Interrupting the reboot process only long enough to change the initial boot device in BIOS from CD-ROM to disk, I impatiently watched Linux boot, waiting for the login prompt to appear.
Worse, I found that if DirecPC failed to update the site on my hard disk because of a glitch in its service, or I didn't leave my computer on, the news would be a day old.
As I wrote when I looked at Brookstone's hard disk-based SongCube last fall, there are many advantages to using a "sync and store" scenario for digital content devices on a home network.
As I have previously written, the increased demand for disk drives for cloud and network storage is not likely to produce enough new profits to offset the decline in the PC market.