[twblalock]

I'm not sure how else Roku can make money.

Pretty much every TV is a "smart TV" now with built-in streaming apps. Why would anyone buy a Roku?

These additional devices only make sense if they are really cheap (and therefore subsidized by ads, just like the smart TVs are) or offer a premium experience (which would make them cost a lot up front.)

[Panino]

> I'm not sure how else Roku can make money.

I'm pretty frugal and pay closer attention to free streaming services than the average person, and can say that in the last year or two, Roku has significantly improved its lineup of "originals." Although some are just hilariously bad (like Cypher from 2021), they're also getting some pretty good people like Samuel L. Jackson (The Fix) and Daniel Radcliffe (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story) making quality content.

When you own quality content, there's the potential to make money from it. Personally I think Roku may be attempting to build a streaming service eventually worth paying for. Maybe it'll be accessible from non-Roku devices, and maybe it'll remain free for Roku users to entice people in a similar way that Amazon Prime includes free Amazon Prime TV and Apple device purchases get some free Apple TV. (Yes, I know people don't buy an iPhone just to get TV... it's a perk).

[jaypeg25]

I would happily pay for a dumb TV, if they existed. They don't seem to anymore.

I have a Samsung Q-series TV now and tried using the smart TV apps for a while, but many were buggy and often had audio/video desync issues. I might blame part of that on the soundbar, but I gave up and got an Apple TV 4K and haven't had any issues at all.

[modriano]

A recent Jeff Geerling video dug into this subject. [0]. Sharp NEC [1] makes and sells TVs without any "smart" junk (they're mainly aimed at being 24/7 monitors/displays in businesses). They're significantly more expensive than consumer TVs, but part of that is likely to accommodate 24/7 usage.

[0] https://youtu.be/-epPf7D8oMk

[1] https://www.sharpnecdisplays.us/

[toast0]

I have a high end Samsung projector, and the smart TV functionality is slower than my several year old Roku ultra and connecting it to my network means I get the privilege of having promotional placements in the input chooser and I can't remove or hide video apps I'm not going to use if Samsung has blessed them.

Otoh, it works enough for now, so I'm deferring getting another Roku while I consider other options. I wasn't a fan of Tivo's android tv dodad, but a friend's android tv device for totally legitimate iptv from canada actually works nicely. (It helps that their custom launcher is minimal and fast)

Android based with gigabit ethernet is more likely to work well with my desire to run 4k blu-rays via the network (preferably with optional menus, definitely without transcoding which means dealing with peak video bitrate over 100mbps) and interfacing in a usable manner with mythtv for watching recordings.

[comte7092]

>Pretty much every TV is a "smart TV" now with built-in streaming apps. Why would anyone buy a Roku?

I have a Roku, the “smart tv” I have is absolute trash and takes several minutes to start up the app based functionality. Once it starts, it’s glacially slow.

I’m sure newer tvs are faster, however I also have no desire to see my panel hit EOL due to a lack of software support when it works perfectly fine. TVs can last for years, and I see no reason why I should look to upgrade on a smartphone level lifecycle, when a reasonable dedicated streaming device is priced below $50.

[ghaff]

I typically use an Apple TV or Chromecast.

Even leaving the cost of buying a new 60" TV aside, the effort of mounting a new one and disposing of the old one would make me hesitate to upgrade even though my existing one isn't 4K.

[SonOfKyuss]

Same here. I have a 10 year old Panasonic plasma that still works great. I have it hooked up to an Apple TV. In fact, I prefer this setup to newer smart TVs that have tracking and phone home features built in.

[y-c-o-m-b]

I just bought a second Roku. I have an old Samsung LED TV that doesn't have smart capabilities surprisingly. My first Roku is setup on a projector that also doesn't have "smart" functionality. At $39, I consider the device to be cheap. Plus it works far more reliably than the Google TV horseshit that is installed on my primary "smart" TV. It also comes with support for Jellyfin (streaming app for "home libraries"... aka pirated movies) I have no complaints so far.