Last night, the wife and I were talking about getting a Roku player for the bedroom. But ultimately, we decided that at this time it was something that we might get in the future but it sure was an attractive option last night. For those of you who don’t know what a Roku player is, it’s a set-top box that allows you to stream Netflix Instant Watch movies through a TV. Not new to me and the wife, because we have a 360 that does the same thing, but in our bedroom, all that we have is a TV with a PS3. Now, the PS3 does have a movie playing option, but for two reasons the PS3 is not an optimal choice.
Reason one is that the PS3 only allows you to purchase or rent a movie to download. As far as I am aware, there is no option to stream. The second reason is that to download something from the PSN takes FOREVER! It took me 20 minutes to download a 16MB patch for Killzone 2 on Monday. Now, imagine a 1.5 GB movie. Or how about a 1.2 GB demo of Killzone 2, which I already had to wait 2 1/2 hours to download. Completely ridiculous if you ask me. Now the demos and movies may be on different servers, but come on. I want it and I want it now!
Roku, on the other hand, can stream a movie from Netflix instantly. Click play and a minute later the movie starts. That’s instant gratification. But at the moment, I’m still hoping that Sony will put Netflix in the PS3, but I might not want to hold my breath. If Roku put Hulu.com and TV.com as an accessible option, then all of a sudden the Roku player is a must have. Let’s push it one step further. Amazon Video on Demand was just recently added to the Roku player, and that added 40,000 titles to the library that the Roku can play. When are we going to get to the point that we can get all our TV through the internet and not cable or satellite? Will we ever get to that point?
But before we get there, two things need to happen. One, we need more bandwidth without bandwidth caps. Two, prices for bandwidth need to drop and a REASONABLE pricing structure for Internet TV needs to be put into place.
Right now, though I am completely happy with my Netflix360 player and DVD/Bluray disks. But in a few years, I will want my Internet Television.
Episode 153: Hot As Balls
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Episode 153: Hot As Balls – In the post-E3 show, we recap one of the most
boring E3’s in the history of MAHG. We then talk about the wonderful
Wonder Woma...
8 years ago
Depending on how much time and effort you are willing and able to put into it, you could install Linux on the PS3 and go from there.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things Sony did right was letting the users work with the hardware. You can install Linux in a supported, non-warranty-voiding way. They do lock out some of the hardware, though, which keeps it from being a complete super computer (and from making the PlayStation OS obsolete), which is unfortunate. There's a program called XBMC, which started life as a media center for modded Xboxes but now runs on Linux, but can't run on a PS3 with Linux because Sony disables graphics hardware acceleration under Linux, and XBMC requires it.
But it may be possible to use some Linux software to do the job on the PS3.
But buying a box that someone else put together, tested, and sells at retail with support is a whole lot easier... ;)