Home Networking is the future right now.

50 Million homes will be home networking this year.

I did it last year, for the express purpose of making my large music collection (thousands of CDs) as easy to use as Tivo. I don't have the same graphical user interface (it's not on my TV) but it's at least as organized and nearly as easy to use as Tivo.

Still, in order to playback my DRM'd AAC files on my stereo over a network (tracks I bought from iTunes), you have to either jump through hoops or go the jHymn route. Guess which route I took?

This is another issue of copyright stubborness that will be crushed in the coming two years--consumers think that when they buy a song or a DVD, they should be able to watch it how they want to watch it. They think that if they buy a CD, they should be able to load it into their computer so that they can play it on the stereo all over the house. They don't understand or agree that DRM is a reason to make AAC impossible to play over a network. Consumers think this is bullshit. And as the price of hard drives continues to plummet, consumers will start ripping all their DVDs to their computer because it's a MILLION TIMES EASIER TO ORGANIZE AND STORE DIGITAL INFORMATION ON A COMPUTER THAN FILLING UP ENDLESS CABINENTS IN A LIVING ROOM.

This is so ingrained in the culture that "market forces" like DRM are going to be a serious hurdle for all involved. It is vital that the entertainment industry focuses on relieving consumers of this sort of hassle, or they will simply turn to alternative sources like Napster.