re: Apple TV vs Roku 3 vs amazon fire tv - gifts

quote:

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I have OTA television for that. WatchABC is linked to your cable or satellite subscription so it's not free. It's the same business model as HBOgo and ESPN. CBS is going one step further by offering subscription access for a monthly fee. All of these schemes are ridiculous if you're a cord cutter like myself.

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I am aware, but I am trying to stay in the context of the OP's intent. For two older people with cable without OnDemand or DVR who would like to see their prime time TV on a different schedule or on a second TV without an outlet or box, lacking WatchABC might matter. For a cord-cutter, someone with a dvr, or someone with any sort of ondemand feAture tied to the TV with the streaming device (essentially all main-TV digital cable subscribers), it's a non-issue at all.

Most of that business model is appealing to cable subscribers who don't want DVR or want HD stuff OnDemand without a second cable box, which I would say is a pretty valid population to target without being a ridiculous business model. It's also a really good support structure for the possible future of "a la cart IPTV" accessible from these devices, but it would be naive to suggest that these boxes should be bought with that in mind- they'll probably be low-end to outdated by the time that is a reality. But at the very least, including those channels garners support for the idea and shows which streaming-Box providers will be capable or handling such services.


Probably mostly all too specific for OP, but again, any little nagging thing that I could know when picking two things would be nice to know (for me).