I'd really like to see the Airplay feature to be picked up by projector manufacturers and Keynote would start to support streaming via Airplay. Then I could finally do slideshow with iPhone!

Given how many TV manufacturers have been rumbling about including AirPlay support, that's not too unlikely.

Microsoft had some standard for wireless projectors that I've never seen in real life, but hopefully this will catch on.

How does this compare to a linux-backed roll-your-own media center? Obviously it supports netflix, and you can't install your own applications, but what else?

It's $100, plug-and-play, and you can quickly and easily pay for things to watch. It's a product, not a lifestyle.

Kinda depends on who you are. There's a high ratio, say 1 to 20, of people who want to build their own media center versus people that just want to buy something cheap that works well. I've built my own media centers before, but honestly when the first Apple TV came out a few years ago it answered pretty much every problem I had. I was able to buy tv shows and rent movies right from my TV. The interface was pretty straightforward. I used to pirate movies and shows, but that was a lot more complicated than just spending a couple bucks to get something to watch right now. Didn't have to worry about poor quality anymore, etc.

I really like to reverse your question: why would anyone want to build their own media center now-a-days?

People who already have a lot of media they would like to be able to easily access on their TV screen, or people who are not interested in paying for content. I find Google TV more interesting since it adds an entire new layer over current television, apple TV isn't as exciting to me. I don't think people want to make a purchase decision every time they sit down to watch something.

When I read the headline, I assumed the article would be about a late actor. :/