It's mostly about the UI. Browsing a network share is pretty ugly (generic icons, filenames, etc.) and can be unintuitive. Basic things like quickly finding the

It's mostly about the UI. Browsing a network share is pretty ugly (generic icons, filenames, etc.) and can be unintuitive. Basic things like quickly finding the latest file you've added can be quite difficult. Ultimately if you just want to browse a filesystem, network shares are fine, but if you want a nice looking front end for that with logos/artwork, descriptions or reviews from the internet, or features that require the files and metadata to be indexed in a DB of some kind, then these UIs come in handy. Plus they look nice are generally easier for other less tech. savvy members of the househould to use.