Gadget makers love the idea of the Internet "converging" with traditional media and entertainment because it creates another category of products to sell--Net-enabled DVD players, for example, or mini stereo systems that can tune in to Web radio stations.
Most of those products have landed with a thud. But consumers already are equipping themselves, albeit unwittingly, with a convergence device that can bring the Net and a full array of entertainment into their homes.
It's a laptop computer.
The typical notebook computer sold today is equipped to perform many of the functions of the average home entertainment center. With a $100 add-on card, it can do all of them.
Granted, television broadcasts look pretty lousy when blown up to full screen on a laptop. DVD movies, on the other hand, can be seen with crisper, richer detail on a laptop than on a TV set.
So, are millions of consumers replacing their stereos, TVs and VCRs with 8 slim pounds of metal with a folding screen? Uh, no. Nor should they. But the interesting thing is that they could.
Consumers certainly are starting to think of their laptops as entertainment devices. Analyst Stephen Baker of PC Data Inc., a computer-industry research firm, estimated that more than half of the notebook computers sold today have DVD drives.
Because there's almost no software offered on DVD, the only reason consumers are upgrading from a CD drive to a DVD drive is to watch movies.
The main motive for these buyers is the ability to watch movies in the car or on a plane--not in the living room. Otherwise, consumers would be putting DVD drives in their desktop computers too, and Baker said only 20% to 25% of the desktops sold have DVD drives. In fact, analyst Richard Doherty of the Envisioneering Group said DVDs are losing ground among desktop buyers in favor of recordable CD drives.
"People just aren't comfortable watching TV or watching a movie on a desktop computer," said Kurt Kirsch, director of product management for Dell Computer Corp.'s home systems. "But they are more readily watching DVD movies in cars, on planes or even in their house walking around from the bedroom to the kitchen."
To boost picture quality, Dell has equipped its laptops with high-capacity memory chips for video--up to 32 megabytes' worth in the $2,158 Inspiron 8000, which boasts a 15-inch screen. That's at least twice the amount of video memory that most desktop computers have. And three-fourths of the people who buy the 8000 are opting for the maximum video memory, Kirsch said.
