I think GP's point was specifically Google's famous history of starting projects and then shutting them down within a few years. Old Rokus still work. My Roku 3600 is eight years old.
My old Roku is now so sluggish and slow, it's a paper weight and I had to buy a new one.
All consumer electronics are designed to be disposable. GP's point was a grievance with consumer electronics at large, not Google's. What other consumer electronics allow you to replace the OS with your own, or receive infinite updates forever? Zero.
Chromecast lasted for a decade, and is "dead" only in name. None of GP's statement is on-point for a typical "Google kills things all the time" complaint.
If we're going to throw shade at Google, make sure it's about legitimate things.
Re:Google Cache Is Fully Dead
by seabrookmx on Tuesday September 24, 2024 @06:47PM
(#41641796)
So do old Chromecast's.
My Chromecast is 11 years old and still works fine. Sometimes YouTube thinks it can try playing back the higher bitrate 4k version of a video and it'll get choppy but I've never had issues with 1080p content.
My older Roku 2 is effectively unusable as most apps are just outrageously sluggish and videos often crash loading.
> And when it's a brick, what are the chances I can wipe it and install my own software on it? Probably zero.
Will you have no trouble buying a Roku or Amazon Fire Stick though?
Those are also paper weights once the company decides to stop supporting them - and I'm not aware of any consumer electronics that allows you to install your own software on it.
Seems like a strange swipe at Google, even though your complaints apply to all of these devices regardless of brand.
For what it's worth - Google's latest phones, Pixel 9, boast 7 years of updates and support.