It should be simple. I want to be entertained, in the manner of my choosing and the format of my choosing. It's not that simple.

I buy a CD. I rip it to MP3, or in my case, AAC. (Smaller, fit more on the iPod.) I can listen to it on the iPod. I can listen to it in the car, either off the CD or play the iPod through the car stereo line-in. I can stream it through Tivo (as long as it's not a file I bought from iTunes. Then Apple's DRM cuts in.) All that is relatively easy. Cumbersome. Expensive. Possible.

I buy a DVD. I want to watch it. I could put it in the DVD player. I can rip it to the laptop and watch it there. I can go through some complex steps and get it on the iPod. But here's where things get sticky. I can't play the iPod on TV without significant new equipment (and my home theater setup makes it even more convoluted.) There's no way to stream a movie from my laptop to the TV. If I downloaded the file (illegal, yes), then burning it to a DVD is possible -- but even with legal software, it seldom works. (I use Toast 7, paid for, thank you, but a piece of crap thus far.) TivoToGo doesn't work for Mac, despite promises and promises and even then, I can't use the Humax Tivo DVD Recorder I love. I can't stream what I can see on my laptop screen (MLB.tv) up to the big screen.

Why can't I watch those things I want to watch where and when I want without all the various pieces of technology getting in the way? I'm not sure who to blame -- Apple, Tivo, the RIAA, the MPAA, the bastards that make six different expensive and incompatible wiring standards (S Video must be used throughout, but not with DVI or HDMI).

If someone has a simple, consistent solution, I want to hear about it. I want to buy it and evangelize it. I just want to get THIS from HERE to THERE, whether it's a movie, a TV show, a DVD or pictures of my dog. Is that so much to ask for?