It wasn’t so long ago that we posted a rather popular blog on the growing popularity of preloaded music in digital media devices.  Both SanDisk and Microsoft will be serving up a helping of precooked tunes when the Sansa e200 and Zune are released by each respective company.  That didn’t sit well with some of our readers, many of whom resented the corporate back-scratching that is inherently a part of the entire process.  Those who were peeved with the idea might want to hide their eyes, since this morning details are emerging about the upcoming release of a media center that loads a whole lot of music for you…$12,000 worth, in fact.

Media centers are slowly becoming mainstream devices.  The most popular may be the Windows Media Center, which uses a special XP Media Center operating system to wirelessly integrate music, movies, and games into every room of the average home.  However, the emergence of the media center might need to wait until the average cost is reduced, and the Sooloos player may not be answering that call.

So, where does the $12,000 cost come from?  Quite simply, storage.  That’s generally the reason for any high cost in the digital media world, and the Sooloos player is no exception.

So, how many gigs is it then?  Try terabytes, my friend.  The internal components are currently offered in 1, 2, or 3 terabyte sizes, each with the capacity to hold 2,000, 4,000, and 6,000 albums respectively.  You have got to be one helluva music fan to fill that.

The Sooloos system operates out of a small box featuring a 17 inch touch screen display.  From here, users can access their massive music libraries, which are stored in noiseless convection cooled RAID type servers. 

For those who aren’t sure the Sooloos can read their musical minds, additional songs can be purchased via subscription.  These can be accessed via genre, not just artist, with the original CD accompanying a unique disc designed to upload directly to your system.  It’s not sure whether there will be an additional cost for said subscriptions on top of the already awe-inspiring purchase price.

Sheesh, for twelve grand they should have Nine Inch Nails perform in my living room.  Weekly.