Technology Beyond Fire Sticks & ONN

Streaming Devices / Hardware
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First… I am not knocking Fire Sticks or ONN boxes, but…

You know how sometimes you see something and then you get stuck because you know you’ve seen it somewhere before. Fire Sticks…I’ve seen them before.

There were stand-alone boxes, XBMC. They were priced back then, in 2004 at $249. A stable release…June 29, 2004. Back then I wanted one, but though I was working, I didn’t want to risk getting one and not being able to do squat with it.

I just NOW found out what the letters XBMC meant. Xbox Media center.

On November 19, 2014, Amazon came out with their first generation fire stick.

November 25, 2014… The first Kodi/XBMC TV Box. ($99.99)

Kodi…created in 2003 (?), non-profit and run by the XBMC Foundation.

Enough of background, let’s move forward. Is it just me, or that both ONN & Firesticks…I mean what can they do, that today you can;t get on the app Plex & Tubi? Let’s go way back now.

I’m 63… I’m a Downloader. I do not enjoy or have been a fan of Streaming. I’m a Napster Baby, an AOL Cousin… Heck, I even had a Sidekick 2, and then a Sidekick 3. Sidekick 2 was my FIRST Smartphone. But when T-Mobile did away with the $ 1-a-day plan for everything, I packed away my Sidekick 3. Still have it, not with me…but with everything I ‘store’ of value.

Both Fire Stick and ONN do nothing for me. the add-ons and the Builds are nothing but a lot of ‘Purdy Colors’. I still have them connected to my TV though. I use them to add videos… training videos on how to use certain AIs. I mean going back and forth, watch a video on the same laptop you are having the AI opened up on… Just ‘Send It’ to either FS or ONN. But you would figure that would be easy, right? Nope. Because when you set up extended storage on both devices, you can not store anything else on it. It’s either extended Storage for your FS and ONN, or Extended Storage for normal use…like throwing a movie on the USB and then plugging it in your USB port on your TV. So…

I need something bigger, better, and able to do what I want to do from my living room sofa without getting up. Hmmm? What can it be? What can I use now? But wait… I haven’t tried…

Chrome Boxes. …my own Server. But do I want that Server in the same room as my… NO!! Then you mean… Setting it up somewhere where it will be stable and secure. Hmmm? I have a place. Safe, secured…and I don’t have to worry about losing internet connection because they are Stable & Secured.

By the end of the year, I will have this in place. I have to do quite a bit of reading, and looking for equipment, and services online. I start in May, and by the time it gets cold…I will have everything in place and ready to put it all together.

This isn’t something new. People are doing this now. But to me, it’s a few steps forward in technology for me. Besides… I’m tired of reading and reading, and in my head putting everything read together…and there it stays…in my head.

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Sort of been there done that long ago. Most people here are interested in watching a movie, a tv series or some form of entertainment so streaming is the best solution. I still have hundreds of movies, concerts etc all downloaded to a media server that I just remote into. I don’t even have to touch it. What do I use it for now? The odd time you can’t be assured of getting a full series especially because it can have a decade of seasons. That is when I revert back to old times as you said, and download it to watch at my convenience. I’ve had a home network for decades as have many people here but most we are here for the simple reason of watching something.

** That doesn’t count the gazillion of DVD’s I have burned of concerts collecting dust

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Sorry I could only read about 1/2 of your post before giving up. I would suggest leaving the Nostalgia behind and spend some time here getting current on the Trends. Streaming is where it’s at now. KODI or Stremio for VOD Shows/Movies and a solid paid IPTV service for News/Live sports. Oh and the 4K ONN Box is Great BTW. Cancel your AOL Account and move on :rofl:

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I read an article about this, and now it seems, that doing exactly what you’re talking about, has made cloud storage the #1 consumer of bandwidth.

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Hell, even paid cable (Yes I said it) records to a cloud. The days of local storage are over unless you actually want to keep something.

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Somebody call Fauci, the pandemic’s getting worse! LOL

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Hey OP,
I would suggest getting an Nvidia Shield Pro and attach storage to it, or get a mini PC and install LibreELEC and Kodi on it. You can download all you want and stream to your heart’s content.

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I’ve got 2-3 small suitcase like things full of ripped CDs of various movies going back 20 years. They’ve sat gathering dust since I got into this hobby ten years ago or so. For me, once I watch a movie I’ll rarely want to see it again unless it’s an absolute classic; and now I know how to find it (somebody else’s server). Physical/electronic storage seems like a waste of time if you ask me.

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I agree but my dvd’s are musical concerts that never get old and many I have not yet watched. I just have too many of them. I don’t really watch them but I could. I didn’t burn movies.

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Lol, AOL… Yeah, I stayed in The Tech Chat Room…Same screen name as on here. Ah!! ‘Flood of Sins’!! That guy was a ball buster. Anywho…

Streaming with both devices is eh… Like I want to set it up like RSS feed, where it auto downloads torrent from the website of my choosing. Set parameters, (Spiders?), scheduled, hands off, and can be accessed from my cellphone…adding remotely.

2025, I won’t have access to any TV for 3, 4 months. Playing catch up will drive me bonkers.

As of April 24th of 2023, up until yesterday, March 27th… Only 22 movies so far I deemed worthy of watching over again. Years ago, they said DVDs would last forever… There was a huge market forthem, not anymore.