[geeks] Opinions on the HP C3x00?

[Jonathan C. Patschke]

On Mon, 27 Mar 2006, Joshua Boyd wrote:

>> I finally gave up and bought a Mac, which serves me very well.  It's
>> quite a shame that the new ones are mere PCs w/ digital restrictions
>> management built into the hardware.
>
> DRM in hardware?  This is the first I've heard of that.

The trusted platform module is what prevents people from loading Mac OS
X on generic x86 hardware.  I suspect it won't be long before someone
like Adobe or the MPAA pressures Apple sufficiently that they open up
the API to the TPM for use in more widespread applications such as
digital media licensing/signing.

If that goes through, you can imagine that those same complanies will be
leaning on Microsoft next to add a TPM interface to Windows 6.0 (if
there isn't one, already--I haven't read much of the programmer's
documentation), should folks want to run Premiere or watch DVDs on
Windows.  Sure, if your computer doesn't have TPM, you'll need to
purchase a "media key" which plugs into USB or something, but that means
you can "legally" take your media anywhere!

My prediction is that before this decade is out, Apple's use of TPM will
snowball into TPM being everywhere due to the MPAA threatening to pull
the content-creation/content-viewing markets away from Microsoft
Windows, as Apple will be perceived as "doing more" to ensure that
starving producers and media moguls don't go hungry in the face of
millions of college students copying DVDs.

Or maybe I'm just channeling the incoherent ramblings of John C. Dvorak
today.

-- 
Jonathan Patschke     )       Apple MacBook Pro
Elgin, TX            (     Now with Intel Core Duo
USA                   )      Beauty is Skin Deep