The future is streaming

If you grew up in the 1990s, then you would know that you got the best of both worlds — the television shows and music of the 1970s and 1980s, thanks to the arrival of Cable TV, the entertainment that was trendy in the final decade of the 20th century, and of course, the wait for the disruption that was Y2K. 

During this period, many of us downloaded music illegally using programmes such as Napster, which eventually gave way to Torrents until production companies, governments and the mughals came together to understand that online piracy was a thing, which then resulted in experts pondering what came next.

For a while, it was buying several 1TB devices and dumping movies and music in them, and watching our movies and listening to our favourite songs on our computers. But then came the smart TV, and we had the opportunity of watching these shows on a larger screen with a big-screen experience.

Eventually, with the arrival of original web shows on Netflix, Amazon Prime and HotStar, there came the need for proper streaming devices that could connect our computers to our televisions so that we could have the perfect viewing experience. Google came out with Chromecast, Amazon has Fire, Apple has Apple TV (but this is primarily for Mac enthusiasts), and there is Roku from the makers of PVR. 

From these, Fire and Chromecast are the ones that sell in India. Fundamentally, Amazon Fire TV Stick and Google Chromecast are different devices, as Chromecast depends on your smartphone for streaming content. Both can stream in 1080p.

Unlike Chromecast, Amazon Prime doesn't depend on your phone and just needs a WiFi signal to connect.  

So which one should you buy? It depends on your loyalties, really. But one thing’s for certain. With streaming devices teaming up with companies such as Netflix and Amazon Prime to show the latest movies at nominal charges.

Hotstar charges Rs 199 per month for Premier content, while Netflix, although costlier at Rs 650 per month is still cheaper and more reliable than dish TV services, which puts cable operators in a fix.

If they are to survive, cable operators need to come out with a disruptive alternative before another career goes down the drain.