2 ms·

I'd hesitate to call any of the players in this space "established". It's still a wide open market. Of all the people I know, maybe a handful own an AppleTV, a

I'd hesitate to call any of the players in this space "established". It's still a wide open market. Of all the people I know, maybe a handful own an AppleTV, a few use a Chromecast. Other than that, there's tons of market share for the taking.

krisdol 12y ago
If anything, the market is oversaturated. Each brand is jumping on the bandwagon and offering nothing unique (and no, access to one proprietary media store over another is not unique). I am unfortunate enough to own more than one "cloud player". You know what this means? Media that can play in one room can't play in another. I have to choose between purchasing media from Amazon, iTunes, or Google because each company's device will exclude the others' content. I don't understand the appeal of these devices anymore. They are so anti-consumer it's not even funny. Imagine if DVDs rented from Blockbuster would only play in Blockbuster-brand DVD players, while those from Hollywood video would only work in theirs. In the end I settled on good old torrents and some weekly transcoding to mp4 on a powerful desktop which all of the players in my home are able to stream from, at least for now. Who knows what features future devices will gut.
- bduerst 12y ago
  That sounds like a lot of manual work. Put.io has that covered - you can stream any torrent to your TV using a chromecast.
- jfoster 12y ago
  You're simply not correct about all of the devices excluding each others' content. It's true for some, but take a look at the Nexus Player. Aside from Google's offering (Google Play Movies & TV), you also have Netflix and many more.
  - krisdol 12y ago
    They all have netflix. I'm specifically referring to stores here. Each has its own store with its own proprietary media stream. Maybe you're right for Nexus Player, but as an owner of an Apple TV in one room and a Roku in another, there is no way for me to purchase something on either device and have it available on the other. If I obtain on my desktop, however, it very easily streams to every device in my house.

krisdol 12y ago

If anything, the market is oversaturated. Each brand is jumping on the bandwagon and offering nothing unique (and no, access to one proprietary media store over another is not unique). I am unfortunate enough to own more than one "cloud player". You know what this means? Media that can play in one room can't play in another. I have to choose between purchasing media from Amazon, iTunes, or Google because each company's device will exclude the others' content. I don't understand the appeal of these devices anymore. They are so anti-consumer it's not even funny. Imagine if DVDs rented from Blockbuster would only play in Blockbuster-brand DVD players, while those from Hollywood video would only work in theirs. In the end I settled on good old torrents and some weekly transcoding to mp4 on a powerful desktop which all of the players in my home are able to stream from, at least for now. Who knows what features future devices will gut.

bduerst 12y ago
That sounds like a lot of manual work. Put.io has that covered - you can stream any torrent to your TV using a chromecast.
jfoster 12y ago
You're simply not correct about all of the devices excluding each others' content. It's true for some, but take a look at the Nexus Player. Aside from Google's offering (Google Play Movies & TV), you also have Netflix and many more.
- krisdol 12y ago
  They all have netflix. I'm specifically referring to stores here. Each has its own store with its own proprietary media stream. Maybe you're right for Nexus Player, but as an owner of an Apple TV in one room and a Roku in another, there is no way for me to purchase something on either device and have it available on the other. If I obtain on my desktop, however, it very easily streams to every device in my house.