Although it's hard to imagine now, in the early days of personal computers sound capabilities didn't exist (of course, neither did hard drives and the displays were monochrome!). Technically, the computer always had a tiny little speaker that could emit beeps, but that was about the extent of it. It wasn't until the late '80s that add-on sound cards became commonly available, though only some owners bothered to install them. There really wasn't a compelling need for sound -- nor was there a lot of sound-enable functionality available. And, of course, the operating systems of the day provided only limited support for sound. By the mid-to-late '90s, integrated sound capabilities became commonplace and today I'd be very surprised to see a new non-server computer being sold that didn't have this feature. Of course, contemporary operating systems provide complete support for sound.
Today, TV tuner cards (and external USB devices) are becoming more and more common. Microsoft's Windows Media Center Edition (MCE) version of its operating system provides integrated support for such devices, though it is only generally available as a pre-load from computer vendors who install it together with the necessary TV tuner hardware (installed add-on cards or integrated componentry) on their machines. Many of the machines sold by Hewlett-Packard, for example, are MCE machines including many of their laptop models.
The consumer editions of Microsoft's new Vista version of Windows provide integrated support for TV tuners. This means that consumers won't need to have MCE in order to make use of TV tuner capabilities. This wide-spread support across Windows for TV tuners signals Microsoft's belief that TV-enabled computers are the way of the future. Of course, MS has a vested interest in this -- they want their software to be the media hub in the home.
Given that Vista will provide TV tuner support, I think we're likely to see a repeat of the sound card experience and we will see a shift toward integrated TV tuner capabilities as standard equipment on all new PCs. In five years' time, the idea of a non-TV-enabled personal computer might be as foreign to us as the idea of a monochrome and sound-less PC is today.
Today, TV tuner cards (and external USB devices) are becoming more and more common. Microsoft's Windows Media Center Edition (MCE) version of its operating system provides integrated support for such devices, though it is only generally available as a pre-load from computer vendors who install it together with the necessary TV tuner hardware (installed add-on cards or integrated componentry) on their machines. Many of the machines sold by Hewlett-Packard, for example, are MCE machines including many of their laptop models.
The consumer editions of Microsoft's new Vista version of Windows provide integrated support for TV tuners. This means that consumers won't need to have MCE in order to make use of TV tuner capabilities. This wide-spread support across Windows for TV tuners signals Microsoft's belief that TV-enabled computers are the way of the future. Of course, MS has a vested interest in this -- they want their software to be the media hub in the home.
Given that Vista will provide TV tuner support, I think we're likely to see a repeat of the sound card experience and we will see a shift toward integrated TV tuner capabilities as standard equipment on all new PCs. In five years' time, the idea of a non-TV-enabled personal computer might be as foreign to us as the idea of a monochrome and sound-less PC is today.
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