Will TV sticks eventually die out?

robfosters said:
They must have a limited lifespan. The firestick and chromecast is basically there to turn a dumb TV into a smart TV. But as time goes on, the percentage of dumb TV's released gets lower and lower.

Surely we will get to the point where they just become redundant. I know the FS can run Kodi, but when you consider how many people use it or have any clue how to sideload it, I don't think that's even a saving grace.

What will these companies do when the inevitable happens? Amazon TV anyone?
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Your missing the growing number of people that use projectors , computer screens and other devices to watch TV on. Last time I looked TV sales was down and projector sales up. Still a massive difference in volume but TV sticks are not just for TV's. Give me a fire stick and Projector over a smart TV any day of the week. Out side of projector use I don't see smart monitors taking off either. Still a use for TV sticks.
 
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robfosters said:
They must have a limited lifespan. The firestick and chromecast is basically there to turn a dumb TV into a smart TV. But as time goes on, the percentage of dumb TV's released gets lower and lower.

Surely we will get to the point where they just become redundant. I know the FS can run Kodi, but when you consider how many people use it or have any clue how to sideload it, I don't think that's even a saving grace.

What will these companies do when the inevitable happens? Amazon TV anyone?
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I currently have a smart TV, but the only useful app is iPlayer, it's stupidly slow and doesn't work half the time.

I bought an Amazon stick the other day, it has every single catch up app and more, is quicker and never breaks.

Most people don't upgrade their TVs that often, so the tech on them gets old, whereas TV sticks continue to be developed, so they will always have a place. If your apps become behind or break on your TV, you're not going to go spend another £500+ on replacing the entire TV, you would just buy a TV stick
 
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TheVoice said:
They'll certainly become less popular for sure, but few TVs seem to support the full compliment of streaming services so there'll always be some demand for them.
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it all depends on the demand though, Im not sure Amazon is a big enough draw in the end to repeat buy

Its a buy and forgetat best, and unless Amazon change something significant whats the reason to buy a 2nd stick etc

Its also whether the support actually is necessary in a few years time. Every year tv's are becoming more and more like mini pc's with a screen attached, surely it will become more and more like adding a different browser to a laptop after purchase?
 
I think partly the reason some tvs don't support all the different platforms is down to licencing and deals.
 
robfosters said:
They must have a limited lifespan. The firestick and chromecast is basically there to turn a dumb TV into a smart TV. But as time goes on, the percentage of dumb TV's released gets lower and lower.

Surely we will get to the point where they just become redundant. I know the FS can run Kodi, but when you consider how many people use it or have any clue how to sideload it, I don't think that's even a saving grace.

What will these companies do when the inevitable happens? Amazon TV anyone?
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Do you buy a new monitor everytime you upgrade your CPU & GPU? No.

If you have a good TV why would I change it?

My TV is a dumb TV- it has no smart TV features, and if I want them I'd buy a TV stick or another computer like a netbook or other tiny computer.
 
hornetstinger said:
Do you buy a new monitor everytime you upgrade your CPU & GPU? No.

If you have a good TV why would I change it?

My TV is a dumb TV- it has no smart TV features, and if I want them I'd buy a TV stick or another computer like a netbook or other tiny computer.
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depends on your definition of a "good" tv though doesnt it?

to be clear Im not knocking your choice at all, Im just suggesting not everyone will feel the same way.

Within a few years the vast majority of people will have a smart tv - that are interested in this kind of service in the first place - (just look at the sales numbers from the last year or so)



edit - whacky idea here I know, but now TV's are coming out (and have for a few years or so) where you can split the screen in two and watch different things on each side and audio is split between headphones for one / speakers for the other, Im wondering if Windows will do this.......then people may start getting bigger monitors instead of tv's (yea I know its still a different "way" of watching, and possibly for most in a different room)

Probably another "fad" that will die out, wonder how many actually use that functionality

especially with the "internet of things" , maybe all tv's / brands will come together under this badge and any platform will need to be compatable, and then its just a case of Amazon /Google whoever complying with that.

Personally think there are a lot more people out there who dont care at all about online in regards to tv services and are more than happy with OTA transmissions than there are about people who really care about any type of TV stick
 
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The problem with "smart TVs" is, as said earlier in the thread, manufacturers don't tend to support them for long, whereas a Fire TV stick / Chromecast will be continually maintained and support the latest tweaks/codecs/whatever. When they do work they tend to be slow and crap, in my experience.

When I tried purely out of interest, I couldn't even get my (at the time) 3 year old TV to connect to my wireless network, and my similarly-aged BluRay player has a Netflix client but it just doesn't work properly.

Also, if you have a more elaborate home cinema system rather than just a TV connected to a soundbar, you probably have no interest in the "smart" services your TV offers. I know I don't.
 
Oh yeah, that's another thing - the 'smart' bit of the TV sometimes bypasses all the image adjustments and you end up with films looking like crap because of it.
 
Caged said:
Oh yeah, that's another thing - the 'smart' bit of the TV sometimes bypasses all the image adjustments and you end up with films looking like crap because of it.
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Spot on. Amazon are the prime culprits on this one (no pun intended lol). HD or UHD films i have watched on Amazon completely ignore the calibrated picture setting on my LG 65 inch OLED tv. What is even more infuriating is that there is absolutely no option to change this within the Amazon app at all.
Netflix on the other hand dosn't interfere with my tv's setting at all.
 
Pretty much the cheapest 50" TV that I could buy has Netflix and Amazon prime built in. I can't "cast" things to it, but that's what Apple TV is for.

They're an interim technology to get the masses hooked on on demand TV and establish competing services which will be built into future TVs. To be honest the next move will be to ditch the aerial port!
 
We have a Smart TV and a Smart Blueray Freesat box - only trouble is both ITV and BBC will not produce updates for iPlayer and ITV hub for our "out of date" devices - so smart features are useless!! Also BBC has removed BBC iPlayer Radio from (all?) Smart TVs.

Only economic solution is to buy a fire stick or similar to be able to use BBC iPlayer or ITV hub.

Mel
 
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Smart tvs are gash in general, maybe if you are spending serious money you will get one that gets updated once in a while and isnt clunky and slow with annoying feature's that you never use...
the chromecast is ideal for me, can use a phone/laptop to get the content and then get it on screen easily - and it's way cheaper than upgrading a TV every few years
can't see them dying out anytime soon tbh, not everyone is looking for the new best thing all the time with their TV
 
I honestly lamented for the death for smart TV's for years.

Echoing what others have said they just don't get kept up to date. Prime example is that first Smart TV that my parents have was never updated to support Amazon video, so they needed to buy a Amazon Fire TV.
 
I'd imagine that besides the select few on here that are upgrading TVs every couple of years, most consumers will only purchase a new TV after 3-5 (or probably more) years of use. Therefore most 'smart' apps won't continue to be supported and during that lifespan will probably fail completely. I bought my GT50 3 years ago and I have no intention of getting rid of it until it dies or I move house (which is not likely in the next 2yrs). Even if I move I'll probably not upgrade because it's a 42" and that's perfect for a London flat.

Standalone boxes are also a far better user experience. My FTV is quick, responsive and way easier to use than my Panasonic TV or TiVo box (lol, TiVo :rolleyes: ). It also has voice search which is brilliant. So, no I don't think the TV sticks/boxes are going away any time soon. Like others have said, I wish TV manufacturers would give up on 'smart' features and just give us a TV that's a couple hundred pounds cheaper.
 
the_r_sole said:
Smart tvs are gash in general, maybe if you are spending serious money you will get one that gets updated once in a while and isnt clunky and slow with annoying feature's that you never use...
the chromecast is ideal for me, can use a phone/laptop to get the content and then get it on screen easily - and it's way cheaper than upgrading a TV every few years
can't see them dying out anytime soon tbh, not everyone is looking for the new best thing all the time with their TV
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I've had 4 smart tv's now and the Panasonic has been the worst for updates by far nothing mdoern is supported it's so outdated it never gets used so I use a 3rd party box.

Sony has been good but it was poor to begin with so they badly needed to update it, I don't need to use it so I don't it's a console only tv.

Samsung has been okay and it's a pretty good in built system probably the second best I have used built in.

LG has been amazing and very slick. It's by far the best out of all the ones I have used WebOS is brilliant. I get frequent updates on it too. However it is the newest out of the lot.

I do use a 4k fire tv on the panasonic for my smart needs on that TV. They Sony is for console use only so no need for smart. The LG is main living room tv and WebOS does an outstanding job however I don't now if that will be the case in 5 years time and I will be forced to buy another 3rd party box.

Scam said:
I'd imagine that besides the select few on here that are upgrading TVs every couple of years, most consumers will only purchase a new TV after 3-5 (or probably more) years of use. Therefore most 'smart' apps won't continue to be supported and during that lifespan will probably fail completely. I bought my GT50 3 years ago and I have no intention of getting rid of it until it dies or I move house (which is not likely in the next 2yrs). Even if I move I'll probably not upgrade because it's a 42" and that's perfect for a London flat.

Standalone boxes are also a far better user experience. My FTV is quick, responsive and way easier to use than my Panasonic TV or TiVo box (lol, TiVo :rolleyes: ). It also has voice search which is brilliant. So, no I don't think the TV sticks/boxes are going away any time soon. Like others have said, I wish TV manufacturers would give up on 'smart' features and just give us a TV that's a couple hundred pounds cheaper.
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Most people tend to buy a new tv when the old one dies or becomes so outdated it no longer does what they want. Only enthusiasts tend to buy more frequently than that tbh. If you buy the right tv in the first place there should be no need to update it every 2-3 years. I know my panny plasma will remain my bedroom tv until it dies. My sony will remain my console tv until it dies or 4K gaming on consoles takes off.
 
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Mel_P said:
And before the TV has died they WON'T be supported so you will need a "stick" of some sort? Or you ditch the TV when it's 3 years old?
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Sadly I can't afford to upgrade every three years. However I would hope that with newer android based OS new programmes or apps could be installed. I can't see that many more streaming video services coming in the near future, but there will be more eventually.
 
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