In 2022, I upgraded to a new M2 iPad Pro, finally saying goodbye to my trusty 2018 model. Instead of trying to sell my old iPad out of hand, I traded it in at Apple's store for a tidy sum. Looking around the place, the only thing that stood out to me was the Apple TV 4K 3rd Generation. I usually would not want to spend that much on a streaming box, but as far as I was concerned, this was free money with no specific purpose, and I could only spend it as store credit anyway.
Almost four years later, it turns out my little Apple streaming box was not only a genuine bargain despite the high upfront cost, but it's actually gotten better over the years, which is not something I can say about the Fire TV and Roku options.
Fire TV and Roku have become advertising platforms
If you're not the customer, you're the product
I wrote some time ago that Microsoft Windows made it feel like I didn't own my computer. Instead, it's a billboard I pay to have in my house, so a big company can make additional money from me. In fact, I'm starting to feel that advertisers are the real customers, and user attention is the product.
That's also become true for Fire TV, Roku, and frankly, even major smart TV brands like LG. You pay for the hardware and streaming subscriptions, and still there are ads pushed at you from all over the interface. This very year of 2026, our friends over at…