Today, I’m starting a new category for home theater personal computers (HTPCs).  I’ve been reluctant to do so because there really aren’t too many things out there with worse-fitting names.  Does “home” and “personal” really mean you cannot use it in a business?

For starters, what is a “PC”, anyhow?  Usually, the term is used to denote an “IBM” style of machine (usually running Windows, but not necessarily) from a Macintosh.  Of course, many more companies than IBM make them now, but IBM originally used the term to denote their line of “personal computers”.  Business computers were large, complex machines that could take up entire floors of buildings.  IBM noticed the growing market of people using much smaller and less powerful computers in their homes to play games, print and share recipes, etc.  So, they came up with the personal computer, and the “PC” was born.

As PCs became more popular, though, businesses began to want something smaller and cheaper to help their workers be more productive.  So, the PC began moving into businesses.  It was still called a “personal computer”, and the “PC” moniker stuck.

As businesses were able to invest in PCs, PC makers were able to become more efficient at manufacturing them.  Soon, a guy named Michael Dell decided to take on the industry by enabling people to order computers online, eliminating the middleman (the big box stores).  It became more competitive, and before too long, PC makers were offering much more capability for less price.

However, many still differentiated a “home computer” from a “business computer”.  The difference?  Well, the business computers typically stressed reliability and power, while the home computer was manufactured more for multimedia and entertainment as well as lower price.

The problem is, it is a very fuzzy line.  Workers these days often need to run the same programs with the same data at home as well as work, since many more work from home (at least on an occasional basis).  Another problem is that the same power you might need for the PowerPoint presentation is about the same as for downloading and showing that movie.

On top of that, you have the home business scenario where people will want it all.

Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the gamers.  These guys really drive the market, unbeknownst to many, especially when it comes to video graphics and sound.  If you really want to know how powerful your machine is, play a multi-user game on it, and all the defects will come to the surface.

So, what is a “home computer”?  What is a “business computer”?

We now have “convergence” going on.  PCs connect to television sets with relative ease (I’ll cover some of the pitfalls in future articles).  You can make and receive telephone calls from your computer.  If the lines were blurred before, they are all over the place now.

On top of that: What is a “home theater personal computer”?  Do companies show videos?  What about video conferencing?  Did you know there are special monitors available for Skype users to use their video conferencing?  Do companies ever broadcast spreadsheets between locations?  Could a company hook up some speakers so that everyone can hear in a room with bad acoustics (ever lean over towards the center of a table where the Polycom unit was when someone talked really low?).

In the end, I think it is a lot like asking, “What is a stereo system?”  You may have some core similarities … or maybe not.  After all, there is the whole receiver vs amplifier vs integrated equalizer thing going on.

If we cannot even agree on that, then maybe the differences between a home computer and business computer aren’t as great as marketers would have you believe.  In fact, I really wonder where the business marketers are when it comes to multimedia machines, because it seems evident to me that there are uses for them in businesses as well.

A business traveler needs something portable and can plug into practically anything these days.  This takes the HTPC concept even further.  Think it doesn’t exist?  Maybe you should have a look at these.

I suspect it won’t end there.  The multimedia capabilities of the iPhone and Android phones are just the tip of the iceberg, IMO.  I envision a day where you type something up on your home computer, you then undock your portable cellular and wireless device (cell phone, wifi phone, whatever), put it into your pocket or holster, go to work, receive calls while travelling, get to work, dock your mobile device, continue working on your document, undock it and go to a meeting where you dock it into a projector to display the document.  Then, while the meeting is going on, someone asks a question that only Bob in Timbuktu can answer, so you unroll the keyboard on the projector and type in Bob’s phone number, call him up, and he can not only hear you but see the document.

Of course, I’m assuming that the power to project onto the wall is great enough that you need external power.  Otherwise, in theory, it could just be part of the mobile device.  I suspect you would still put it into a stand to keep it steady, though.

I keep coming back to whether or not businesses could use this type of technology, and I have to believe it could.  Maybe I’ve missed it, but where’s the marketing for this?