face it, parents tend not to be at ALL clued into what they're kids like or don't like. There's a reason my folks give me music gift certificates for X'Mas.

        That being said, I don't think it'll fly at all.

        Unless there's a chance to win a kegger-date with Brittany Spears!

      • Re:Wrong Audience (Score:5, Funny)

        by elefantstn ( 195873 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @10:01PM (#2834469)
        Well, I was inebriated, and so naturally the topic changed to operating systems.


        Just think about that for a minute.

    • - Are subject to a LOT of peer pressure in respect of the technology/clothes/whatever they own.

      Whoa, you lost me. That was the thing I loved about college, the whole silly peer pressure thing mostly disappeared. I went to a couple different schools (had a tendency to transfer), and it was the same for all of them.
  • Anyone dumb enough to buy this system (there are many out there that we all know) is going to be an impulse buyer. They won't do any homework on what system to get nor will they care.

    I like music, and I like the idea's of having a radio and tv tuner in my box. But I won't pay the cash that MTV (or whoever building these systems) is bound to charge when I can put them in myself for a lot less.

    For those out there who know nothing of computers, they will happily follow each other over the cliff like mindless zombies, just as they do today with Micro$ofts products. It's all about marketing and creating a WANT when people don't NEED it. Maybe that crazy movie Fight Club was right?

    I've always wanted one of those hotwheel computers! =)

  • Paying for the logo... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by outlier ( 64928 )
    I can see someone buying one brand of endorsed sneaker because they are different from other sneakers. Sure, [famous player] endorses them, but they have unique properties that aren't available in other shoes (e.g., the cool patterns and pumps and stuff).

    But, with a PC with publicized (and easily duplicated) specs, where's the benefit. If they add anything to the price for the "MTV" logo without adding some extra software or cool design features, there's nothing to stop Dell and every other computer manufacturer from creating their own "Compare to" models with equally cool colors, etc...

    Where's the benefit?

  • I'm sorry, did somebody say something? I was just freely and legaly downloading some GOOD music from www.mp3.com (hint: Its all under the classical section).

    The only good thing that MTV has is Celebrity Deathmatch.

    Hmm

    ::begins to imagine the PPG in CDM::

    KICK ASS!

  • Why is this on slashdot ? (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by Anonymous Coward
    1. it has been posted everywhere else for two days
    2. do nerds watch MTV ?
    3. is it stuff that matters ?
    • My GOD! Just shut up! If you don't like a story, why the fuck did you clicking on 'Read more..' and posting a reply? I'm so tired of all the bitchers (and trolls, all those other people too) on slashdot. GAH!

      Do you think that made you look COOL or something? Are you trying to be a troll? If so.. how fucking unoriginal! The word lame comes to mind.

      .. glad I got that off my chest.

  • At $1800 these are gonna DIE! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Gee, I don't see ANYTHING compelling
    about a $1800 MTV entertainment box!

    Maybe at $299... or $399... perhaps
    even at $499 ...

    BUT NO WAY for $1800! What a RIP.
  • Wow, thanks for all the links. If you hadn't linked to cnn's front page twice, I wouldn't have known how to get there. WHo wouldve thought cnn.com would be the address for cnn?

    Also youre joke concerning the ^H's was extremely not^H^H^H funny. You should not^H^H^H give up your day job to become a comedian.
    • Sorry, billybob. I've got no excuse for adding 48 characters to your HTML download of this story, except that I was in a hurry when I submitted. Thankfully, your clever post has pointed out the error of my ways. Please feel free to bill me for the (48chars/yourcps) seconds which I cost you.

      Then again, after looking at your posting history [slashdot.org], perhaps it would be more fair if we billed you.

      Oh, and I didn't include the link in order to demonstrate superiority (which I assume was the purpose of your dubious post), but for the simple convenience of the reader. I don't generally type unnecessarily—which is why I'll just link to this [slashdot.org] rather than waste more time on you myself.
  • I think it's most important we look past our obvious hatred of MTV (I concur with all previous posts) and look at the technology behind this idea.

    I for one would love an all-in-one box with a custom designed UI that did DVD/TV/Radio/Music with a remote that I wouldn't have to build.

    Sure you can buy yourself an ATI All-In-One Card, use some software (or for your geeks, string together some perl scripts), purchase a serial port remote control doohickey and spend forever configuring it - but you won't get the same desired result.

    This is similar to TiVo. Sure, I can use my ATI Card to record TV show, but my PC is not optimized for TV watching. A dedicated appliance that can provide all this stuff for the non-PC literate is a very marketable idea.

    A previous most mentioned the college audience is the wrong target - and I think you're correct. The market they should really be aiming for is the teen crowd. I'm not, and never was part of the MTV demographic but the appeal of a cool little machine that can play my new Britney Spears DVD and record TRL (Carson is so hot! WH000000!) is probably something that appeals to a lot of teenyboppers.

    Time will tell if those goes the way of the Barbie PC. I hope for the success of neat all-in-one integrated devices for the average consumer, but I have the gut-feeling of impending doom for such a venture.

    But hey, maybe all those castoff MTV Boxes will make neat hacking toys in a a year or so.

  • DRM (Score:2)

    by cdgod ( 132891 )
    After researching DRM last semester, I have come to the conclusion that it is not all that bad...

    Only when it is implemented by adding value to the USER not the record label. The following criteria must exists for DRM to become marketable:

    - cheaper/faster content access
    - Access to new content along with vast library of everything that has ever been created. All available instantly.
    - higher quality content than currently available in consumer market
    - user choice in usage of content (rights specification)
    - highly secure to user privacy - total commitment required by company
    - easy to use (invisible to user)
    - transparancy in rules/policies
    - high quality products with vast 3rd party developer support
    - market company's trust and dedication to user's needs - NOT company's needs

    These are only some... but as you can see, there is failure from the beginning in DRM. In its current state DRM is a tool for corporations, not customers. That is why it WILL fail. (Divx anyone).

    Frank
  • The Register [theregister.co.uk] had this article about 'MTV flogs own-brand PCs to students' [theregister.co.uk] four days ago.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Now I'll have to choose between the new overpriced iMac and the MTV PC.
    Gosh this is gonna be a tough decision.

    Oh wait a minute I just realized that if I am looking at either of these solutions I have way too much money anyway!
    Excellent!

    -J

  • The PCs should ship in the first half of the year and are likely to be priced starting at about $1800

    Targeting 18-to-24-year-olds,

    Hummm .. last time I check the majority of college students can not drop $1800 for a "products centered around video-game play" (direct quote). During that time for me .. things like food and a roof over my head were considered luxuries.

    I am curious, is MTV going to have a show dedicated to explaining to these mindless fools on how to beg and whine to have your parents buy one for you? Get student loans to pay for it .. or lists of credit card companies to apply to get those nice plastic cards to buy it.

    This shall die a long and painful death as MTV executives try to figure out why there marketing is not getting these to sell. Guess that means the 1 total hour of music videos a day they show will need to get cut back to 30 minutes to allow space for more advertising.

  • Seriously? They were cool during the 80s, then it seemed like there was a transition where they stopped playing videos and started doing sucky shows.

    Is this channel a bore now because I'm approaching middle age, or is there something else going on? Can anybody who watches MTV explain the appeal? MTV was something special in its day because they played stuff the radio didn't. The internet had (perhaps still has) the potential to shake up music in a positive way, but hasn't yet. Hint: It won't happen by weazeling around copyright.

    I was thinking that what we need is something like a Slashdot for music, where artists could stream selected songs at no charge to promote their album in exchange for giving the website exclusive rights to the CD sales, with a percentage to the artist and a percentage to the site. It would have a user/feedback moderation like Slashdot. You would also have to have a mechanism for category creation in the event that a truly novel form of music came along. I'm not sure what you would do about radio. Maybe the site would just charge radio stations a flat fee or make that a giveaway too. Hasn't anybody tried that, and if so, why did it fail?

    • Re:How Does MTV Survive? (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      MTV began to suck ass when they started playing suck ass music. When hip-hop, MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, et al. were the age, MTV started to suck.

      Then they went to do the only thing that could possibly make it suck more: play suck ass shows. TRL. Spring Break (I can't tell you how often I have mentally flooded MTV Isle with a 100' explosion induced tidal wave, while someone demands to watch that innane POS at a get-together.).

      BTW, MP3.com was (and is stil largely) about the idea in your post. However, as a musician, I could hardly see myself signing over responsibility (copyright, essentially--and something that MP3.com has no part of) of my beloved music to another financially motivated entity. Did I mention that I hate the RIAA?

    • Re:How Does MTV Survive? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by JWhiton ( 215050 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @09:05PM (#2834289) Homepage
      Well, I'm a bit cynical about all this, but here's my theory:

      MTV built itself up in the 80s as being a cool, rebellious channel that played all sorts of music. Because old habits die hard, they still have this reputation today. I think that somewhere along the line, MTV's bottom line changed from playing music videos to being a profitable corporation. Marketing became the controlling force, and if a show wasn't generating buzz or good ratings it would be axed. Anyone remember Headbanger's Ball?

      So then comes along shows like The Real World. People watched them, and MTV decided to experiment a little more with what people would watch. As I recall, in the early 90s they experimented with animated shows like Aeon Flux and Beavis & Butthead. But on the whole, shows like Road Rules probably got higher ratings than videos, as well as being a better target for merchandising.

      I think MTV today is just a further reflection of this trend. It has little or nothing to do with music any more, it's just shows that are designed to be watched by a certain demographic (teens who need someone to tell them what's cool). Unfortunately, that demographic isn't terribly intelligent, and the shows reflect that. MTV will never take a risk on anything that would potentially bring them lower ratings and less advertising cash.

      Or maybe I'm just completely off-base. You be the judge!
  • "ERROR: An error has occured. Reinstall Windows, or even Linux, man, WTF is this "MTV-Specific" shit? Get it off my hard drive platter any way you can! Please?"

  • MTV Will do Amazing with This (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Ieshan ( 409693 ) <ieshan@g[ ]l.com ['mai' in gap]> on Sunday January 13, 2002 @08:07PM (#2834127) Homepage Journal
    I'm in college now, and I have to tell you, MTV will do amazing with this if they promote it the right way.

    Most college-age guys and girls want nothing more than to write papers and play music on. Sure, it's an amazing waste of processing power, but that's all they want.

    If it says Windows, the goons think "Word", and if it says MTV, the goons think "Music". Word and Music, that's the only reason they need the PC anyway.

    The internet is a big factor, but people are slowly starting to realize that the internet is available anywhere with a connection, and isn't PC dependant at all. They're still shaky on the music and processing part, for some reason.

    Oh well, I expect to see dozens of these in the dorm room next year.
    • About 18 or 19 (college age) is about when even the dullest of college students are able to think for himself and develop his own tastes, instead of liking whatever is put infront of them...

      I say this, because, I don't know *any* college students (and I know alot being employed by a university) who watch MTV, infact I would say that most despise it. These are the same college students who were "sticking it to the man" on napster... MTV *is* the man.

      Oh and guess what, college students are chronically poor by definition.
      • About 18 or 19 (college age) is about when even the dullest of college students are able to think for himself and develop his own tastes, instead of liking whatever is put infront of them... I say this, because, I don't know *any* college students (and I know alot being employed by a university) who watch MTV, infact I would say that most despise it. These are the same college students who were "sticking it to the man" on napster... MTV *is* the man.
        You obviously didnt go to a Public University.
        Oh and guess what, college students are chronically poor by definition.
        Or a private one.

  • Why no console? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by ebbomega ( 410207 )
    As mentioned before, a thematic PC has already been proven to be a load of crap, basically toys for overpriviledged kids *coughBarbiecoughHotwheelscough*. While this does appeal more to the College/High-School generation that has a big sale rate for computers (Common graduation gift, I spose), understand that they are going to be buying them for that purpose: College and High school... so the odds of getting an entertainment-based system over something with a bit more practicality are slightly lower.

    So the question is here: Why not just make an entertainment-based Console computer? Honestly, stop trying to make them PCs and come up with the Nintendo/MTV MusicCube or something like that... Be a helluva lot cheaper and thusly more likely that you're going to make some kind of dent on the market itself...

    Then again, you could just buy an X-box...
  • Is the fact they they chose the AMD Athlon Series of chips to build these waste - of -space devices. That doesn't in any way account for the prices however. $1800 dollars is way too much for this type of system. if they were really inclined, a person could put one togther for less than $500. Just my .02

  • Correlation? (Score:4, Funny)

    by satanami69 ( 209636 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @08:21PM (#2834166) Homepage
    Just how much Silicon can one company push?

  • What it will look like (Score:4, Informative)

    by KirTakat ( 110620 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @08:39PM (#2834217)
    They are saying the pc will be produced by Lan Plus, so this [lan-plus.com] is probably what it will be.
  • Is it more profitable to be the way they are now? It's like the "old MTV" sold their soul and...well, MTV is just poop now. I was watching the 20 year anniversary special and they had some cool shit! Headbangers Ball, The Head, Beavis and Butthead, Liquid TV...and now you can't find anything on MTV that is somewhat chancy for them to put on TV (except for some fat ass on some rap video).

    I switched to much music (at least they have somewhat better music) and I'm sure M2 might be better than both MTV and Much but for now I'd guess I'll stick when Anti-Pop videos.

  • I don't understand why the Slashdot crowd is so jaded by this. Yeah, this development won't really apply to anyone here, but that's not the market that MTV is targeting with this.

    They are going for the average user, one that doesn't care about having the latest AMD (rather than Intel) processor, a DVD-ROM without hardware-level region-coding, etc, etc. As someone else pointed out, they want the users that just want something to type their papers, check e-mail, browse, run some P2P app, and watch DVDs. And there are plenty more of these people than there are of us (and they have plenty of disposable income that can be spent on things after they get their computers).

    Who's to say that this new media doesn't catch on for whatever God-awful reason, and we slowly see other companies following the lead here and the media catches on? (dumber things have happened)

    And it's definitely possible that MTV is not trying to take over the computer industry with this. They are probably looking at a way to extend their brand into other arenas and make some money along the way. They've got a strong brand name, and as more of the younger generation get online, it's a logical step for them. They are already using e-mail and their web site to develop large fan communities. And the members of these communities have plenty of money to spend.

    MTV will be laughing...all the way to the bank.

  • Tonight on Jackass: Watch as Johnny tries to upgrade the RAM on his new MTVBox using only his teeth! (subtle plug) Then watch in amazement as wee man spends hours playing MTV Solitaire (on his new MTVBox, of course...) - ON HIS OWN!!!. Dave tried to upgrade the HD without a static guard. Laugh at his misery as he lives in a world without his MTVBox!!! Imagine, a world without the MTVBox!! What will his friends say?!?!? Don't let this happen to you! Get mom to buy three today! (less subtle plug...) Please do not submit video tapes of yourself doing the same, as they are not funny. Now buy the damn thing.

  • You figure that eventually PCs are going to be the memorabilia lunchbox of the 21st century. With that article today about Build Your Own Mini-Computer [slashdot.org] The Tom's Hardware Article [tomshardware.com] it's more then obvious someone is going to capitalize on the disposable PC market.

    By 2025 their gonna be selling them on Ebay as collectables

  • Targeting the college-age crowd, they'll have... ...'MTV-specific' content

    So what is this special new 'MTV-specific' content? Does the MTV PC actually allow you to see 'Music Videos' on MTV or something?

    :)

  • Whine anyone? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ImaLamer ( 260199 ) <john.lamar@gma[ ]com ['il.' in gap]> on Sunday January 13, 2002 @09:08PM (#2834305) Homepage Journal
    I know this will be taken as a troll, or flame-bait. But here I go.

    Everyone has put down MTV, the MTV computer idea, and so much more. It goes to show one thing:

    Computer geeks don't get pop culture

    Someone above posted:
    Even if you are a college student, would you want your computer to come from a channel that headlines a show where people pierce their asses? Not me, I just don't see this idea being sucessful.

    I guess that person doesn't realize that many, many people watch that show [Jackass]. MTV is way more than just a shiny things type of network. It's young 'veejays' are usually working 100 times harder behind the scenes. It's movie awards, while a comedy show, has really challanged the Oscars by giving awards to movies that the majority actually like. The Matrix would be a good example. No doubt that movie was a hit, but no nod from the academy.

    If anyone is closer to what is on the minds of the public [from age 11-2?] than MTV, where are they? No doubt their success is proof.

    Will this venture work? Maybe not. But if they got these machines hooked up to a broadband connection - it could be another MTV.

    Remember, music artists spend millions to put their music on TV when they receive no immediate reward. Computers offer much more than TV.

    I think free music would be one big draw. And even without DRM it would keep some piracy at bay. Think a thousand mp3 streams at your finger tips. MTV has the money and power to put that together.

    Most college students I know are downloading mp3s and using P2P just to have something to listen to.

    If they don't try to make this a computer, and more of an appliance that plays music, movies and videos... it could work.

    Just something to think about.

    • Re:Whine anyone? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Maul ( 83993 )
      Your post makes sense, except that many college
      students are beyond the "do whatever MTV tells me"
      mentality. Of course, maybe I'm wrong since I only
      hang out with other CS people.

      A question I have that is hard to answer:

      Does MTV merely understand teen pop culture well,
      or are they part of a process that creates it?
      Or is it a bit of both?

      • Re:Whine anyone? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by ImaLamer ( 260199 )
        I think it's a bit of both. [reminder: NOT A FAN BOY]

        The people who run MTV are sometimes the same people you see on screen. During the 80's and 90's MTV was mostly run by people who provided for an older audience. The people who ran MTV were young, 20's, and they were trying to put on an adult show. Not for older adults or people looking for class, but they were giving people what they wanted, and influencing pop-culture their own way.

        Now I think we are seeing a shift to trying to understand and create {pop} culture as well. MTV doesn't do bad at providing adult programming as well. But most of what we see is adults and young adults trying to show kids culture. They touch on issues, but 9-5 it's mostly an adult showing kids groups or groups for kids. By kids, I mean teenagers - younger than the people who we are talking about now.

        MTV though does have it's strong points. Wrestling, IMHO, is a bad move. But Jackass, and the Real World are two college age staple programs. These shows do appeal to many college age, 'hip', `poppy', type of kids.

        This product could catch on and because of that bring back that 18-24 year old audience. They seem to be slipping when it comes to music videos.

        But MTV2 seems to provide a better range of more complex music and music styles. If this thing could stream MTV2, that could be a hit. I know more people in college, living on campus, that have computers [and no cable] than cable tv.

        Depends on the specs and functions. If it works well, and provides a 'cool' set of tools - it could take off.

        Will MTV start a revolution in music distribution? Maybe. Something to think about again. They depend on it, as well as the artists depend on MTV.

        A sane DRM system and internet distribution channel could sure help a whole bunch of us. MTV provides a jukebox at a certain cost, and sell [basically] singles to burn. You burn at home - the machine is the key. With the computer they provide the appliance and ease of use. Combine that with a library of music, Voila.

        If it becomes easier than P2P and the many steps in between - the appliance becomes your computer and personal CD creation station. Normal people would just get this because ease of use and features. It's like a Tivo for music. I guess.

        Just a thought.

    • The Matrix would be a good example. No doubt that movie was a hit, but no nod from the academy.

      Ah the usual Slashdot flair for accuracy. The Matrix won four Oscars [imdb.com]. No mean feat.
    • Wow! I'm so old that I remember when MTV was ONLY music videos, and I used to discover bands that I liked by watching it.

      Now they have a variety of shows, but I rarely catch them playing a video when flipping through. I want my (old) MTV!
    • It's movie awards, while a comedy show, has really challanged the Oscars by giving awards to movies that the majority actually like.

      The problem with that is, what the majority likes is usually crap. The idea of the Oscars is to leave popularity out and award movies based on actual merit. Sure, popularity often creeps in and rears its ugly head, but for the most part, awards go to (sometimes overlooked) quality movies.

      I laugh at "award shows" that let the drooling masses vote, because the high-grossing films usually win. What's the point? The box office has already proven that XYZ movie was popular--why do we need an award show to nail the point in?
  • I doubt they're marketing this towards college students (and if they are it probably won't work that well).

    I could be wrong but it seems that most of the other college students I talk to are somewhat cynical of things like MTV. And there is no way in hell they'd parade around with a PC branded by MTV.

    I think this would be more for the 13 year old teenyboppers. Sure, there are probably a few college students that would want to buy a MTV computer, but I doubt that's their market.

    Or perhaps I just hang out with people like myself and don't really know how many people would be interested in something like this.

  • It could be big... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by pinkpineapple ( 173261 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @10:59PM (#2834652) Homepage
    at least from the minority stand point.

    And it may actually take a big market slice away from already small percentage that is controlled by Apple Computer. Apple is trying to get the rest of us interested about looking at them and the company is diving right into the music market with iPod and the new "digital nub" iMac. Having MTV jumping in there with more than they can provide like for example content, may causes some tooth ache to SJ and its mignons.

    PPA, the girl next door.
    • Steve Jobs have mignons? Man I want to go to his house for dinner! As for Apple they have been going with the digital hub concept for a while and I think it has been fleshing out pretty well. You can go from MP3 collection to audio CD or portable MP3 player pretty easily or from digital camera (still or motion) to website, VCD, DVD, or whatever. The digital hub is all about styling content creation. An MTV labeled computer is merely for content absorbtion. How often do you see shows on MTV all about making music yourself? MTV viewers are asymmetric media nodes. They suck down all the crap they are fed and produce next to nothing themselves.
  • Don't dismiss MTV so quickly, their web site currently features O-Town. Now your knee-jerk reaction might be to catapult them all into the gutter, but would you believe that Ashley Angel, the prettiest of all pretty boys, starred in the Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, arguably the best written Japanese RPG? It's true. Lunar is a real fan favorite amongst console gamers, so it's a neat twist that one of the nerdiest games links to one of the hippest bands.

  • *Yawn* (Score:2, Funny)

    by beefstu01 ( 520880 )
    Old news... You can find some more stuff at the Reg [theregister.co.uk]

    I wonder if I can get the Carson Daily signiture edition...
  • I think most (immediately post high schoolers) who don't want to be branded the "to stupid for a fraternity" idiot will say...

    "I might trust Microsoft to make me a good PC, but I'm not stupid enough to buy a MTV computer."

    Is it broken logic, sure, but probably how it will go.

    Incidentally, I think any Media vendor branded content embellished PC type thing will flop to similar reasoning.

    "What they think I'm stupid enough to buy the Disney PC? What if I want to watch bugs bunny."

    The only thing that keeps the WB minivan dvd honest is minivan competition.

    MTV is taking a money hit as a favor. Somtimes it's easier to pretend an idea stands a chance despite knowing you will fail. This probably started as "but Jack what can we do?" at a board meeting.

  • This is actually a great idea, all complaints about mtv's value added advertising aside. If I had some VC I would consider making a similar computer and selling it around campus. A dvd, mp3, digital music, video, game playing, media center designed to be easy to use and able to mesh well with other computer or with audio/video setups.

    Surf the web, watch dvds, listen to cds,mp3s,etc all in one... great idea. Maybe they should consider building in gamecube technology too.. then they could appeal to jsut about everyone and everyones needs.
  • I think this idea is simply brilliant and one of the best uses for an internet appliance that I've ever heard. Imagine if you had one machine that was totally dedicated to your audio/visual needs (ok, not your high end, rendering Toy Story 3 needs, but a/v all the same) that had a highspeed internet connection, solely for downloading content. How cool would this be: want an mp3? Download it in less than a minute. Want a music video? Download that in less than 3. I cannot tell you the amount of effort that goes into finding all of the older, more obscure music videos that were released before computers got their tv/video cards. Imagine all of this content, plus a dvd and maybe email on a simple dedicated machine? It'd be the new entertainment center... and you wouldn't have to buy an entire cd, you could finally only get the music you want! Sure, let them put in all the content-protection they want. As long as I can access whatever I want, whenever I want, I don't need an actual copy of the music. This wouldn't replace a computer, but would handle all of the entertainment aspects of it. Make it a reasonable price with a flat screen and this is a surefire seller.

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