Why do you need a media center?
Communication with the periphery
I think even the most entry-level users have heard and know what USB is. The vast majority of computer peripherals today have this interface. Portable hard drives, flash drives, as well as cameras, printers, scanners and even heated socks, which implies the next possibility of media centers
Processing and printing photos
To digitize your old negatives or just photos will allow a scanner that can be connected to the media center. I think it doesn’t make much sense to talk about digital photography – you can do whatever you want with it – correct colors, mount or just print on a printer, since even entry-level printers today can print photos of sufficient quality, you just need to pick up paper.
Audio-video playback in various formats
This feature is a hobby of media centers. Not a single DVD player or multimedia deck will provide such opportunities as a media center, simply because in the MC you can install new codecs for video and audio, and if you wish, even choose a player to your liking.
Fujitsu-Siemens Scaleo E
Communication with the whole world
Reasonable fears of users about the introduction of time-based payment for telephone calls makes us think about alternative methods of communication. And here the media center “saves” us. Have you heard about Skype? Not? It allows you to communicate using IP (Internet Protocol) with the whole world. Moreover, if the connection is established between two computers (media centers?), then payment is made only for the traffic spent on the Internet. And if you want to call ordinary city phones, you will be asked to deposit $10 into your account and register, after which you can make calls to any part of the world literally for a penny (an average minute in the Skype network costs about 70 kopecks).
Full web experience
Do not think that the MC is some kind of cut-down computer, and you will be limited in your work. This is not true. MC allows you to use the possibilities of the World Wide Web at 100 percent! Browse pages, download information, listen to music from online radio stations or watch Internet video channels!
Playing games
Games, as without them. Most games designed for the Windows platform will feel great on the media center.
As a result, we can say that we are all contemporaries of the emergence of a new class of devices that will become the real center of the digital home. The listed 10 features are not all that the MC is capable of, and each user will constantly discover more and more new opportunities. In the future, there should be a lot of online services tailored specifically for the MC, and with broadband access, which is becoming more and more accessible every day, with a simple click on the remote control, we will be able to order a fresh movie, an album of our favorite artist or the latest game …