For Christmas, I bought a Sony XBR4 40" LCD TV from Amazon. I was thinking I ought to get an Apple TV to go with it, but then thought that a Mac Mini might be more versatile. While in the midst of indecision, Dave Winer made up my mind for me and Scoble put the icing on the cake. I'll get a Mac Mini.

Dave's new product--not yet released--sounds like a fun convergence of a big, bright beautiful screen hanging on the wall and the Internet. The XBR4 already has a DVI input, so hooking up ought to be a breeze and getting good pictures on the thing would be wonderful.

There's a real culture war going on between the traditional open culture of computing--something that's survived 40 years of companies trying to build walled gardens--and the traditionally closed culture of TV, radio, and the whole broadcast industry. Thinking like Dave's will help keep the hounds at bay a little longer, I hope.

A word about the TV: the Sony XBR4 LCD flat screens are clearly the best on the market. This is a TV worth paying extra for.