I don't think I "get" boxee -or- will there be recommendations?

[will]

Apart from logging everything I watch, letting people see that, and looking at what other people watch, what are the benefits over straight xbmc? It's probably a value to other people, just not me.

What I think would be useful, since you have all this data on what people are watching (and therefore probably like), is to use a clustering method (such as k-means (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-means_algorithm)) to group users on their tastes, and cross recommend shows to them. That's how amazon recommends things, and would be a reason for me to "give up" the information on what I watch.

[marcel]

hi will

everybody is allowed their own opinion ...for instance once installed boxee will start scanning your local Movies, Music and Pictures folders automatically. boxee will attempt to bring artwork, reviews, cast, etc. for your media, so browsing your library becomes more useful and fun than looking at a list of files.As you stated you can recommend /rate the content to your friends...i could go on for a while but that would be bias ..look at the forum and see what other users think about ...:)

[belovedmonster]

I don't have any inside knowledge, but just from the vibe I'm getting and my own common sense I think the Boxee guys are very much putting 90% of their efforts into getting the media player working well across platforms and the social side of things is very much in the back seat at the moment. Once they have done a solid bug free release or two then they will turn their attention to the social network side of things and that is where there will be a boat load of innovation over the coming years. Not just in Boxee but in all media players, social networking with your media is where the world is going.

That said, what does Boxee offer now over XBMC? Intuitive, attractive interface IMO. I tried XBMC and it seemed very much to me like something made by geeks for geeks. Boxee on the other hand to me feels like an app made for mainstream users. It's like the iPhone does less than most smart phones, but it looks nicer and its easier to use.

[agentlame]

I can say personally I have been using some kind on HTPC software since myHTPC/MCE v1 days...

Boxee is, hands-down, the best I have ever used. This social aspect is just icing. Take it or leave it, set your profile to private. But, just the same, as JUST a 'Media Center' Boxee is simply amazing. It's beautiful, polished, easy to install.

XBMC is an amazing product, but can be TOO powerful for an advantage user. The options can seem daunting, if you are new to it. Boxee simplifies, without dumbing down. All the power is still there, I can hack config files until I turn blue... But, I don't HAVE to.

Boxee kinda seems like RHEL to XBMC's Fedora.

Admission, I am also bias. :p