PC Questionnaire (School work)

SirDigby

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Hey Techies,
I do IB with Business and Management Higher, and currently have to write a 2000 word essay on an REAL UPCOMING BUSINESS DECISION with primary and secondary research.
Currently I have no idea what I'm going to investigate, but I think it'll be something to do with the Steam Box, dubbed the Steam 'Piston' (specs available here), most likely "Should Valve enter the console market" with several different sub questions that I may have to narrow it down to "Would a Valve-Console dent the console market", "What market niche would the Steam Piston fill", with some analysis using Porter's 5 Forces etc.

Question 1:
Would you want a PC in your living room?
Yes? No? Maybe?
Why?
Question 2:
What would you use it for?
Why use it over a proper PC?
Question 3:
Is there anything you'd use it for that a Android dongle couldn't do?
Does it seem worth the (tentative) $1000 price tag over a $50 dongle?
Question 4:
What do you think of the Linux based system?
What do you think this would mean for the console?
Question 5:
What do you think the easily upgradable parts would bring to the table?
Why?
Question 6:
Considering the recent announcement of the Xbox One, and the PS4, how do you think the Steam Piston would diversify?
Question 7:
Instead of the steam Piston, why not just buy a $10 5m HDMI cable and stream that to your TV?
Question 8:
Instead of buying a console, which costs a lot in terms of R&D, would it not be more cost effective to be the first on the scene with a wireless HDMI system?
Would you buy it even if it cost $100?
How about $200?
What is the maximum you'd pay for best wireless HDMI, so good that it could stream 4K TV and games?
Question 9:
How much hype do you think the secretive style actually generates for Valve?
Question 10:
Is playing at full graphics at 60FPS a necessity for you?

I'd like to thank you for the time you've taken to respond to this, I find this quite an interesting topic.
 
Q1: Maybe, because sometimes I like looking on the web for stuff on a big screen, but having a smart TV makes it useless.
Q2:I would use it for web browsing. Big screen.
Q3: I would rather get a Rasberry Pi than a full on PC, but Windows is the only reason I would pay for a real PC over a Android or Pi device.
Q4:Linux is fun. Consoles running on Linux is a good idea.
Q5: Great to be able to upgrade. I love screwing around with PCs, so upgrading is great.
Q6: The Steam Piston would only diversify if it comes in at the right price point. With android consoles becoming a fad, it will be just another competitor.
Q7: The HDMI cable is more of a hassle, you risk tripping over it, etc.
Q8: What is the point of wireless HDMI when you have things like wireless display?
Q9: Secretive style of who?
Q10: I play games at 30FPS because my PC sucks, but yeah, if I get used to 60FPS, it would be nice, but it doesnt matter to me.
 
Question 1:
Would you want a PC in your living room?

Yes, and I already have one - HTPC. The options for the PC to take over as a set top box, game console (current-gen, any previous gen with emulators), server, media host, etc.. it's endless. Why have 5 boxes when you can have one? However, to be specific, it's not really a 'personal computer' that I want in the living room - I'm not gonna bust out Photoshop and start some renders. It's specialised, but still broad.



Question 2:

I Kinda answer this is previous question. There's a time and place for a proper PC setup (desk, armchair, mouse/kb) - getting work done. When I want to relax and consume various forms of entertainment, I'd use the PC in the lounge.

Question 3:

Android is fine, but it's a mobile OS. It can't match a Windows Server, Media Centre capability, full gaming capability, endless expansion. $1000 is for specialised high-end gear (mine cost a lot due to premium components and necessary hardware). $400 is easy for a basic PC, with $600 getting you above next-gen console graphics and horsepower.

Question 4:

I don't use Linux on PC, because I don't want to hassle with it. I want it to work. Also, graphics drivers and games don't work very well on linux, so that's a negative.


Question 5:

User-upgradeable over time. Needs to be controlled, so the market isn't flooded with various model types, e.g. laptop market.


Question 6:

There's not very many redeeming factors of the Piston. The only way it'll succeed, is if it's marketed as a mini-PC that's capable of purchasing and continuing your games from the comfort of your couch.


Question 7:

Physical barriers (PC set up in opposite end of house), along with an actual need to have specific hardware. I don't wanna have my main PC on 24x7, downloading updates etc. I'll offload this to the device that actually needs it.

Question 8:

Good luck with that. There's tons of published work about how the TV broadcast spectrum doesn't have enough bandwidth for 4K signal. Factor in theever-increasing health doubts about wifi, and wireless HDMI won't happen anytime soon.

Question 9:

As JC above, I don't know what you're talking about. At best guess, I think you're talking about all the rumours and secrets of the console launches leading up to E3 and similar. I think it makes a lot of hype... so does 7 years of current-gen.

Question 10:
No, but it's nice. 50fps on medium-high is all that's required, as TV's are 1080p. At the general distance that most people have their TV's at, it's too far away to tell apart x2 AA vs full x8AA with texture filtering and maximum draw distance, etc etc.
 
Hm, not sure how, you tried facebook? Anyway, if EFT confirms receipt of a survey, I can give them a free Steam game. :) Incentive enough? lol
 
Ooh, fun!

1. I already have a PC in my living room (this one). i7, 16gb, HD7970. It's my baby.

2. Gaming :D ...and everything else.

3. Gaming :D ...I'm not sure I could content myself with just playing Angry Birds for the rest of my life, so yes, that's something an Android dongle can't do (yet). Is it worth it? Well... that's a big question. In a vacuum? Yeah, maybe. ...but given that I already have a PC? No. No it isn't. Honestly, I think that's the question you need to engage with. "If you already have a PC in your living room, would you want a Piston?"

4. Eh. I'm not too concerned about the OS on a console, to be honest. It's not like you're going to see much of it anyway. As for what it means for the console...? Low overheads.

5. Easily upgradeable parts sounds like an okay idea, with a single problem: you then run into the upgrade cycle like a PC does... and for a console, that could potentially be a problem.

6. I'm not entirely convinced that the Steam Piston will diversify anything - but that's not necessarily anything to do with the PS4/X1... but rather, because it will most likely just be duplicating what is already available on PC.

7. Good question. I already have a $10 5m HDMI cable streaming to my TV :p

8. Why would I want wireless HDMI? I don't have a problem with wired HDMI. I think if people want a PC in their living room, they'll make it happen, wireless product or not. Hell, for the price points you're talking about, you could buy a cheap 2nd hand PC. As for streaming 4K TV and games - that's not going to happen any time soon regardless. You need an absolute beast of a PC (e.g. 3x TItans in tri-SLI) just to run most games in 4K, let alone stream them.

9. Umm... pretty much none. I don't think they have a secretive style per se, I just don't think they're ready to make any kind of significant announcement yet. Could be wrong on that, though.

10. 60fps? Yes. Although in theory, if a game could run at 30fps without frame rate drops, that would be acceptable too. I don't see that happening though, so 60fps would be a bare minimum to prevent drops below 30fps.
 
Q1:
I would probably find it convenient to use for web browsing and as an alternative to console gaming, but due to the presence of consoles and their PC-like state I see no need to currently invest in a dedicated PC console. Most likely if it were affordable I would most likely invest in it if I had a birthday near.
Q2:
I would probably only use it for internet browsing (light weight stuff like Facebook and Youtube), however I would also use it for gaming 1080p on a big screen. Having a 32" 1080p TV in my room this would be quite ideal, but I see no reason in why I can't just hook up a cable from my downstairs PC and stream from that.
Q3:
Again, I would probably use it for gaming which an android dongle couldn't handle, but for simple browsing I'm, sure it could, although I probably wouldn't value it at $1000, I would only really invest if it were similarly priced to a console.
Q4:
I'm all for promoting a Linux based console, I view it as giving more freedom to users, and programmers alike. The main issue raised by Linux is that it has very few games that have been ported to it.
Q5:
Having an easily upgradable console is truly an innovation in the console market, systems could be configured to provide FPS over Aesthetics or vise versa, depending on the users preference, and then games could be much more optimized for the component configuration of the device, it would really bring so much more to the table.
Q6:
The Steam Piston recently announced by Xi3 I don't think will hold up very well against the forthcoming consoles. The price-tag is too high, Valve aren't willing to take the risk to make games Piston exclusive, and no other developer would either.
Q7:That's exactly what I would do.
Q8:
I would probably not pay any more than $150 for a wireless HDMI, 4K itself is barely taking off and even in that case of the people that can afford it, it would be a niche of a niche for those who would require a wireless HDMI as well.
Q9:
Valve generates a large amount of hype just by leaking lines of code featuring Half Life 3 or an variant, however I don't think this is strong enough to convince people to buy a console.
Q10:Not entirely, having spent a lot of time playing on a laptop which I used for gaming @720p with medium-low graphics and at@60FPS, and also on an Xbox 360 which generally played games on low-medium graphics @30FPS @720p. I generally prefer a steady frame rate, high graphics isn't a requirement, but having played on my gaming computer which can generally handle most games on ultra, I do enjoy it, but I'd never not play a game because it couldn't do it.

Overall however, being able to access all of my steam games from a console would still be awesome, but the price is an issue, and I think it would be for most people.
 
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