A battle, or perhaps a war of attrition, is
quietly taking place within the computing and entertainment industries. The
outcome of this activity is likely to be a revolution in the home and business
environments.
Firstly, the computing industry, principally
in the shape of Microsoft, has made no secret of its vision of the computer
(controlled by a Microsoft operating system, of course) becoming the centre of
the evolving home entertainment systems of the future. Microsoft is developing
software that will allow a PC to play virtually any music or video and display
it on a conventional TV. True, much of this can already be done, but Microsoft
sees the closer integration of their computing platform and home entertainment
– improved or “seamless” connectivity - as the next big step in technology.
Similarly, the consumer electronics giants
like Toshiba, Sony and others are beginning to build conventional computer
technology into their entertainment and other systems. For example, Toshiba
recently developed a disk drive that is 1.8cm in diameter (about the size of a
£1 coin) that can store 40Gb (gigabytes) of information. It is this drive that
is found in the Apple iPod.
Such computer hard drives are now being
installed in other hand-held “media” players, digital video recorders, digital
camcorders and mobile phones.
