When I started this site back in Dec. 2004, it was my intention to explore the options facing consumer creators and to create videos and Podcasts to experiment with platforms, technologies, and so on. To a large degree, I think I have been successful. Hundreds of thousands of folks have looked my videos and/or listened to Mike and my Podcasts (MADCasts). I am looking forward to continuing that journey. Maybe I will be not be a cheap you-know-what and replace my JVC Everio that was stolen in Amsterdam.

My next project takes me in a different direction and will also be chronicled on this blog. I am among those who hate watching long-form video on my PC in my office. Two-three minute clips in my office on my Media Center PC are fine, but watching the hour CSI Miami episode I downloaded from Amazon was a painful experience. I watched it four minutes at a time, so do the math. Also, I just found out about a great New York TV Festival that takes place this week. The event features 30 minute home grown TV shows that may make it to air or might live on the Internet for distribution. AOL will air NBC’s new shows the week before they air on TV. CBS will air its shows after they air, etc…

So, I am wondering, how do I get the TV-PC experience outside my office? I have a Media Center PC with extender box, but that has some network limitations and only allows me to watch programs that live inside Microsoft’s Media Center Platform. I want to have a TV-like experience and want to watch anything I want anytime I want. I am lucky enough to have a larger enough home to create a “living room media center” to become a lab or sorts for this experiment.

My options under consideration:

1. Those TV’s that take streamed content from the PC. I think Sharp makes one. My hunch is it’s costly.
2. A new media center PC with Wi-Fi with a big sucker monitor. Sounds OK, but I cannot find a good monitor larger than 20-inches. This requires further investigation.  
3. A dual-core Apple machine with Front Row. My problem is I don’t know that much about Front Row. Still, these seems like it could provide me the best of all worlds. This requires further investigation.

So, I will examine these and other choices and keep you posted. I believe this experiment represents the future of TV consumption, so I am willing to try several approaches. Stay tuned.