With all of this thought on Media Center and the future of the “Home Media PC” I was thinking that content is truly going to be king in the near future. In the music industry, the money has always been in publishing, not that many people know that. The song and music writers stand to make the most money out of anyone as they own the rights to the songs and the music. Every time a song is played on the radio, they get royalties from that play. So, you can see how classic songs by groups like the Beatles and Led Zeppelin must be making a fortune. That is why Yoko Ono has so much dough and why songwriters like Babyface do as well.

So how does this relate to the Home Media PC? Simple, content is going to be so easy to deliver. DVD rentals will soon be a thing of the past (so if you know of a good way to use 11k Blockbuster Video stores, let me know). With broadband connections becoming so cheap ($20/mo for an SBC/Yahoo! DSL line) people will be able to download a DVD quality movie in a matter of minutes. Why would they leave the house to rent one? Companies like Dell are already offering various different Home Media PC models to consumers…the end is near. The real question is, what is going to happen to all of the video outlets. Of course this is not going to happen overnight, but the change will be drastic in my opinion. People will be able to see a real value in the Home Media PC / Broadband connection. They will understand that there is really something in it for them rather than some kind of perceived value. If you can rent any movie in Blockbuster for a buck whenever you want, you can’t tell me that people will not see the value.

So how about all of the other video products on the market. Exercise videos, do it yourself (DIY) videos, training videos and more. All of these will be able to be delivered directly to the consumer. They already can be. I have already seen a number of “channels” online that offer full 30 minute shows that you can download for free.

For years many of the big entertainment companies have been buying up all of the “content” they can, waiting for the day when this became reality. I think we are going to see smaller production houses that are 100% digital popping up all over the world making cheap, if not free, content available in an instant.

Comcast Spotlight is trying to capitalize on this service. The cable companies have a bit of a head start on other utilities in that they have “fat pipes” running into people’s houses already. However, with the advances in 3G mobile networks likely to be seen over the next 2 years, they are going to be in trouble. The 3G spec provides for 2 Mb of data transfer when stationary, 384K while walking and 128K while driving at 60MPH. When that happens, all hell will break loose and the price of bandwidth is going to plummet. That is when everyone will have a Home Media PC.