NYTimes writes about the Wintel plan to make PCs at the heart of entertainment and the digital home:
Leading the computer industry’s invasion is a new device known as the Media Center PC, with a processor designed by Intel and software created by Microsoft. It was introduced last year, and new and improved versions are being marketed this season by personal computer giants like Gateway, Dell Computer, Hewlett-Packard and Sony.
The new machines are not just the biggest hope for a computer industry that has been plagued by flat sales and eroding profit margins. They are also the standard bearers for an all-digital crusade the PC industry is waging to break open the satellite and cable industries, undermine powerful consumer electronic giants and restructure both Hollywood and the recording industry.
But consumer electronics makers question whether the PC industry’s grand vision is one that many Americans will want to embrace. Even family-friendly personal computers are still far more complex than today’s home electronics devices, they argue.
The competition is likely to come from the consumer electronics and gaming console companies, with Sony in both camps.
