Now that the NetFlix Roku is out, we can revisit the time honored tradition of speculating over set top boxes.

Clearly Apple is going to be a player in this arena, just as much as the Moxi box and Charter are non-players.

Cisco buying Scientific-Atlanta promises that those folks aren’t going away, though I wouldn’t look for any innovation from them.

And my family’s interface to this world - is via our COMCAST DVR box.   That comes with a TON of on-demand content.  And they own the trademark ‘on-demand’.  And Plaxo now.

Kudos to TiVO for bringing the experience of pausing, storing, recording ahead of time TV shows has finally and permanently entered into our vernacular.

And then there’s the Windows Home Media Center and the recent ‘Mediaroom’ announcement.

My oh my - how things have changed and grown up.  I can still remember John Malone predicting in 1992 that by 1994 they’d be 10M digital set top bioxes out there.  As I always say, it’s not a matter of if, but when.

We’re still probably five years away from this stuff coalescing and maturing, but at least we can now see what it’s gonna look like.

What’s missing?

-  local relevant info.  Not just ads, but reviews of restaurants, hair dressers and auto mechanics.

- local events. What to do with the kids on the weekend.

- interactive anything - games, polls, surveys, state your opinion

- share you media collection - with other family members, your friends, colleagues. Buy once, enjoy everywhere.

- health - #1 issue facing us, along with the environment and green issues.  Ask questions, keep track of problems, nutrition, exercise, child rearing.

- blogging - express yourself.  Upload photos and comment on them.  Blog about what you’re doing.  Build up an historical timeline or timelog and let others know.

- gateways - to mobile, to your PC, to your otehr handheld devices

- the kitchen - recipes, techniques, videos, new devices, plan parties, compare prices

- your home office - make a few bucks on the side or make it your main source of living.  Connect to other home businesses

- the ‘virtual’ garage - your family heirlooms, legacy and genealogy.  Store things away in the cloud, but keep a local copy.  Your ‘server-in-the-closet‘.

- be friends with your neighbors - social networking needs to go beyond friends be friends with individuals,  Families need to be friends with other families. That way you can plan activities together, share vacation moments, coordinate pick up and drop of schedules, create REAL community.

- real community - after-school activities, community activism, your church/synagogue

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