AppleTV and me
I’ve owned AppleTV models since the first generation. I was always fascinated having my own media box connected to the tv but disliked having a PC in the living room. If I was single, I probably would be fine using it.
Lately, the models we have are getting older and not updated any longer. We had one model that wouldn’t update itself and after troubleshooting it with Apple on the phone, I gave up on it. The problem with the tech today, it isn’t made to last and we can’t tinker with it afterwards similar to installing linux on an old pc.
I also had a couple of Chromecasts but never got the point of these dongles. All I could do was “cast” my phone’s screen but it wasn’t easy to use my phone and keep the cast playing on the tv. It wasn’t until I picked up the current Chromecast with Google TV that I finally was happy and got uses out of it.
I have an old Samsung TV with no smarts built in. We all wish new TV’s were this dumb. I use this tv in my office and I had no plans to spend money again on AppleTV. I decided to get the inexpensive HD Chromecast since this tv can only go up to 720p for it’s 42” size. It works great and the interface is a bit busy but I still like it. The remote is small but has all the necessary functions with a shortcut to YouTube and Netflix. There is even an input source switcher button to make life easier. (As I write this, I turned on my bedroom tv with AppleTV and the input source is wrong for some reason and I can’t do anything with its remote. I had to turn everything off and on again to get it working.)
I think in the future, it will be difficult to replace as Google has killed this model off and replaced it with one closer to the price of an AppleTV. It’s unfortunate that Google is following Apple with pricing when they used to be an affordable option. I think this is the way with new technology, everything is getting expensive. As someone told me recently, it’s a good time to appreciate older technology. There is no reason to buy the latest tech.