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Are Streaming Media Players a Passing Fad
DeviceGuru writes "In-Stat is questioning whether dedicated streaming media players like the Roku player, Boxee Box, and Google TV boxes will be around for long. The reason, says In-Stat, is that IP-streamed video is becoming a standard feature of TVs and Blu-ray players. Passing fad? Not according to this blog post at DeviceGuru, which argues that we're talking about a disruptive market, not a mature one, and that TVs and Blu-ray players can't possibly provide the flexibility to serve as the platform for delivering rapidly evolving technologies to the early adopters who represent the testbed for all this innovation."
If ISPs keep capping the amount you can pull per [time unit], yeah, they will become a passing fad.
I'm not at all sure of this. A TV has a lifespan of many years and is quite expensive. These boxes are cheap. I picked up a WD box for $100. Sure, my next TV will probably do everything this box does. But where will I be 2-3 years after my next TV. Will the TV have the processing power to keep up? Will the manufacturer keep putting out new versions of the software for 10 years after I bought the TV? Doubtful.
So a few years down the road I will be buying a new external box to keep up with the latest formats, online services, etc. And I won't care, because the box will cost me $100 instead of $1000+ for a TV.
You are correct, but only because these streaming features are now expected from Blu-Ray players and modern game consoles. Streaming was new when this generation of game consoles came out in 2006, before Hulu existed and Netflix began offering streaming, I have a feeling next generation consoles will do a much better job of streaming.
Consumers will not spend $100-$300 on a streaming media player when their next gen game console already streams everything they could want and offers mature hardware and software that is updated often by major manufactures like Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony.
I expect sales of streaming media players to remain strong for the next few years until new game systems are released and sales will eventually taper off and cease when the game systems become cheaper than the media players.
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
Well, certain manufacturers believe it's their right to remove/prohibit 'extra functionality' following release (even when devices are purchased on the premise of said 'extra functionality'). There is that.
In an ideal world...
What if I want $goodbrandofserver functionality and my $tvbrand attempts to lock me into $evilserver functionality but is otherwise a very nice TV.