Idk…my mother’s in her 60s and she can figure out this stuff. And plumbers have a fair amount of general know-how. 🤷♀️
Obviously, the TV-to-laptop option isn’t for the general masses, which is why these devices exist. I’m just offering that there are alternatives available to those who are willing.
It’s still cheaper than a “normal” TV + Roku or whatever.
I mean, the goal here is to stop being so inundated with ads. There is a cost associated. The cost can be in a more expensive TV, privacy nightmares, or a cheap TV with a cheap setup.
A $200 setup sounds ace to me and perfectly feasible. You could probably lower than by using a Raspberry Pi setup instead. A “decent” TV is going to run into the $400 range once you get 55” or larger, and your laptop/Pi setup can be used on any TV for as long as you want.
Heck, it doesn’t even need to be a new-to-you laptop. I’ve repurposed my last 3 computers to do just this; I was buying a new desktop or laptop anyway, so the old one became my streaming device.
Google are attempting to start this fight in Europe in hopes that they can push Apple to change in the US as well. The whole green bubble thing is US-only, but Google haven’t been even remotely successful in trying to force Apple to change, and Apple’s “remedy” to the issue is “Get an iPhone”.
This feels a bit like asking MS Teams to play nice with Google Meet, or demanding that Apple’s office suite (Pages, Numbers, etc.) deliver the exact same product when files are saved in an OpenOffice format. This doesn’t seem to be an issue with any other products…
Apple have designed their product to work well with their devices. The Messages app still functions with non-Apple devices. SMS messages can be sent and received to anyone. The fact that pictures and whatever come through like crap is more an issue with the SMS platform than it is with Apple’s app.
Ultimately, Google dislikes the fact that there is a “green bubble” stigma (for lack of a better word) on Apple devices that encourages those who care about such things to prefer Apple devices. Because Google doesn’t have their own widely used iMessage equivalent, they can’t turn around and make messages outside their platform appear as red bubbles or something, so they are attacking from this angle instead.
Wow, this heifer really has zero concern for possible repercussions to her actions or her words.
Shall the Brits return to the days of the houses that lent you a rope to drape over for the night before you go back to your wandering homelessness? At least a rope to drape over at night wouldn’t be as much of an eyesore as a tent, right?!?
People should just start camping out on her property by the thousands just on principle.
The impressions of the ads helps, though. If the ad isn’t even shown, there’s not even the possibility of the impression or the engagement.
That said, there is only one site on all of the internet that I’ve decided to whitelist and that is only because I trust the site’s developers not to sell out and allow invasive ads.
I don’t think that piracy will get to a point that it will eat into their profits. Most people want whatever is easiest, and doing the basics of torrenting in a way that doesn’t cause drama with the internet provider and then either using some kind of Jellyfin or continuous streaming setup is far beyond “easy” for the general populace. In order for piracy to get to the public, it would need to be just as simple as streaming through a TV.
Folks predicted that Netflix would see a mass exodus when they cracked down on account sharing and they actually increased accounts instead.
Piracy will definitely continue its upswing, but it is more likely that the majority of people will just watch whatever is available on maybe one or two streaming options or just slowly return to just broadcast TV or even cable. Piracy didn’t kill television when the VCR was invented, and it didn’t kill music when the first iterations of Napster and such first became known. Piracy will always be present, but it has a lot of hurdles before it really makes a dent in corporate bottom lines.
I watched it completely unaware what I was in for and I was hardly 12 years old! They didn’t even have TV ratings back then. We just got a “Viewer Discretion Advised” warning and they let it loose!
Yes, nearly 30 years later, I’m still a little scarred from the episode, but it’s a part of the whole X-Files experience. It would be like skipping The Host in Season 2! Experience!