Openivo v. 1.0: MythTV Wizard
A software solution to simplify the process of download, installation, and configuration of MythTV on Ubuntu. If the viewer uses tested and compatible hardware, they will walk step-by-step through the process for a rapid and trouble-free installation. The development will be open to the public, the software will be free, open source, and available for donation to the MythTV community.
Target release date: August 1, 2011
Openivo v. 2.0: Managed MythTV
An optional managed network to offer remote system monitoring with email notification for faults, remote upgrades and maintenance. Subscribers maintain a user profile with Openivo. Also offered free and open source.
Target release date: October 1, 2011
Openivo v. 3.0: The Openivo Entertainment Environment
Offer optional enhanced features with potential revenue production: App Store: Personalized medical record with referrals, home security monitoring, sponsored content, etc.
Target release date: January 1, 2012
5 comments:
I don't think installing MythTV is that hard, especially if people start with one of the Myth-centric distros. Even installing it on normal Unubutu is easy.
The hard part is building the system for most people. Getting the right capture card and getting the system hooked up to the TV and configured with a remote is were the mystery lies.
The latest Linux kernel (2.6.38) seems to break MS remotes, and getting sound over HDMI can be tricky as I learned this weekend.
Marc, looks like you made some progress but here are a few things to consider. And I make these comments as an investor in several startup projects.
Building a wizard to make MythTV easier to use is an oxymoron. Any application that isn't easy to use from the beginning is an issue and will continue to be an issue. If Mozilla wasn't easy to use do you think someone would build a wizard for it? No, simply because it wouldn't have any users, open source or otherwise.
Any open source project is dependent on the development community for success. Every programmer I talk to dreads working in C++. They can't get excited or motivated by it. Not to mention your idea has been criticized on the MythTV Forum which is where you'll want to reach potential contributors. And based on uteck's comment you'll also have to convince programmers that MythTV is hard to install so they'll work on your project. Why would they want to admit something they have contributed to is hard to use? That's like admitting they're a bad programmer.
The reality is you'll spend as much money developing a wizard to work with MythTV as you would to develop a brand new application using newer programming languages an open source community of programmers can get excited about working on. Especially within the generations that are going to potentially benefit the most from this project.
Then instead of keeping things "low cost" while the users trickle in, a new app that is truly easy to use and not just an overlay for a difficult to use app, could generate revenue with minimal marketable features. Or drive donations because it is truly a differentiator...not a fix for hard to use technology.
It is one thing to be contrarian. It is another to ignore the obvious.
Good Luck!
I think Google likes your idea and just copied it.
http://sagetv.com/index.html
Google is the new owner of SageTV, and given Google's advertising might, I think they may be able to redefine TV advertising.
uteck,
It's possible, but I doubt it. More likely they just want to hire more talent to improve video software for GoogleTV.
Post a Comment