I learned how important interconnects really are when my DVD player broke. I am not a big power user of any of the deep-tech stuff I write about for a living at EE Times, so it's no surprise that I hadn't been to the audio section at Fry's in three years.

I was shocked to find that now some DVD players on the shelf sport USB ports on the front--several selling for less than $250.

I also noticed that several DVD players now have flash card slots that accommodate many of the wealth of cards out there. Cool. I'd love to play the growing library of digital music I have on my computer on my stereo, and use my TV to show my even larger library of photos.

But, frankly, I don't want to carry my laptop to the living room and hook a USB cable between it and my DVD player.

I have Wi-Fi on my notebook and home PC, and it's routed around my apartment. How about a DVD player supporting Wi-Fi?

The salesman took me to a distant corner of the floor and pointed to a Yamaha receiver that uses Wi-Fi to link to an Internet radio station. It was high up and still in a box. No DVD player, no USB ports, no flash card slots, no visible way to link to my PC. And it cost $500.

Now, companies like Roku have created a whole category of so-called media bridges. The devices basically pave over the gap between the Wi-Fi computer and the wired stereo and TV. But I don't want to spend $100 on a bridge device and then go out and spend another $100+ on a DVD player/radio, either. I want one integrated digital media device!

I guess Wi-Fi is still too complicated, expensive and low-quality for the $250 DVD player or home-theater-in-a-box setup.

So what's the solution here? Ultrawideband? Smarter DVD players and receivers that connect to the Net with simple-to-use embedded computers? An interconnect with USB on one side and component audio/video on the other?

My DVD dilemma helped me realize that this interconnect stuff sits right smack dab in the middle of a major revolution in digital media today. The DMZ is Fry's. I'll make a point of going back from time to time to check on progress--or lack thereof.

Meanwhile, check out my blog on interconnects at interconnects.blogspot.com and chime in with your own real-life experiences.