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Lots of Work, Lots of Innovation, Loving ATG

It's been a crazy last few months and we have been extremely busy working on creating a value added approach to ATG implementations that goes way beyond the standard implementation. Many times these go badly because the reality of what is possible within the Iron Triangle doesn't meet with the expectations that were present at the beginning of the project. I feel that by taking the strong foundation of a market leading product, like ATG, value added add-ons can make the product faster to implement with better scalability and allow the utilization of the entire ATG suite.

The whole idea started for me many years ago when I was at Inforte and it seemed like we consistently had to build the same content management systems over and over that were specifically tailored to a visual design. As we continued to improve our process of managing catalogs and general content, it began to occur to me that these tailored solutions were bad for our clients because in 12-18 months when they refreshed their site, we would have to do this same process again.

As I thought about how we get into this vicious cycle, it became more and more clear to me that there is and should be a slight change to the notion of gathering requirements. When we gather requirements, we always ask the client what they want. The problem is that most people, myself included, when I was a client, don't always know what they want because all of the information isn't available. A light bulb went off in my head at this point in my career that gathering requirements should be replaced by driving requirements based on architectural and design best practices. By driving requirements, we can give the client the best solution that fits within what they want to do now and will likely want to do in the future. We can measure success by seeing how much of a content and catalog management solution we need to replace in a redesign.

Many of you might think I am completely crazy at this point, but content management best practices dictate that the best way to manage content is at the asset level vs. at the page level. If we take that approach, many of the architectural and business level decisions become automatic for us and it will eliminate hundreds of hours of meetings, design and development where approaches are decided that many time do not meet the needs of the business. In the case of asset level publishing, the page just becomes another asset that doesn't lock all the elements on a page when we edit that information. Changes to content on a page can also be published separately from changes to a page's meta data and thus collisions for shared content items in publishing are eliminated.

Being at Resource Interactive has given me the opportunity to create a product add-on for the #1 eCommerce platform on the planet that will address the content management problem that every client faces. We have been working with ATG on this front for the past several months to create a reusable implementation of ATG that would take advantage of all the things ATG has done right with their product and eliminate the major things that most implementers do wrong when implementing the product. Additionally, we have been spending the past several months creating an offering around tying RI Personas into ATG's best of breed multi level personalization.

Combining the power of asset level publishing with actionable persona based personalization creates an unmatched level of flexibility and customer service for an eCommerce client.  I have never been so excited for any one project in my whole career.

Offshoring - When should you?

I find this topic coming up a lot still and I am honestly kind of amazed that I still hear it so often.  When should you Off Shore some base of work for your business?  When you should off shore is very similar to asking yourself if something REALLY is a commodity.  Unless something is a commodity, it's not a good idea to outsource it.  Additionally, if your motivation is to save money, you will lose.

What is a commodity?  About.com defines it like this:

usually produced and/or sold by many different companies

Is uniform in quality between companies that produce/sell it. You cannot tell the difference between one firm's product and another.

If anyone has ever used any piece of software developed by anyone, it’s clear that the second point fails the commodity test badly.  However, maintenance to existing software can pass this test.  For instance, maintenance of a mainframe application or a web application should be largely a commodity.

Since we now know that NEW software development is NOT a commodity, we know that we need to pay special care to make sure that the individual or organization that is delivering us this software knows what they are doing and will meet and exceed our expectations.

In off shore development, meeting expectations is very difficult.  In speaking with people that have been through using it, the frustration levels are extremely high.  Issues are worst in communication (linguistics), time zone changes as well as tasks as simple as common status meetings quickly can become a large effort for both sides of the ocean.

There are countless stories out there detailing disaster after disaster with some organizations attempting onshore to offshore ratios as high as 1 to 11 or 1 to 15.  Even companies claiming CMMi level 5 will fall apart in situations like this (see comments for instance).  We all know the magic number to manage people even in your same office building maxes out at 7.  Even if you try and follow the hourglass model, exceeding 7 is difficult unless you are at the supervisor level which essentially implies a line worker in a factory.  Since we have proven new development insn't a commodity, that layer is essentially out.  So, a rule of thumb is if you have more than 7 direct reports, it’s too much to handle and that is if you are right there seeing these people all day, every day.  Imagine if the team you were managing were on the other side of the world.  So, when someone claims 11 or 14, watch out.

The best way I have seen off shoring work in a new development process is at a ratio of 1 onshore to a maximum of 4 people off shore.  The on shore resource will need to have personal relationships with each of the 4 off shore resources and the modules that they work on have to be able to be isolated and the requirements have to be so clear that my 7 year old would understand exactly what the ask is.

These are the best practices that I live by when it comes to off shoring, what do you think?

OPEN E-Commerce

People always ask me about tying the new trends of the OPEN Brand or Social Commerce into what is reality in the technology world of E-Commerce.  I found myself sitting at the Partner conference for ATG in January this year while the ATG leadership team was talking about the future of their platform and how it was the last platform you would ever need.  This got me thinking how that would become a reality due to the cost ramifications when I know that my client’s best interests are my number one objective.  It suddenly dawned on me this week as I was working through a myriad of E-Commerce issues as it relates to a number of my Retail clients that this new world of E-Commerce should be MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE, both to build and to maintain.  Given budgets this year, this is extremely important.

The first question that comes to mind is just how can I do all things social and be where my customers are while maintaining costs?  It seems we can’t touch our core E-Commerce solutions for less than 7 figures… That, however, IS the answer.  You DON’T touch your core Commerce functionality.

Your CORE E-Commerce functionality should be these things and these things only: •    Catalog •    Checkout (Payment and Fraud) •    Inventory Management •    Fulfillment •    Back Office Integration The things I find myself being asked to change the most are things like this: •    Facebook Applications/Fan Pages •    Path to Product/Checkout •    SEO •    Personalization/Scenarios •    Search Implementations (Endeca, Google) •    Advertising Campaigns The previous items are the most common pieces that drive conversion and sales for marketing organizations.  Let’s face it, Back Office integration is more of a cost of doing business vs. something you can show true ROI on, at least in the short term. How do you DO IT? I have long been a fan of the acronym KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).  The running norm is to try and build everything into the Core Commerce system, which generally ends with everyone being less than pleased.  Boiling the ocean is not something anyone should undertake.  An E-Commerce solution can be broken up into 3 basic layers: •    Front-End •    Commerce Enablement •    Back Office Segregating these layers allows for a scalable and organized approach to not just e-commerce, but commerce in general.  Back Office pieces such as Data Warehouse, CRM, Inventory Management, Warehouse Management, etc. are all core competencies of your business.  These areas would be managed and run as they are today, but with the new approach, there would be significantly more clarity about what needs to be done. Commerce Enablement is all about connecting these Back Office systems to your commerce system in a consistent way so that the inputs and outputs are always a known quantity.  By settling on what these inputs and outputs should be, clear lines of delineation can be drawn, simplifying your organization and minimizing your need for overhead. Clients should focus on the only exposed items of your E-Commerce system to be your catalog being available and REST APIs being available for the following things: •    Add to cart •    Remove from cart •    Check Inventory •    Checkout •    Get Confirmation These are the core functions necessary to be able to checkout a customer.  Everything else is something extra and it can generally be done for a lot less than trying to build it all into the Core Commerce system.  The separation will allow front-end applications to be built, upgraded, modified, and extended without affecting the core commerce experience.  What does that end up meaning?  Everything costs a lot less. This sounds too good to be true… There are some drawbacks to this approach.  Personalization would not be done via the core commerce platform, however there are lots of SaaS based personalization services from ATG that are available for your promotions that are significantly easier to implement into your code base. The upsides are endless… Point of Sale registers can be easily replaced by a web based system that will eliminate long and difficult closing processes and it will allow for cross sell and upsells from the register and even in the dressing room.

I like to always say that a picture is 1,000 words.  In this case, it's less than 1,000 :)

Next up..  RFID

Changing the conversation on oil

I really enjoyed this article and I felt that it does a great deal to highlight where the real issues are with gas prices and it paints a realistic picture.  There is one interesting thing that I am honestly SHOCKED I haven’t a lot more of.  Since we know we can affect the market forces in terms of oil costs, why aren’t the politicians changing the market?  Amazingly, I did see a little of this with McCain’s new battery push, but I mean a real investment in alternative fuel solutions like Honda’s FCX car.  If the government gave several billion dollars and tight timelines around making these cars (and an array of vehicles) affordable, accessible and serviceable, dramatic change could occur in the next 5-6 years.

I looked at this report:

I retrieved the following data:

Automobiles:

USMS members report 2.17 cars per household. 49.4% report having 2 cars, with 19.7% having 1 car and 19.6% having three cars. 51.9% of households report buying a new car every 5 or fewer years. The average length of time between car purchases is 6.3 years. Given the average number of cars per household we can extrapolate that USMS households purchase a new car every 3 years, on average. Japanese car makers are the preferred automobile provider. 43.9% of members report preferring Japanese cars, 33.6% of members prefer American cars, and 14.2% prefer German cars. 8.3% prefer “other” countries of origin.

If we do something significant like provide a $5,000-$10,000 tax credit to ALL people (not tiered by income) in order to drop the barrier to entry somewhat on a new car purchase, I think we could affect that 6.3 years.  Since the car already exists by Honda, they could step up production significantly within the next 1-2 years and within the next 2-3 years most manufacturers could follow suit and we could change the market.

I would personally love to see the market changed vs. looking at how to fix something that is inherently broken and finite.

Additional notes:

Consumption Article:  http://www.usms.org/admin/surveys/May2006/consumption_report.pdf

Article Link:  http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jun2008/db20080619_412349.htm

Honda FCX Clarity:  http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/

via www.dpi.inpe.br

Honda FCX Clarity - Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle - Official Web Site

Droid Eris vs iPhone vs Droid vs Blackberry Storm

I have been in a very unique position the past few weeks to be able to run consistent comparisons of these 4 phones together and I have tweeted about it and while I love Twitter and Facebook, questions about my feelings on the 4 phones can't be explained in 140 characters or less.

Sorry for all the pictures, but they kindof tell the story.  I will break this down into a few categories:

Apps

Time wasting apps

Games

Social Media Apps

Productivity Apps (searching, maps, etc.)

Web surfing

Multi tasking

Business usage

Call quality

Service

Network Speeds

Ergonomics

Now, that's a lot of categories, but I think across them it can tell the story of which phone is best for you.  That's what this is really about.  Not one phone is the best phone period, because like all things, the value is in the eye of the beholder and ultimately the consumer will decide.

I encourage you all to read all of the categories though as they will help you all get the best perspective.

APPS:

I will knock out time wasting apps first, now these account for 99% of all apps on the Apple App Store, the Blackberry App Store and the Android Market.  Each phone has good to adequate apps for weight management, media streaming (Pandora, Slacker Radio, etc.) however the iPhone just has more of them.  Will you use them outside of the major ones, probably not, but they are there and choice is a good thing.

Games:

This is where I see the iPhone truly outshining every other device and to be honest, I don't know if any Android device will ever be able to compete.  Blackberry, well, let's just move on because the games on the storm are simply embarrassing.  The iPhone is always a specific OS on a specific screen with specific hardware, so you can have great games even if the hardware is better on an Android device.  It's akin to games on PCs vs. games on Consoles.  Console games are generally just better because they don't have to code for different hardware and components, etc.  I see the Android games improving, will they ever match iPhone games, I am doubtful.  The coming of Flash to both platforms will make this more interesting, but for the foreseeable future, this category is squarely with the iPhone.

Both Android devices have basically the same games available to them and while vastly superior to the Blackberry, they don't have all the titles that iPhone boasts.

Social Media Apps:

This category seemed to cause a big stir for me with several DMs on Twitter and even a couple of calls, but here goes.  I have to give the edge here to the Droid Eris.  The Motorola Droid comes in second with the iPhone third and the Blackberry in a distant 4th.  Each platform has apps for all of the major Social Media apps and most of the peripheral apps.  The biggest miss I see is no Gowalla app on Android although they say one will be out shortly.  I personally use Foursquare, but that is a different topic for a different day.

The Droid Eris comes integrated with Twitter and Facebook out of the gate and from there, each new Social network integrates throughout the platform so that I can share pictures or videos right from my photo library along with being able to email or MMS them.  The iPhone requires you to open each app and then browse your libraries.  I always have found this painful and annoying.  The Droid can be easily configured to do the things the Eris does, but the Sense UI adds some pieces onto Android to make this just a tad smoother.  The only knock I have on the Droid is the Facebook app is weaker than it's iPhone counterpart.  It is going through regular revisions that have improved it drastically over the past couple months, but it's still not as "snazzy" as the iPhone version.  Twitdroid has a 4.75* rating with 21,000+ ratings as a twitter app and it's easily as good as any of the best Twitter apps for the iPhone.  The Blackberry, well, it's apps are just bad in comparison.

A big issue I have with the iPhone is the way that notifications are generally done.  They did a great job with email and how you can control if you get a push, audio and/or vibrate.  Now imagine having that same control for each and every social media outlet you have.  Yeah, that's what Android does.  I am sorry, it's just better.  I carry both phones all the time and I find myself using my Eris the most for most of what I do.

Productivity Apps:

I didn't know how else to name this category, but things like Google Latitude, Voice, Maps, Searching, etc.  These are some of the apps I use the most and being a google phone, obviously, the Droids do these things better, but for the life of me, I don't know why the iPhone has denied these services.  The way that you can easily just speak something like "Chipotle" or "Buckeye Nissan" and it pops it right into Google maps with the ability to make the call or get Google results.  The iPhone has some of these services, but they can't be backgrounded and that really hurts their productivity.  For instance, if I need to know if my wife is getting the kids or if I am by just looking at Latitude.  This makes a big difference in a busy family where we both have to be flexible.  The Droid edges out the Eris here because the Eris is still on 1.5 vs. 2.0 of Android, so Google Goggles, which I think will revolutionize searching, is only available on 1.6 and up for Android.  This will be moot in mid January as the Eris is being upgraded.

Web Surfing:

Overall, this category is a matter of preference, however, having a truly tabbed browser on Android that loads consistently is nice.  Mobile Safari on the iPhone is an absolutely outstanding browser that renders amazingly.  My only complaint is that when you switch "tabs", it nearly always forces a reload.  I use my browser to read the news a lot and this always bugs me.  There are lots of "browser wars" posts showing speeds of page loads, but I think this is difficult to show because there are so many factors at play.  In general, I have done numerous speed tests and AT&T is generally faster downloading and Verizon is faster uploading and is more consistent.

Multi Tasking:

Multi Tasking can mean a number of things to a number of people, but I think the AT&T commercial nails it.  I have found that being able to look something up while on a call is nice and it's a limitation of the Verizon CDMA network.  I give the nod to the iPhone here.

Business Usage:

Are we talking about Blackberry?  Yeah, this is probably the only category I will give to the Blackberry.  Enterprise activation is a nice thing for IT administrators and not requiring a Gmail account or an iTunes account is a good thing for business.  The mail and calendar aps on Android and iPhone have improved significantly, but they are not as strong as Blackberry.  Good technology has mentioned that they will be releasing an iPhone app and an Android app which could make this comparison moot, but that won't get around the need for a gmail account or an iTunes account.

Call Quality:

I have to give the iPhone a 0 here.  Stopping sales in New York and I have mapped out the 3 spots where I drop calls daily on my way home have me saying this is AT&T's biggest issue.  It's not data because they seem superior (to me) there.  It looks like the new software update on Blackberry to 5.0 has them MUCH better, but I am still having shivers from 4.7.  I have never lost a call on Android and call quality is crystal clear.

Service:

Service for iPhones is an ongoing issue.  Verizon will ship you a phone immediately if there is a problem and not require you to give a credit card, etc.  You can be without a phone for days if you have a problem whereas with Verizon, you will have a new phone the next day.  Combine this with all your data being on the cloud and the Android solution makes for seamless transitions from phone to phone whereas with iPhone you have to restore from a backup with iTunes and this process is a bit scary for most consumers.  The Mobile me service (at $99/yr) makes this much better, but should you really have to pay for this when Google and Blackberry make this free?  I have to give the joint nod overall to the Droids here due to the fact that if you aren't in an enterprise situation, the Blackberry is a bit of a black hole from a restore process.

Network Speeds:

I have a post on this, but that was just with the Storm.  I have been running on-going tests and I have a basic summary of avg speeds:

iPhone: 2000 KBs Down/190 KBs Up

Droid(s): 1500 KBs Down/900 KBs Up

Blackberry: 300 KBs Down/300 KBs Up

Overall, I give the nod to the iPhone here, but at those speeds, it doesn't much matter unless you are watching video.  Unless you jailbreak though, most of this is locked down whereas tv.com's Android app allows you to watch any CBS TV show live over the network.

Ergonomics:

The iPhone is just beautiful, but I have to say that I find myself liking the Droid Eris better.  It's a little smaller and the nice backing is rubbery and doesn't slide around so much when it's in the car.  I think the iPhone is just a little too wide for easy 1 hand texting.  I am a little faster on the droid eris with 1 hand texting.  The Droid is definitely not a 1 hand texting device, it's more of a mini computer with the keyboard.  If you are just using the phone like a netbook, the Droid is superior.  The Blackberry's push in screen is just annoying to me.  It makes fast typing nearly impossible.

Conclusion:

So, there you have it.  Overall, I find the Droid Eris to be the overall most friendly and useful device if I had to choose just one.  However, I am not a big gamer on my phone and I am a big Social Media user.  The tight Android integration is the "killer app" for me and all of the other drawbacks or advantages cancel eachother out.  If I had to choose just one device, I would likely select the Eris.  I would put the Droid a close second, mainly because the nice Sense UI and smaller profile of the Eris is more to my liking, but the Droid is a fantastic phone.  Third, I have the iPhone which is mainly in third as a result of no backgrounding and hence weak Social Media integration vs. Android and the AT&T handcuffs of call quality.  I have the Blackberry a distant last and I think RIM is in serious trouble.  I see both Palm and RIM becoming hanger-ons with Enterprise users and the mainstream will be a 2 horse race with iPhone and Android.

This blog post goes against all my rules of length, but there is a lot to talk about.  Please let me know your thoughts :)

Cheers!

My rant on the new iPhone Data Plans

I believe the term is "Indian Giver" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_giver

That is in a nutshell how I see AT&T now.  Anyone who knows me has heard about my my rants on companies doing these kinds of things.  Recently, Pei Wei took away free soda with your carry out order.  Since they essentially made the soda worthless, customers assume the cost is built into the food (which it must be because the food isn't "cheap").

There are dozens of examples of this in the corporate and retail world and there are acceptable and unacceptable ways of doing this.  

Acceptable ways of changing the rules generally mean it's clear that you are getting a "deal".  For instance, Best Buy may do a promotion of Buy one, Get One (BOGO) free and that promotion may run for a week or 2 weeks or it may run for a year depending on the circumstances.  However, it's clear that you are operating under a promotion.  This is the case with Dish TV and DirecTV and Cable where they may "give" you promotional pricing for a year or they may "give" you HBO and Showtime for 3 months.  However, in all cases it's pretty clear you are getting a promotion.

Alternatively, if your cable company was giving you 200 channels and then said hey, we are going to now give you 20 channels but we will charge you $10 less, would that be "OK"?  I am going to guess no in 90% of the situations.

If, for instance, 95% of the people are in the under 200MB range, then why change the rules?  Does anyone honestly buy that this is in the consumer's best interest?  It's kind of sad if you really do. 

When someone gives you something and then takes it away, it's crap.  I use quite a bit more data for streaming Pandora and downloading movies for the kids via iTunes. God forbid if you find yourself on the road and your kids are screaming for Spongebob.

Guess what?  If you are on board with this plan, you're in trouble.  Gone are the days of surfing You Tube.  I find myself wondering what is the point of an iPhone when you are locked down on data?  Everyone knows that the iPhone SUCKS as a phone.  It's only advantage were the great apps that use data.

Why does the iPhone suck as a phone?

High-powered CDMA signals have raised the "noise floor" for GSM receivers, meaning there is less space within the available band to send a clean signal. This sometimes results in dropped calls in areas where there is a high concentration of CDMA technology. Conversely, high-powered GSM signals have been shown to cause overloading and jamming of CDMA receivers due to CDMA’s reliance upon broadcasting across its entire available band.

The result of this little cross-broadcasting joust has led some cities to pass ordinances limiting the space between cell towers or the height they can reach, giving one technology a distinct advantage over the other.

This is the case is most of the US where CDMA has the advantage.  

So, most would ask, why does my iPhone drop calls more than my Blackberry?  Well, the iPhone grabs more data on a tower in addition to the voice.  GSM towers hold connections for about 60 users each vs. CDMA holds about 300 users each.  So, what happens on the iPhone is that when you move from tower to tower, there is a higher likelihood that you will get squeezed out when you switch towers.  Certain areas of high usage make these drops happen more often.

So, now what we have is all these people putting up with crappy voice service because it's really a mobile mini computer with an always on data connection.  Taking that away is a really bad move and it ensures the continued adoption of Android en masse.  This is really sad for me personally because I feel like a strong offering from the iPhone will make all the options better, however this change will likely slow down advancements. 

Personally, I use quite a bit of data on my e-mail for opening and looking at docs while on the go.  I have actually been iPhone-less since I left my last job and I have been on my Droid 100%.  I "have" to go to an AT&T plan though and I have a stay atleast until June, but now I am thinking I might as well stay with Verizon and just suck it up.  I have a real problem with locking you down to 2GB and the fact that people are actually "buying in" to this is really shocking.

So, here is what I am seeing:

AT&T vs. Verizon:

Data - AT&T wins

Voice - Verizon wins

Apps:  (Taking Jailbreak/Root out of the equation) For all intents and purposes, it's a wash now for apps that you would regularly use, however:

Android gives you Google Voice, Chat, Maps, etc. and it's all free.  You have to pay for decent navigation on iPhone.  Both have Skype, however you have to pay for it on iPhone now.

AT&T just killed their only advantage over Verizon. 

I was so excited for the new iPhone (really, I was - I admit it) and I was actually going to buy it.  However, literally EVERYTHING costs more on iPhone and to be quite frank, the Android experience is pretty darn good.  I just wish AT&T would get a decent Android device.  

Stupid move ma bell.  Feel free to comment away :)

The 3G wars AT&T vs. Verizon

I have always had a cell phone it seems and I was definitely one of the first to get a "smartphone".  I feel that over the years, I have had a phone on all of the "major" networks, but never have I had the opportunity I had today.

While driving home for Thanksgiving, my beautiful wife agreed to drive giving me the chance to get a lot of work done.  During that time, it dawned on me that I should take this chance to see what network really was faster over time over a distance.

So, I hit areas from Columbus to Toledo to Ft Wayne, IN consistently testing Verizon's network vs. AT&T's network.  I am a long-time Verizon customer, so to say I was surprised by the outcome would be a massive understatement.

Stop One:  North Columbus

Verizon 3G:  288 down 271 Up

AT&T 3G:  2814 Down 371 Up

North of Delaware, OH:

Verizon 3G:  351 down 317 Up

AT&T 3G:  984 Down 281 Up

South of Toledo, OH:

Verizon 3G:  91 down 86 Up

AT&T Edge:  271 Down 34 Up

Just East of Indiana/Ohio border:

Verizon 3G:  72 down 71 Up

AT&T Edge:  149 Down 39 Up

OK guys and gals, these are the facts.  I haven't changed anything.

Apps/Phones Used:

Blackberry Storm

Potential excuses for slowness - Connected to corporate email server

No other apps running

Apple iPhone 3G

Potential excuses for slowness - Connected to corporate email server

No other apps running

Conclusion:

I guess if I were Verizon, they can claim that something is 3G when maybe it really isn't so fast?  I have "felt" that my phones were slow on Verizon's network (I have had 3 blackberries and a Palm Treo) and all of them felt slow, but there was no good way to benchmark the speed.  The wireless cards appear to be good and I have usually been able to pull 300KB down on them and 300 up with the rare exception I have gotten them to 700 KB/s down.

Truth in advertising:

TRUE:  Verizon's 3G coverage appears to be larger in space than AT&T's 3G coverage. (Several times above in VERY rural areas, I dropped to Edge as you can see in my results)

TRUE:  AT&T is the fastest 3G network

Questions:  What is 3G?  Most people claim Edge is "2.75G", however it appears that Edge has better download speeds than I am getting on Verizon side by side, but slower upload speeds.  I guess the answer is up to interpretation, but if you believe ads, well, then..  ummmmmmm dot dot dot, you are naive :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

What set top box is in your living room?

The contenders are the PS3, xbox360, Google TV, Boxee Box and the Apple TV. There are others, but in terms of what is sexy and usable and what will actually fit in most living rooms by the time you have your cable/sat box and your amplifier, I think this covers it.

Since believe in full disclosure, I think it's best I disclose my living room setup, which changes often as my wife or babysitters will tell you. I have a Dennon amp, an Aquos TV and my devices are a Wii, xbox360, and an Apple TV (the new one).

Apple TV

Pros:

Easy to use, very inexpensive, small, low power, networked, iTunes, Airplay, massive potential

Cons:

No 1080p, minimal codec support (formats must be apple friendly), No Games, No Camera

Xbox360

Pros: Powerful, kinect, games and set top, networked, can replace sat/cable box (for AT&T UVerse)

Cons:

Loud, expensive, Zune, requires xbox live gold for Netflix and other things that are free on other systems, has a poor track record for delivering on promises (media center, etc), requires media center to play networked media on a broad scale

PlayStation 3 with Move

Pros:

Blue Ray Disc player, high powered, Networked, Games

Cons:

Expensive, Weak media store, playing local movies requires hacking the system, No Camera, and yes - Blu ray (because who would consistently pay $30 for a movie you watch once?)

Google TV

Pros:

1080p content, Truly a media player, integrates with existing sat/cable box (this is being blocked for some providers), apps, Fling (I haven't seen this working)

Cons:

Different manufacturers with different approaches, no networked media serving working (the revue promises this, but reviews are saying it's not working http://gigaom.com/video/google-tv-review-a-first-stab-at-a-powerful-concept/ ), usability is good for a techie but bad for a novice

Boxee Box:

Pros:

1080P contentTrue media player, apps, content en masse

Cons:

more expensive than Apple TV, the box is awkward and too big, usability leaves something to be desired

To cut the cord.....  It's not quite there yet.  I don't think any of these players make cutting the cord a reality for the majority of consumers, however, there are certainly a lot of people that are now able to do it.  I think Apple may have the best shot at pulling this off in the short term, but if they do, Google will be right behind them.  Apple is about 3 major networks away from the tipping point on making iTunes a replacement for a cable box.  The issue will be timing.  So, the episodes should be available as of the moment they air to download.  If they aren't, cutting the cord will remain elusive because as Americans, we want our content, now and real time. 

Oh, my beloved Boxee box...  I have awaited you like a Cubs pennant or that next flight delay update, or for a politician to actually do something...  You get the picture :)  I have you installed on every computer, I have the original XBMC by which you are based, but alas you have failed me in timing and design and cost.  With Apple TV being so small and cost efficient, I have to say you lose and I would be open to you coming to my jailbroken Apple TV or Google TV in the near future.

Sony, you will fail because of arrogance sadly.  By trying to keep things in a closed system (blocking unix installs, etc), you are locking out the potential for what your system could be.  The PS3 is probably the one piece of hardware that could do it all, but Sony will never let it happen.  To win, Sony could create a small app based on VLC that has the basic network protocols for Mac and PC AND partner up hard with Amazon or GASP iTunes to provide your other content.  That doesn't sound so hard does it?  The problem is am I going to buy a PS3 for every TV in my house, probably no.

Microsoft, as Forrester said: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov98MFgrp2g&feature=share, you could dominate it all.  However, charging me an additional $60/year to watch my Netflix that I already pay for combined with forcing me to use Media Center on a PC that I don't want in order to stream my local library of HD movies makes you a losing proposition.  I have 2 XBOX 360s and I have tried for YEARS to make this setup work and no one wants to wait 45 seconds to boot up the XBOX and then 2+ minutes to get Media Center working which may or may not fail if the PC has crashed just to watch a movie on my local network.  To win, the formula is the same as it would be for Sony and PLEASE forget about locking me to a Windows machine.  At the prices you can pickup an XBOX 360 now, this "could" be an every TV solution.

Apple, well, so far I have you in a dead heat with Google TV.  Cost is the major factor here as well as your ability to link up to my iTunes library which contains my library of local content (NAS issue solved), however, please allow the VLC app into Apple TV or "Plex" so we can use additional codecs.  Continue to work on NBC and a the HBOs of the world to hit the tipping point for cutting the cord.  I REALLY wish you could push 1080p content though and that's really the only big mark against you (although in practice, videos are looking better on my Apple TV at 720p than my XBOX360 at 1080p and I don't know why).

Google, your path is the easiest I think.  Lower the price to match Apple and add a VLC app that has networking protocols in it for NAS based playback.  The problem is that I don't think Google "can" lower the price to match Apple, so therein lies the conundrum. 

What does it all mean? 

Well, what is best for you largely will be based on what your home setup looks like already and what is important to you.  I don't really see the XBOX or PS3 really making it to every TV in the house (currently 2.93 - http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/u-s-homes-add-even-more-tv-sets-in-2010/ ). So, that leaves the Google TV and Apple (since I have essentially eliminated Boxee based on the odd design and massive delays).  If I had to choose today, I would say most people have an iTunes account (Mac or PC) that they use to a large degree, so the Apple TV makes the most sense based on it's low cost.  For $100, you could buy an external USB harddrive to store movies plugged into any computer  with iTunes and for $300 you could put an Apple TV at each of your average 2.93 TVs for a grand total of $400.  That's palatable for most of us that are into these things.  That said, I see a lower cost Google TV on the horizon that could totally change my opinion.

I hope you enjoyed my take...