This pic is 8 years old when JimH first broached the Anything, Anywhere, Anytime and I like to refer to it when this topic comes up periodically to see what has changed. These comments and ranking are just based on my own usage and observation on what has changed over the years.
Content 10/10: MC supports PLAYING all the file formats I need and soon will even officially support un-encrypted UHD BD. I simply don't know of a mainstream format that MC does not play and if something comes up it seems to be added to the supported list pretty quickly.
Delivery & Consumption Sources 7/10: This is an area I think the Industry (and hence MC) has actually gone backwards, but some of these appear to be outside JR's ability to influence:
- Online Content: I'd love for MC to be an aggregator of all media sources, but instead we see the opposite. Netflix and other removed their public API, and the newer ones don't seem to be interested or go broke. This prevents MC being able to be used as a front end for all content. As my kids have grown up I've also seen the consumption shift from using the media and devices in the home to using their mobile to access their media from the web limiting their use of MC to just what I have on the server. One area that would be easier to update would be the ability to find, manage, and play non encrypted streams such as Radio Stations (it can be done but it is very clunky).
- Encrypted Content: Another one where the industry seems to be about face. I have 600+ Movie Discs and they keep trying to make it harder to store, manage, and play this from MC. Their attempts don't stop piracy, just convenience. Anyway, I like MC's stance on this. Full support to un-encrypted content (BD / UHD BD etc) and leaving the decryption to the user.
- Portable Devices: Apple locked the ability for 3rd party players to sync to their devices
This may not be that much of an issue however and users seem to have moved from wanting to plug their devices into a MC PC but instead would prefer to Sync OTA. I'm guessing this needs something like a Full Player on iOS and Android more than a remote app to overcome this.
- OTA/Tuners: Nice improvements in this area.
- Streamer Devices: The industry now has an (over) abundance of streaming protocols for sending content to devices (Speakers, TV, Consoles etc) such as DLNA, Airplay, SONOS, Cast, etc etc (depending on what devices you have purchased). MC really only supports DLNA but these days many homes now have a mix of these and are trying to bring a Whole House approach to rendering the media (aka SONOS). As part of Jim's goal is to play to ANY device this would be an area worth serious consideration. All I want is the ability for MC to "see" these devices, select which ones to "link" and then "play" content in sync to these.
Converter 8/10: MC does a pretty good job doing Format/Time/Place/Device Shifting for various content to various devices but only with preset profiles. At some point, it would be good to have MC expand these profiles or allow users to specify these as they have not changed for years. For example there is no 265, 4K, or even a Remux profile. There are also some inconsistencies here however: (a) web streams like radio is not put through the converter causing issues with consumption device compatibility, and (b) JTV can not be remuxed.
Summary: MC has done a good job in a dynamically changing environment. "Big Direction" I'd consider worthy of consideration (even if they can not be done) would be:
- Aggregation of On Line media sources
- Evolution of the Remotes into Players
- Expansion of support for consumption devices
- Updating the Converter at the core of MC