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Are TV boxes really a growth market though? This looks kind of interesting, but most new TVs already have Netflix, Amazon, iPlayer etc. At $149/199 it's not exa

by zelos 11y ago

Are TV boxes really a growth market though? This looks kind of interesting, but most new TVs already have Netflix, Amazon, iPlayer etc. At $149/199 it's not exactly in Chromecast territory, either.

NoMoreNicksLeft 11y ago
Quite a few dumb tvs out there. Gave my sister-in-law a Chromecast for her birthday last year, but might get an AppleTV for her if it does Plex. I think they'd prefer an onscreen display. My coworker uses a Roku despite the Plex app on his tv, apparently that's pretty clunky.
rev_bird 11y ago
Honestly, smart TVs creep me out. The ones I've used have had impossibly annoying menus and inexplicably slow connections. My parents' smart TV buffers low-res Netflix shows to the point that it's sometimes unusuable. I brought my Chromecast over once and it worked perfectly. Not to mention hooking my television up to the internet means I'll be getting ads from the software (Hulu, broadcast commercials) AND the hardware. No thanks.
quicklyfrozen 11y ago
How often do you get updates for your smart TV? For mine, practically never -- and I've also had the fun of climbing behind the TV to pull the plug because it froze up on several occasions. The TV works much better as a dumb TV, so I just use a Chromecast and Blu Ray player instead. When those get too dated, they'll be cheap enough to replace.
rsynnott 11y ago
Until the manufacturer stops supporting them, and the service provider changes out from under them (YouTube killed off various old clients a while back by retiring an old api, say). People keep TVs for a LONG time; you're probably looking at an expected lifespan of 10 to 15 years. I suspect that smarttvs may ultimately be a fad; a little box makes more sense given the replacement cycle. This is especially true if the gaming aspect takes off; a 150$ box that is refreshed every year or so looks more attractive than something built into your 600$ TV that is supposed to be replaced every 15 years.

by zelos 11y ago

Are TV boxes really a growth market though? This looks kind of interesting, but most new TVs already have Netflix, Amazon, iPlayer etc. At $149/199 it's not exactly in Chromecast territory, either.

NoMoreNicksLeft 11y ago

Quite a few dumb tvs out there. Gave my sister-in-law a Chromecast for her birthday last year, but might get an AppleTV for her if it does Plex. I think they'd prefer an onscreen display. My coworker uses a Roku despite the Plex app on his tv, apparently that's pretty clunky.

rev_bird 11y ago

Honestly, smart TVs creep me out. The ones I've used have had impossibly annoying menus and inexplicably slow connections. My parents' smart TV buffers low-res Netflix shows to the point that it's sometimes unusuable. I brought my Chromecast over once and it worked perfectly. Not to mention hooking my television up to the internet means I'll be getting ads from the software (Hulu, broadcast commercials) AND the hardware. No thanks.

quicklyfrozen 11y ago

How often do you get updates for your smart TV? For mine, practically never -- and I've also had the fun of climbing behind the TV to pull the plug because it froze up on several occasions. The TV works much better as a dumb TV, so I just use a Chromecast and Blu Ray player instead. When those get too dated, they'll be cheap enough to replace.

rsynnott 11y ago

Until the manufacturer stops supporting them, and the service provider changes out from under them (YouTube killed off various old clients a while back by retiring an old api, say). People keep TVs for a LONG time; you're probably looking at an expected lifespan of 10 to 15 years. I suspect that smarttvs may ultimately be a fad; a little box makes more sense given the replacement cycle. This is especially true if the gaming aspect takes off; a 150$ box that is refreshed every year or so looks more attractive than something built into your 600$ TV that is supposed to be replaced every 15 years.