Live data from Hacker News

Moments in Chromecast's history

blog.google

161–170 of 609 posts

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with your second paragraph for a lot of reasons and product lines of theirs. But -- I decided a while ago to bite the bullet and go whole hog on using Google everything for my personal life (for better or worse). The decision was either to avoid them entirely or resign and buy into the ecosystem. I have a Pixel, my home uses Nest, I use their cloud storage personally, their AI, etc. FWIW it is a better experi…

> But I imagine Google Streamer will be useful for people like me, the user group Google is presumably trying to expand. Until, in a few years, there is another such blogpost, and it goes to the Google office in the sky. Really, Google seems like possibly the worst ecosystem to go all in on, in that bits of it keep unexpectedly vanishing.

Yeah, I'd emphasize this is for personal stuff only (doubt I'd build a startup on top of Flutter tomorrow).

It may be the product of how boring my personal digital requirements are but I haven't been burned yet by their many abandonments. I really only use pretty core services (Gmail/ Drive/Calendar, ChromeOS/Android/Pixel Watch, Google TV) that I don't anticipate going anywhere soon.

The biggest downside so far is overcoming the ethical dilemma of such a resignation. I'd prefer to use what's best in every case independently, but the value I put on convenience grows every year.

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#162
post #8

So they are ending Chromecast, and also just launched the "Google TV Streamer" which seems to do the same thing, but "faster, more premium" whatever that means. Seems to be a reason to charge people more for the same thing but slap the AI label all over it. But that's just first impressions. Edit: and apparently the TV Streamer thing is twice the price of the Chromecast.

> also just launched the "Google TV Streamer"

If Apple were run like Google, the iPhone would have been cancelled half a dozen times only to be resurrected as Apple Phone++ and Pocket AI, repeatedly investing in and torching brand awareness while distracting resources from product development to internal promotion and marketing the newest brand at the top of the escalator.

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#164
post #8

So they are ending Chromecast, and also just launched the "Google TV Streamer" which seems to do the same thing, but "faster, more premium" whatever that means. Seems to be a reason to charge people more for the same thing but slap the AI label all over it. But that's just first impressions. Edit: and apparently the TV Streamer thing is twice the price of the Chromecast.

Twice the price with a chip from 2021. https://www.androidauthority.com/google-tv-streamer-processo...

whereas the 2024 Google device only supports Wi-Fi 5.

heh...

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#165
post #107

I'm suddenly reminded to ask this community whom I assume might know: Are there any good "dumb tv" solutions out there? I'm thinking 1-4 HDMI ports, and a maximum of RF tuning and input-switching on the firmware. Products would be preferred suggestions, but I'm even at the point of considering DIY solutions, if something looks lego-ish enough!

We looked into this when moving house a few years ago in the UK. There didn't seem to be any viable options, so we bought a secondhand TV. I've heard that there are ways to get hold of shop display monitors but didn't figure out how to do this.

If you don't connect your TV to the internet, ever, not even once, it will function as a dumb panel.

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#166

They also announced Google Streamer, which is just Google Chromecast but more expensive I guess, and also with the Nest technology for smart home stuff, which they also killed iirc. I have to say, I don't really see this product strategy as being good, or working. Google's product is just a mess, they are nearing Microsoft levels of incoherence. When you compare Google with Apple, it's such a night and day experience…

I agree with your second paragraph for a lot of reasons and product lines of theirs. But -- I decided a while ago to bite the bullet and go whole hog on using Google everything for my personal life (for better or worse). The decision was either to avoid them entirely or resign and buy into the ecosystem. I have a Pixel, my home uses Nest, I use their cloud storage personally, their AI, etc. FWIW it is a better experi…

> At what cost, we will find out.

We already know. Your privacy.

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#167
post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For reference, an Apple TV 4K costs $129.

And that can run games on par with last-gen consoles (below PS4, but significantly above Switch level in terms of raw GFLOPs)! At their original price point, Chromecasts were pretty great, but why on earth would I pay the same as an Apple TV for something containing an SoC from 2021? I wasn't able to find reliable numbers, but performance seems to be lower by 1-2 orders of magnitude.

Especially when everyone’s tv now does all this pretty much? I cannot imagine successfully getting my gf to switch to this from the Roku integrated in her tv.

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#168
This is not the same thing. My Chromecast dedicated device would put a default nice picture, then wait for a cast.

Google TV and this new device displays advertisements, store, and more. I hate it.

It's the last google thing in my house. When it dies, google will be gone from my house.

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#169
post #44

Like others are saying, this just looks like a rebrand. Hopefully this competes in performance with the 2019 Nvidia Shield TV Pro which is to date still the only streamer that performs well enough for high quality audio and video, but is starting to age (and no longer works with things like google home audio groups). If anyone knows of a comparable plex streamer let me know :)

apparently doesn't support DTS audio which means can't replace the 10 year old nvidia shield TV Pro

Re: Moments in Chromecast's history

#170

They also announced Google Streamer, which is just Google Chromecast but more expensive I guess, and also with the Nest technology for smart home stuff, which they also killed iirc. I have to say, I don't really see this product strategy as being good, or working. Google's product is just a mess, they are nearing Microsoft levels of incoherence. When you compare Google with Apple, it's such a night and day experience…

I agree with your second paragraph for a lot of reasons and product lines of theirs. But -- I decided a while ago to bite the bullet and go whole hog on using Google everything for my personal life (for better or worse). The decision was either to avoid them entirely or resign and buy into the ecosystem. I have a Pixel, my home uses Nest, I use their cloud storage personally, their AI, etc. FWIW it is a better experi…

How do you reason about the privacy drawbacks on going full Google?

I mean, it is quite a leap to ungoogle totally, but having a Nest listening 24/7? And everything else?

Aren't you worried Google will just lock you out someday?

Post reply on HN