Is Google's Chromecast the future of television?

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Is Google's Chromecast the future of television?

Postby surfsteve » Thu Aug 22, 2013 9:22 am

Haven't checked into this yet but it makes me wonder if I shouldn't have gotten rid of all my old TV's.

Google's Chromecast doesn't do much. But what it does do, it does so consistently well, and so cheaply, that it's quickly became a primary part of my media-watching routine. Chromecast, a little USB-stick-sized device, streams Netflix, YouTube and other sites to your TV. (But wait a second, aren't Netflix and YouTube also websites? Yes, but there's a technical distinction we'll get to in a minute.) Also, Chromecast is fast, unbelievably easy to set up, and pretty much foolproof to use. And it's £30, which makes it one of the best values in tech, ever. Combine all that and it's irresistible. In the five days I've had it, Chromecast has become my go-to way for streaming shows to my TV. It's expected to hit shops in the UK before Christmas.


Rest of article: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style ... 78743.html

Here is google's website for the thing: http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/de ... t/#youtube
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Re: Is Google's Chromecast the future of television?

Postby surfsteve » Thu Aug 22, 2013 9:53 am

C Net has a pretty good review for the thing.

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-media-r ... 23617.html

I've already read two websites and I'm still not sure what it does. Apparently you use your cellphone as a remote. That means when you loose it in your couch all you have to do is call it. Other than that I'm not seeing any advantage over just using a big tv as a monitor for your computer but am seeing a lot of dis advantages like not being able to watch stuff you've downloaded. I'm not sure but I think the Chromecast is a stand alone device and the computer is only required to set it up?
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Re: Is Google's Chromecast the future of television?

Postby surfsteve » Thu Aug 22, 2013 10:16 am

Here we go.



That was a pretty informative video. I think I see the advantages. Even though I have a computer devoted to media If I am watching a youtube at my desk I can "cast" it over to my media computer's monitor (Which is really an old computer hooked up to a flat screen TV). Normally I would have to stop watching it on one computer and find it on the web at my other computer and then set the video to the exact same spot I stopped watching it on the first computer. It doesn't seem like that big of a deal but then neither did using a microwave till I got used to it...
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Re: Is Google's Chromecast the future of television?

Postby surfsteve » Thu Aug 22, 2013 10:45 am

Seems like you could use a similar much simpler device to plug into your coffee pot and just about everything else to be able to control it from your lap top or mobile phone. It would be nice to use one to shut off my swamp cooler when I'm not using it and turn it on an hour before I come home.
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