Check this out:
Roku is a cool hardware device that you plug into your tv, and turn on to enjoy something like two hundred bazillion movies. It’s that easy. (At least I think it is – I don’t actually know for sure, since I wasn’t paying attention as my 15 year old son set it up in less than five minutes).
Here’s what I like about it:
- Quick set up (see above)
- Inexpensive ($99.99 one-time fee plus a basic Netflix account, which we already had).
- Savings: dropping Comcast to the basic level saves us $50 per month, or $500 in the first year after the cost of Roku).
- Compatability with other entertainment sources, such as Amazon Video on Demand.
It works.
But you know what I like most about this? Sticking it to Comcast, which is totally missing the opportunity to build a better online movie archive. On Demand? Kinda cool but very limited. Why, when they had such a head start (via monopoly) are they completely missing the boat on digital delivery? Seriously, did they not see this coming?
I could poke fun at BlockBuster too, but that would be like stealing candy from a baby since they just closed both of the stores in my neighboring town.
Tell me your story. Are you switching to any ‘alternative’ media systems? Or are you comfortable with traditional cable/dvd delivery? What do you see as the future in this space?
AfriGadget
Kiva
I LOVE Roku awesome…easy and I can watch a TV series that usually leaves you cliff hanging until the next week, one right after another. Yeah!!
Funny, I just heard an NPR correspondent talking about the four ways she has to get instant movies at her house, yet she still couldn’t get “City of God” online. I agree with your assessment of Netflix queue too Matt. Hulu is cool when one or two people want to share, but not so great for the family as a whole (until we get a massive monitor). In line with the Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) method of distribution, I ike the idea of Redbox too. Haven’t used it yet, but now that BlockBuster is gone I probably will.
I’m a big fan of Hulu when they have what I need, otherwise using Redbox at supermarkets works well also. I use netflix for harder-to-find films, but find that when I can easily lose track of my query and get movies that I may not be entirely interested in. If netflix had a better-organized genre system and would automatically send you films based on your criteria, that would be cool.