[mythtv-users] commercially-produced mythboxes -- an idea

[Dewey Smolka]

The idea of selling Myth boxes occured to me to, but I also though a
$500 price point was about the upper limit, at least for a
frontent/backend. Unfortunately, it's damn near impossible to build
one for that without using older and/or used parts.

The way I think this could work is by shooting for a smaller niche
market with bigger integrated systems across a whole house. Think
$3,000+ for backend, multiple front-ends, installation, and 1-year
service.

The issue here is that every installation would have to be different
depending on different conditions. Chances are that anyone interested
in this would already have an existing network that Myth would have to
fit into.

You'd have to be prepared to outfit the front-ends with wireless
cards, or to run ethernet cable all over the house. If I was ready to
drop $3k on some tv gizmo, I wouldn't want loose cables running all
over my house, which means more trouble and more expense.

The biggest problem, I think, is that the barriers to entry are quite
high -- a potential client would need to have broadband internet,
cable tv (as it is much simpler to set up than satellite, particularly
with multiple tuners), and be technically savvy enough to understand
basically how the system works, such that any problems could be
described, if not repaired, by the client.

Such people are likely to have the skills to set up their own systems.

Still, I think there are opportunities.

  

 


On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 01:03:19 -0500, Gabe Rubin <gaberubin at gmail.com> wrote:
> At the price range of 1K, who is your target audience?  If I pay that
> much for something tv related, I want it to work out of the box.  Who
> is going to pay that much of a premium?  I think $500 might be the
> price break point, esp if you are not fully functional and full
> support, otherwise it is a hobbyist device...and the hobbyists are
> here already ;)
> 
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