My Adventures in Streaming

I am not the streaming key master.  I am however someone who has used streaming almost exclusively for the last 7 years and I can assure you it has only gotten better.

Netflix

Signing up for Netflix was the best thing, in terms of entertainment, to happen to me since my first Movie Theater experience. Even then with the limited library of TV shows and Movies to select from it presented a whole new world of possibility when I got home from work. My then relatively new and large 46″ Samsung LCD TV became a limitless window into the world of film. Movies I would never have thought of renting became worth the risk. I explored and discovered Directors, Actors, Producers, and Studios. I discovered the thrill and peril of Binge watching TV shows (my first was Lost). I watched independent films I would never have been exposed to any other way. I became my own captain on a sea of video that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Past

My first streaming device was a Samsung BD-P1600 Blu-Ray Player(currently living out its days at my parents). That unit came with access to four streaming Services – Youtube, Blockbuster, Netflix, and Pandora. This was the beginning of an era, that for me, has no end in sight. After a few years of use I eventually upgraded to a newer model Sony BDP-S580 which included a much broader range of streaming services. New Services included Slacker Radio for Audio, Crackle for free video, Sony Channels, Yoga TV, Hulu Plus and more with every firmware update. Clearly by this point the Streaming market had evolved beyond a cool idea. Sadly the Sony lasted little more than a year when the Blu-Ray laser failed miserably, this prompted a replacement with another Samsung since my 8-year-old unit is still operating at my parents place. 

Present

It was during the era of the Sony that I integrated an AppleTV3 , having installed AppleTV 1 and 2 for clients in many systems I was finally happy that the AppleTV was outputting 1080p video. With iTunes integration for my existing iTunes library as well as the option to rent or buy movies. Apple hit a home run. Netflix streaming was finally everything I had hoped for with 1080p output and 5.1 digital surround. With the update to iOS 7 on my iPhone and iPad I gained the ability to Airplay my content to the TV directly, broadcasting content from iOS exclusive Apps. 

Beyond

I am very excited to see what Apple will do with the next generation of AppleTV and hope to see some sort of App Store or even way to improve streaming quality. We will just have to wait. 

Recently announced was Amazon’s entry into the streaming device market the Fire TV. They have, in the past, provided Prime members with free streaming videos but now they also have a way to bring you into the fold. Prime membership includes over 40,000 free streaming videos but also includes free shipping on Amazon product and for $99 / year the service pays for itself quite quickly. At this time with no direct experience I am reserving judgement on the Amazon Fire TV, for now.

Soon I hope to be integrating the Roku 3 into my Savant System at which time I will divulge all the joy and sadness related to that experience, although I have received a great deal of positive feedback from friends that use Roku. 

Hopefully I didn’t bore any one to death if you have any questions feel free to comment. 

Thanks for Reading,

-Phil