So Long, Indrema
April 11, 2001
According to an article available on Video Business, click here, the Indrema Entertainment System is a thing of the past. The Linux-based platform was going to combine the technology of DVD players, set-top web appliances, digital recording and playback, and the rest of the features found in the Tivo or Replay systems, with a customized version of Linux that would also play games.
Indrema had hoped to spark a revolution in gaming by involving independant developers and designers, using a radically new licensing scheme for game makers, including a replaceable graphics card, and expanding their market to include other types of software for the platform. Last year, when we got a chance to talk to John Gildred, the CEO of Indrema, we were very impressed with the vision of the system. If anything, it sounded too good to be true.
According to the Video Business article, Gildred plans to pursue his vision of the product, albeit without the gaming aspects. Suffering from the same draught of financial backing as a lot of technology businesses today, Indrema couldn’t explain how it could compete with Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, in spite of hundreds of independant developers and a launch lineup of 30 games. We wish Gildred luck, although without the gaming aspect, Indrema is just another set-top box, and there are too many of those already.