I read an article today that suggested that media center's were being introduced to "dumb down" the digital media experience.

I've heard arguments before that only techies use HTPC's and now this. The fact of the matter is that not everybody enjoys tinkering constantly to get the best picture or sound or recording out of their HTPC, some just want it to work and be easy. This is called "userfriendliness" not "dumbing-down". I like options because I like to tweak but many people just want out of the box functionality and that is what we are starting to get with MCE, VIIV and others. Ease of use, stability, and functionality are increasing in media centers because that makes it integrate nicely with home theater equipment where the only thing you need to do to make it work is hit the power  button.

A media center has a different purpose than a general purpose pc. It is meant to be viewed on a large screen, controlled by remote, and used for leisure. Viewing and listening to media is the end goal, this should be easy and fun.

I had a few comments asking whether they would be able to get XL1B changers seperately and unfortunately at the time was unable to get an answer from Sony. But it looks as though they will be selling this 200 cd changer seperately from the digital living center according to a Sony rep at CES. Retail will be about $600 and will connect to your htpc by firewire. Here's the full story where I discovered this. I still don't know whether you will be able to daisy chain two or more together, although I'd be surprised if someone doesn't find some way to do this.

"The XL1B changer allows you to easily rip your cd's onto your hard drive and when your finished with that it will hold your entire DVD collection. The XL1B also can burn cds and dvds, keeping a few blank dvds load will allow you to archive your old tv recordings. All the functions of the XL1B are integrated nicely with the latest release of Windows Media Center edition. "