Dilbert Wants Amahi (does he know it?) May 15

Filed under Developers, HDA News, News by Gerald | 4 comments

Now someone famous is asking for Amahi, and he does not even know it!

Scott Adams recent blog entry addresses his personal need for a home server. Quoting him directly:

If you’re wondering where the next economic boom will come from, I think it will involve a central computer for your home that handles all of your entertainment, home controller, and computing needs.


Before you rush to tell me “That already exists,” and then provide links to things that only do a few functions, let me assure you that it doesn’t exist. But there is no reason to think it won’t be developed in the future.


I came to this conclusion while searching for a home system that would deliver recorded TV shows and music (iTunes) to several rooms in the house, with each room controlling its own content. I was surprised to learn that no such thing exists.

Not surprisingly, as a member of the Amahi community, I take offense at the comment “let me assure you that it does not exist.” It does exist – Amahi is designed with just this objective in mind!

Scott lists his immediate requirements as delivering recorded TV as streaming music (iTunes). Well, those in the community know that MythTV (backend server) for recording and streaming TV is in alpha for one-click deployment on Amahi, and AmahiTunes is already available as a one-click install for streaming music from/to iTunes.

Scott continues in his blog to dream about more advanced home control: lighting, video games, home security, climate control, etc. Well, Amahi already delivers on some of these (eg. video surveillance with ZoneMinder one-click installer), and as an expandable platform it is only a matter of time before the open source community packages more solutions for one-click deployment.

My question for Scott Adams is, “What would Dilbert say about the quality of research Scott did searching for a home server?”

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4 comments

  1. carlos May 15

    What would Dilbert say about the research? “It’s pointy-haired!”

    Yeah, Scott needs Amahi. :-)

  2. Alex May 19

    The universe seems to align. I read Scott’s post yesterday, and I happened to agree with him. And today, I find Amahi. Let me tell you that for a project that has existed since 2006, I am surprised I haven’t seen you before. I am quite into open source, I’ve known MythTV for ages, and have been trying many HTPC solutions lately, and it’s until today I stumble upon Amahi, through Jinzora’s blog.

    I’m going to take a good look to Amahi; it sounds really cool. But let me tell you: for some of us, it seems you’ve been flying under the radar for some unknown reason. Maybe marketing has been a little PHB this time ;)

  3. MC May 25

    scott is talking about a finished product that does everything, and he’s right that it doesnt exist.

    where is the amahi box? what remote does it use?

    and even if you manage to build it yourself, it is a hack that barely works

  4. GMan May 26

    Fair comment! For those with a little faith and vision, it is clear Amahi is targeted exactly at what is being dreamed about AND is well on the way to being “consumer” ready with its own hardware offering.

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