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Amph Chromecast: Will It Change TV?

Discussion in 'Community' started by Narutakikun, Jul 24, 2013.

  1. Rogue_Ten

    Rogue_Ten Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 18, 2002
    i got a "dongle" for ya right heah
     
  2. Platelet

    Platelet Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    I already have one ordered. I don't have a blueray or wii, and my TV can't connect to wifi. I've considered a Roku box, but never felt that I'd use it enough to justify the price. I can connect my laptop to the TV via a 15-prong connection, but then if I want to watch it full screen on the TV, I can't use the laptop for anything else. Usually I just end up streaming TV on half of the screen, and doing whatever else I need to do in a window on the other half. Since that's less than ideal, chromecast is exactly what I need.
     
  3. Fire_Ice_Death

    Fire_Ice_Death Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2001
    So, this is Google's version of Apple Tv or...what? The way the article makes it sound 'only it's different'...but it just sounds like another way to stream things and while that'scalways great I don't think it's going to solve much beyond people who are already knee-deep into Google's technologies.
     
  4. Kiki-Gonn

    Kiki-Gonn Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 26, 2001
    I think that's exactly right. There are a lot more people like that than tech savvy consumers who already have that functionality.
     
  5. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
    My point of contention was the idea that it would "change TV" with features that have existed in many consumer products for years and are already changing TV and I didn't understand why "tech savvy" people (most of us, Gizmodo, reddit, a bunch of sites tech illiterate Boomers don't frequent) are so excited about it.
     
  6. Narutakikun

    Narutakikun Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2012
    The thing is, it's one thing to make a technology work. It's another to create a product that will let that technology make a breakthrough to the masses. I'd compare it to smartphones before the iPhone. Did they exist? Sure. Did a lot of people have them? Sure. But they were mostly a product for geeks and businessmen - a segment which, though it represented a large number of people, didn't represent that big a percentage of the population. Apple didn't invent the smartphone, they didn't even invent the first good smartphone; but they did invent the product that let smartphones make a breakthrough to the masses.

    So, do streaming devices exist? Sure. Do a lot of people have them? Sure. But so far, they haven't really made a breakthrough to the masses. This just might be the product that can make that happen.
     
  7. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
  8. Rogue_Ten

    Rogue_Ten Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 18, 2002
    that cant possibly be true unless there's porn on netflix now
     
    ShaneP and PRENNTACULAR like this.
  9. Rogue_Ten

    Rogue_Ten Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 18, 2002
    like, that sounds like a joke post but im not even kidding
     
  10. Jabba-wocky

    Jabba-wocky Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    May 4, 2003
    Maybe he means one third of all non-illicit traffic?
     
  11. tom

    tom Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2004
    the other two thirds is porn.
     
  12. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
    It's apparently 30% at peak traffic. I don't see what's so unbelievable. Streaming takes up a lot of bandwidth (and HD-quality compared to porn YouTube-style sites) in comparison with normal browsing.
     
  13. Rogue_Ten

    Rogue_Ten Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 18, 2002
    but... everybody is addicted to porn
     
  14. Rogue_Ten

    Rogue_Ten Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 18, 2002
    and by "everybody" i mean "me"
     
  15. Rogue_Ten

    Rogue_Ten Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 18, 2002
    ...please help...
     
  16. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
    Sorry, perv, but it's not a real illness. Like alcoholism and rubella.
     
    jp-30 likes this.
  17. Narutakikun

    Narutakikun Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2012
    As I recall it's something like 30%, by bandwidth, during primetime TV viewing hours (though not other times of the day), which is a lot. But it still hasn't been enough to really disrupt the television business yet. Streaming TV is still looking for its equivalent of the iPod - the transformative product that will change the way everybody does things forever. Now's the right time... is this the right device?

    Well, the right device has to be cheap, has to be simple for non-geeks to use, has to be reliable, has to have a lot of content, has to have good support and distribution channels, and has to have a respected brand name behind it. Most of those get a "check", and the others can be worked on and gotten up to snuff pretty rapidly. So... maybe.
     
  18. PRENNTACULAR

    PRENNTACULAR VIP star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2005
    and porn sites have hd come on darth guy jesus
     
  19. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
    I defer to your knowledge.
     
  20. tom

    tom Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2004
    the television industry is changing though. this could maybe speed up the process but it's already happening. i also think your aunt is sort of an exception. i mean, as long as we're being anecdotal, my mom has netflix. she used it to watch doc martin and a couple other shows, but most of the time she's content to leave the tv on and watch reruns of ncis. old people love ncis.
     
  21. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
    My tech near-illiterate 50-something-year-old parents watch Netflix using the Wii. But yes, they usually prefer 3-hour blocks of BBT reruns on TBS.
     
  22. PRENNTACULAR

    PRENNTACULAR VIP star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2005
    YOUR MOM has a netflix!
     
  23. Rogue_Ten

    Rogue_Ten Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 18, 2002


    hmmm a pattern is beginning to emerge...
     
    tom likes this.
  24. Narutakikun

    Narutakikun Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2012
    BBT?

    Anyhow, there's some percentage of people that disruptive technology will never reach. I've accepted that my dad will never, ever own or use any computing device of any kind; nor will he ever spring even for cable TV, much less internet service or streaming. This is a man who won't even buy a GPS for his car - he doesn't trust them. He only even relented to buying a (19-inch) flat-screen TV because the old TV he was using (which I believe we bought in 1986, and doesn't even have RCA input jacks) wouldn't get the new digital OTA signals, and the new TV was only $70 more than a converter box. Chromecast will only ever be useful to him if he has some papers he needs to hold down.

    But a lot more people are more like my aunt or mom - they have a strained, but basically functioning relationship with one or two key pieces of technology that they've struggled with and finally gotten to the point of mastering the basics of. For people like them, "It costs $35, and you control it with your iPad" is the best news ever. The one piece of technology they actually have figured out how to use enough to be comfortable with can now connect to a thingamabobber they plug into their set and bring movie rentals to their TV. And they don't even have to go out in the rain to get the movies like they did with Blockbuster. For them, this is great stuff.

    If this can reach a large number people who haven't been reached by game consoles and other streaming devices (of the sort they'd never own), it can really be a game-changer.
     
    NYCitygurl likes this.
  25. DarthLowBudget

    DarthLowBudget Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 17, 2004
    This isn't a disruptive technology, it's not even revolutionary. It's barely evolutionary. At best this is another in a long line of Google technologies that won't go anywhere. For a major tech company, Google's ability to actually hit with something is remarkably small. Even at 35 bucks, something that is ultimately just another way to stream content to your television.

    Semi-controversial statement time: I don't think that streaming is ever going to completely disrupt the current television model, which is too wealthy and too ingrained. But above all, and I'm too lazy to go looking for articles to back this up, there's a point at which having a bunch of options to choose from becomes more of a psychological burden than an enticement. Sometimes people just want to see what's on.

    But hey, I guess this is no Google Glass, or Driverless car, so, uh, it's a minor win?

    (But seriously Google is pretty evil/stupid as seemingly benign corporation go)