Internet streaming media box

[Howard Owen]

(12-18-2013 04:19 PM)sylvandb Wrote:  However unless the Roku turns out to be the bee's knees, I expect a chromecast is in my future.

It's not so hard to see in my future for $30.00. The advantage Roku has now is the number of channels it supports. It was there early on and is platform agnostic. So you could get Amazon, for example, from the start. The result is the largest number of channels of any box out there.

Google tries to make up for terrible channel support by allowing you to stream anything you can view in Chrome. Of course, then your computer is right in the mix. One of the main points of a device like a Roku is to cut the (metaphorical or actual) cord with your computer. That works better in a living room where the desktop may be upstairs, or with a laptop that may or may not be there full time. There's also that nifty search feature. Finding out that the classic film Amazon wants two bucks for on a rental basis is free on Netflix is quite nice. It's also great to know whether or not a given title is even available anywhere. It's ironic that the Sultan of Search is being beaten at this by a little company like Roku.

Having said all that, I hate the user interface on Roku. I'd like more computer-like input, such as voice recognition for example. Moving a pointer through an alphabetic grid sucks. But that's the inevitable consequence of cutting the computer out of the loop. The remote control interface is also likely to be perceived as easier to use by someone who watches a lot of TV.