Amazon Fire TV Review
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C...
I'm a junkie for set top boxes,...
Amazon Fire TV Review
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CX5P8FC/
I’m a junkie for set top boxes, I’ve got them all: Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, Ouya, Xbox 360, etc, etc. So I just had to get my hands on an Amazon Fire TV when it came out.
As a Canadian, this is particularly difficult, since it pretty much won’t work in our country yet.
But I happened to be visiting friends in the US this week, so I ordered a Fire TV and had it delivered to my friend's house, so I could play around with it.
For starters, my Canadian Amazon account left it totally baffled, but fortunately I was able to use their account, and get access to everything.
I’m going to give you the short version of the review: it’s fast, it’s pretty, the voice search works (for Amazon purchases), it does games (didn't try them).
But here’s what’s totally wrong with it.
The Amazon Fire TV is the most wonderful way of accessing the most expensive content on you possibly can on Amazon.com.
The box makes you feel like Amazon is constantly trying to screw you, which is one of the worst sins a company can make.
In other words, search for Avengers, and the suggestion is to drop $19.99 to buy a copy. You have to dig down into submenus to find out if it’s on Prime or not for free.
This is insanely laborious, and makes you feel like you’re dealing with a sneaky salesperson the whole time.
Do a search for action movies, and then drill down into each one to find out if it’s available on Prime or not. Which almost none are.
Even when you go into the Prime-focused menus, they’re still trying to drive you into purchase and rentals.
Why would I want to pay for a show when it’s available free? Why? Seriously, why?
Try to use the voice search within any app like Netflix, and you jump right back out to Amazon purchase carousel. Then you have to navigate yourself back to where you left off with Netflix. Arrrgh.
Fix this and the Amazon Fire TV will be the one box to rule them all
If Fire TV knew what shows were available across all services, including Netflix, Prime, Hulu, etc and understood my purchase status with them, it could provide an intelligent search process.
If Fire TV’s unbelievably amazing voice search system worked across the entire device, it would be astounding.
If I could say “play a melancholy song”, like in Her, and Pandora would kick open and start playing melancholy songs, well, now we’re really cooking.
The Amazon Fire TV can absolutely do this
The power, speed and accuracy of the Fire TV is astounding. It clearly can absolutely do everything I’m describing. This is a short-term thinking business decision, not a long term value to owners.
My recommendation
Don’t buy it. Yet.
Unless you’re looking for a device to side load XBMC on, then definitely buy it. It kills the Ouya.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CX5P8FC/
I’m a junkie for set top boxes, I’ve got them all: Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, Ouya, Xbox 360, etc, etc. So I just had to get my hands on an Amazon Fire TV when it came out.
As a Canadian, this is particularly difficult, since it pretty much won’t work in our country yet.
But I happened to be visiting friends in the US this week, so I ordered a Fire TV and had it delivered to my friend's house, so I could play around with it.
For starters, my Canadian Amazon account left it totally baffled, but fortunately I was able to use their account, and get access to everything.
I’m going to give you the short version of the review: it’s fast, it’s pretty, the voice search works (for Amazon purchases), it does games (didn't try them).
But here’s what’s totally wrong with it.
The Amazon Fire TV is the most wonderful way of accessing the most expensive content on you possibly can on Amazon.com.
The box makes you feel like Amazon is constantly trying to screw you, which is one of the worst sins a company can make.
In other words, search for Avengers, and the suggestion is to drop $19.99 to buy a copy. You have to dig down into submenus to find out if it’s on Prime or not for free.
This is insanely laborious, and makes you feel like you’re dealing with a sneaky salesperson the whole time.
Do a search for action movies, and then drill down into each one to find out if it’s available on Prime or not. Which almost none are.
Even when you go into the Prime-focused menus, they’re still trying to drive you into purchase and rentals.
Why would I want to pay for a show when it’s available free? Why? Seriously, why?
Try to use the voice search within any app like Netflix, and you jump right back out to Amazon purchase carousel. Then you have to navigate yourself back to where you left off with Netflix. Arrrgh.
Fix this and the Amazon Fire TV will be the one box to rule them all
If Fire TV knew what shows were available across all services, including Netflix, Prime, Hulu, etc and understood my purchase status with them, it could provide an intelligent search process.
If Fire TV’s unbelievably amazing voice search system worked across the entire device, it would be astounding.
If I could say “play a melancholy song”, like in Her, and Pandora would kick open and start playing melancholy songs, well, now we’re really cooking.
The Amazon Fire TV can absolutely do this
The power, speed and accuracy of the Fire TV is astounding. It clearly can absolutely do everything I’m describing. This is a short-term thinking business decision, not a long term value to owners.
My recommendation
Don’t buy it. Yet.
Unless you’re looking for a device to side load XBMC on, then definitely buy it. It kills the Ouya.
No comments have been added yet.
