Home Network Users Climbs

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January 06, 2005 (1:15 PM EST)

Home Network Users Climbs

By TechWeb Technology News

The number of home network users surged by 20 percent in 2004, according to numbers released Thursday by research firm NPD Group.
By the end of the year, said the New York-based research company, just over a third -- 34 percent -- of the population with PCs was using a home network to connect computers, audio systems, and/or televisions.
Of the files that home networking users most want to share between devices, photos easily lead the pack. More than half of the people surveyed said they share digital photos over the network, while only 17 percent said they shared music between a PC or stereo or TV.
While users are flocking to home networking, said the NPD Group, there's plenty of room for improvement in both the technology and the features it touts. Disaster recovery, for instance, is something users seem to want, but vendors are ignoring.
Over 39 percent of current home network owners and nearly 48 percent of those planning on purchasing a home network in the next 12 months, for instance, said they considered automatic backup of content a "must-have," noted the researchers.
Some of the results won't bring sunshine to PC vendors who are pitching the personal computer as the hub of the home entertainment system, however. "Consumers are warming to the idea of the PC as a home server, but they also recognize that networking currently works more seamlessly with other PCs than it does with televisions and stereo systems," said Ross Rubin, an analyst with NPD Group in a statement.
Only 26 percent of those surveyed thought PCs were skilled at sharing pictures and music with other consumer electronics gear, such as stereos and televisions, and less than 20 percent thought PCs excelled at sending video to TVs.