Wii as browser

[Wii are Legion]

I decided to establish an alias tk use from the wii, since I do, every once in a great while, surf from the wii.
Let me tell you: the wii is awesome as a game platform, but is pretty miserable to browse on, and worse to type with. I keep having to go back and fix minor typos like “s” for “d” and open the special characters window for things as pedestrian as quotation marks. Worse, the nature of the interface is such that everything is hunt and peck.
A few years ago, there were a variety of internet-on-your-television products available. Now I see why they never caught on - even with a huge, high-resolution t.v., this would be a miserable alternative to a real computer.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I got a PS3, and I don't really anticapte using it to browse the web. On the positive side, it has bluetooth built in, as well as USB so its a fairly simple matter to attach a keyboard.

 

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

Yeah, the wii is bluetooth as well and a keyboard would make all the difference. Nintendo seems to make it a point of pride that the wii is only a game platform and not a music player/dvd player/blueray HD dishwasher, but there IS a web browser on the thing and it would be much, much easier to use with a keyboard. I wonder if there is a way to link a bluetooth keyboard to the wii.

Maybe I'll ask Nintendo. Thanks KC!

 

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

By the way, for the two who didn't responded that they don't know what the wii is, I'll presume that your response was serious: wii is the new, consistently sold-out game machine from Nintendo. It doesn't have the high-end processing power of the Playstation 3 or the Xbox 360, but it's cheaper and is designed to get people flailing about more with a movement-sensitive controller that looks like a simplified tv remote. The idea is that will appeal to more women and to people too old to be traditionally part of the video game demographic.

Instead of "Incredibly powerful," it's "Really fun, and simple to learn."

 

[Meloncov]

It's a well designed browser, but the lack of a keyboard is a pain.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

By the way, for the two who didn't responded that they don't know what the wii is, I'll presume that your response was serious: wii is the new, consistently sold-out game machine from Nintendo. It doesn't have the high-end processing power of the Playstation 3 or the Xbox 360, but it's cheaper and is designed to get people flailing about more with a movement-sensitive controller that looks like a simplified tv remote. The idea is that will appeal to more women and to people too old to be traditionally part of the video game demographic.

Instead of "Incredibly powerful," it's "Really fun, and simple to learn."

Heh! My wife has always been completely opposed to allowing a console game system in the house, but the Wii may prove to be the weak spot in her armor. I'm not holding my breath she'll change her tune, but there is now a glimmer of hope.

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

The lack of keyboard is a pain, but I find the browser works fine for any non-typing stuff. It's best feature is getting programs, streaming media, etc into the living room. For instance, I listened to last.fm over the Wii the other night while making dinner. You could do similar media streaming with the 360 or other networking solutions, but it seems like they're a pain to set up.

The other thing I like is that there's lots of wii-specific sites cropping up with minigames, flash videos, and the like. Heck, I've even thought of trying to write some sort of browser battlemat so that I can use the TV to run D&D in the living room.