The Economist is running a well-written article about the so-called "Digital Home," a concept much loved by PC makers who like to believe that there's growth potential in the consumer market. One source for the story says, "“We don't think many folks are looking for an electronic nerve centre in their homes."

Of course, software and hardware vendors disagree. "When you ask customers what they want, they will never tell you. You have to show them first,” says Microsoft's Craig Mundie, one of three chief technology officers at the company. That's a sentiment that's surprisingly indifferent to what consumers actually want, and it seems to be fairly common in the industry -- a Motorola executive is quoted as saying something similar. It is however consistent with the notion that the customer is always wrong, a belief common among proponents of digital rights management.

The tech industry has become the advertising industry, manufacturing needs rather than products to sell people. The problem of course is that where there are genuine needs -- the need and desire to copy and move data between devices -- these tend to be thwarted by digital rights management systems, which limit functionality rather than enhance it. And that's a hard sell -- next year's model, now with fewer options.