Topic: Don't buy Chromecast.

[8ullfrog]

My TV died, so mom asked me to set up a movie on chromecast.

Things have changed. First I had to sit through an intro video full of cutesy friendlyness that just makes you want to drown a puppy.

Next it asked me to enable location services. I said no, so setup closed itself.

So I loaded it again, and this time was able to close the intro someone in plastic frames designed for likability.
This time I allowed location services because otherwise Sol.
Next it informed me that only one Google account can use a Chromecast at a time. I didn't care so I set it to Mom's.

Then it wanted me to watch some advertisements for Netflix HBO Etc I declined.

So I load the movie up in my favorite web browser (chrome) and there is no cast button. I think I've complained about this before but you're supposed to select from a list of Google partners :-)

Google Partners want $5 to watch a movie and can go golly themselves.

So I give up.
There is a real argument for stupid technology here. With a VCR you powered it up shoved the tape in and hit play.
That's what I want out of my Streaming Stick. Power it up. Select a media source. Hit play.
No location services. No smiley partners. No Imagine Dragons soundtrack.

[Alfonz]

I have zero luck trying to stream anything that is "free", my KODI set up is bust and I don't even turn it on anymore. Still a great selection of movies and TV shows on the private trackers, I suppose it's just a tried and true method and as you say, " Power it up. Select a media source. Hit play".

I still don't have cable but I do have Netflix and this year I broke down and purchased DAZN for $20/month, it has the full  MLB and NFL  schedule so worth it to me.

[8ullfrog]

I replaced my 17 inch display with a 32 inch TV. Bit of an upgrade.

It's a ROKU TV, so it's made for streaming.

YouTube only had the PAY app loaded, youtube free is a separate download. I get it. They want to charge Blockbuster video prices for Digital content.

But that ain't me. When I got the coupon that bumped a movie down to .99 cents, I figured that is a fair price for a digital movie. Which I realize, no content provider is going to come running to offer me that pricing. But that's where I value it.

I also think it's amusing that everyone is trying to run on the scam records subscription model. It's only $9.99 a month for our whole Catalog! Plus you get to pay every month, forever!

My ISP has sadly, always been pretty savy about blocking P2P, they were one of the first ISP's in the country to introduce "traffic shaping" and when WinMX realized they were blocking certain ports, they let you pick your own ports in the app.

So my ISP somehow filtered the app instead of the protocol.

One funny note, since they are the only game in town unless you want to be hobbled with DSL, I once got a nastygram for downloading an episode of Battlestar Galactica. Problem was, I didn't like the episode, and hadn't downloaded it. Had they sent the nastygram for any other episode, they would have had me dead to rights. But I disputed it. NBC Universal actually got nasty and demanded my account be terminated, which is weird, since most people can ignore such letters and just scale back. I reiterated that I had not downloaded that episode. My ISP closed the complaint against my account, and that's the one time I got the nastygram.

(it was the shitty boxing episode) Funny enough, it has my favorite blooper out of the whole show. But the episode is garbage.

[8ullfrog]

It's still being a piece of poo in April, 2019.

Found a new one. When you play from a source google doesn't care for, you get a blue chromecast icon in the middle of your TV, instead of the media you tried to play.

It's a rather subtle middle finger, but it's still a middle finger.

Also found out my ISP enabled MAC filters on my router without telling me, which explains why I couldn't connect anything new to the network.

I shut it off, but that's a seriously rude action. I could see if I was renting the modem, but I own the sucker. They even forced me to buy an N modem. Back when they were $130 minimum.

golly docsis.

Oh, and they forced the HBO "test" video, and it's a whole season behind. I had to look at Alfie Allen!