[mythtv-users] Sell mythtv "set-top" boxes

[Chris Petersen]

> The way I see it, there's got to be a market: when it's already set up,
> MythTV is easy enough for your average joe to use, and once you've
> bought it, you aren't required to pay a subscription fee to keep using
> it.

Being someone who works in the systems market (servers, mostly), I'd
warn you to be careful (since I've talked this exact thing over with one
of my bosses, who is interested in the idea).  The main things you'll
have to take into consideration are (other than legalities like MPEG4
licensing fees) labor and support value...

take a system that costs you about $550 (wholesale - keep in mind that
you can't get rebate-type deals on any hardware, etc.).  Then take into
account that it took you an hour and a half to build it, and another
half hour to install things into it (slower if you haven't made up an
image with something like redhat's kickstart).  that's another $50 to
the cost (since most of the builders at my place make $25/hour).

Then you have to actually MAKE some money on the box, so you add another
15-20% to the cost of the machine as retail.  That places the price of
your machine at about $700.  Then you have to support it, which means
hiring a few phone people, or setting up a contract with a phone support
agency.  And train them.  And be ready to have a coder or two on hand to
fix bugs that Isaac isn't going to want to fix.

Will people pay $700 for a machine when they can pay $200 + $13/month
for something that does just as good (most people won't want/need the
extra features in Myth)?  You'd be limited to the geek-types who know
what they're missing, but would be more inclined to build their own
machines from scratch.

(ok, yes, I've given this a LOT of thought)

> Who knows, maybe we could make something of this; or maybe it's just a
> dream of mine.

Not to discourage you, by any means.  I think this is a great idea,
though from what I've seen, it's more the kind of thing you'd do for
people who want more than a commercial system can offer.  But none of
this can really happen until MythTV is done and has a good support
system behind it - which is why I'm going to do my best to help out with
the project and make that come to pass.

-Chris