Van Cullens is chief executive of Westell Technologies Inc., an aurora-based firm that designs and manufactures DSL modems, which deliver high-speed internet service.
Q: Connecting a home computer with the television set and stereo system to share content is now possible, but difficult. Will it ever become easy?
A: That’s the Holy Grail everyone is looking for. The telephone company, cable TV company, consumer-electronics industry are all taking different paths trying to get there.
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Q: Will the average consumer ever be able to connect all his entertainment and communications applicances without calling upon someone from the Geek Squad?
A: Everyone wants a plug-and-play solution. It’s a given today that a technican is needed in your home to make this work. But it’s also understood that if the problem isn’t simplified, it is going to slow down adoption because of the huge cost. The U.S. has 110 million households, but only about 1 million have their TVs, computers and stereo systems connected. Making this easy for people to do themselves is the key to making this market take off.
Q: What’s holding things up?
A: The industry needs standards that work across different models and makes. It needs control software to police the whole thing. That’s where the fiercest competition is. We’d like to have our box in the center of that. Microsoft wants to be there. The cable TV people want to be there. We have to all cooperate and compete at the same time
Q: How long will it take?
A: There already are systems out there now. We hope to have our version out in the next few months. But for the industry to get to Nirvana, it will take three or four years.