Bad user experience

I think home theatre systems are the second biggest boondoggle in the electronics biz (the first is high-definition TV). I've been futzing with my three year old Yamaha system (the "ABC 12234 XXYY! &^ GFT" -- or something like that, just don't buy a Yamaha) and discovered:

1) I had it set up incorrectly in Boston

2) I did not know better then, it sounded fine. For three years.

3) The front right speaker keeps failing now for some reason.

4) Not having front right is really annoying.

5) Getting these things hooked up is very hard.

Seeing as how I don't have the technical chops to hook these things up, nor the auditory discernment to know whether it's been set up correctly or not, in the future I'm just going to focus on something that is easy to plug in.

Apple's recent iTV announcement finally plugs the movies and TV shows you can download from the iTunes Music Store into your TV. It uses wireless technology to transfer the content from your computer to the box, which is fantastic as currently I have yards of cable stretched across my floor. Watching movies or TV shows on my computer or my iPod never made any sense, now I can watch them on my TV without having to buy a Mac Mini.