This is why I keep insisting that Kodi (and other open source “media center” solutions) really only work for people dedicatedly ripping their own large collection of physical content, or for pirates.

I would kill for an all in one, “single pane of glass” way to browse and watch even just only my legally obtained media library (personally ripped discs amd multiple streaming services). But at absolute best I still have content from different sources all squirelled away in their own separate menus, and if I use something like Kodi for the rips I’m stuck at 720p for streaming (assuming the unofficial plugin for Netflix decides to work that day).

And not even proprietary closed source stuff gets it right. With a chromecast dongle (or whatever they’ve relabeled it now) at best I can search for a specific piece of content from the main menu, and then it’s a crapshoot if say, the Amazon Prime content found by the search is included with my sub or a separate cost. It’s a crapshoot if the “link” will just open the associated app or actually take me to the fucking content in the associated app.

I don’t get why these streaming services think people care about the brand at all. The less I have to think about the service itself, the more likely I am to ignore how infrequently I use it. The more I have to deal with friction getting to the content, the more I have time to think about if the subscription is even worth the cost.