I've read reviews, looked at pictures and generally fancied the idea of a box in the corner with all my MP3s on, which is also a hard disk recorder and digital TV plus being able to do the odd bit of browsing etc. let alone play games and check my emails.

But.... let's be honest it isn't going to happen until we can see these things in shops. If the likes of Comet, John Lewis etc feel it's important to have their entire range of TVs and Hifis playing away so the punters can be impressed with the sound and picture quality before making a choice, then surely these same punters want to see and hear equipment that is going to set them back twice the price of a normal TV, especially as most of the boxes are so ugly that there unlikely to get the thumbs up from one member of the family at least (normally female with an eye for matching accessories and colour schemes).

All this is before the problem of who will be actually able to work it in the family cuts in. The old joke about who can program the video recorder gets magnified when half the family won't be able to switch the thing on just watch TV.

At a time where I've experienced that even the most simple MP3 player may need a firmware update in order to fix a problem it makes me wonder whether the technical types have finally taken over the asylum.

R. Houghton