Data collection

In case you haven't noticed, there are ads on this Website. Yeah, I know. You noticed. You can't help but notice. And that led into my thinking about data collection.

You see, those ads may be customized with you in mind. Oh, I'm not doing that. Google places the ads, and Google picks what the ads are for. I do have the option to request certain ads not be shown, or suggest other ads that may be shown, but I don't do that. I leave it entirely up to Google. Why? They do this for a living, and are making a shipload of money doing it. They're the professionals, and I'm fine with them handling all the ads.

The cookies and other data that Google collects along the way is part of how they determine what ads to show you, but I don't get that data. I don't know if it's available to me, but I don't really care. I'm not in the data collection business.

If you leave a comment, the form asks you to log in with a Google account. And that's stuff that Google collects.

If you use the "Ask A Question" form, it does ask for a name and email address, but that isn't in any database that I have access to. I do get an email with the information, and when they arrive, I read them, and if I want to address what they wrote, I'll write up a post, then I'll delete the email. I don't store the data.

Oh, and in case you haven't noticed, I have a notice about being an Amazon affiliate. That means that if I link to something on Amazon that qualifies for commission, and you use the link and make a purchase, I'll get a small commission. But I don't get the data. Amazon does. And they keep it. I'm not in the data collection business.

Sure, if the ads on the Website show something in which you have an interest, and if you make a purchase, I'll get a little bit of money. And if the products to which I link earn a commission (not all do, by the way), I'll get a little bit of money. I like collecting money. But I don't collect data. Google does and Amazon does.

Data collection is not my interest. Streaming is. I'm here to share my experiences, thoughts, and suggestions about how to improve your Streaming Life. That is my my interest.

Roku and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad USB Power Cable with Long-range Wi-Fi Receiver

I've been a Roku user for quite some time. In the early days, there was no Roku stick. They eventually introduced one that connected via an MHL port. That's another long story that we won't cover today, but just know that you couldn't take that stick and expect it to work on most TVs today.

In March 2014, Roku introduced their model 3500 HDMI Streaming Stick (to differentiate between the MHL-based stick for the old "Roku Ready" TVs, which is another long story). I got one of those, because I liked the idea of a stick. It was kinda meh. Heck, it was a lot meh.

In April 2016, Roku upped their game with an update, the model 3600 stick. It was better than the 3500 by quite a bit, but by then, I was used to the speed of a Roku 3, meaning the 3600 stick, while an improvement, was still kinda meh.

In October 2017, Roku released the 3800 Streaming Stick and the 3810 Streaming Stick+. Finally, Roku had a good stick. At least the 3810 Streaming Stick+ was good. I never used the 3800. But I liked the 3810 so much that I replaced all the Roku 3 devices, which were beginning to show their age, with the Streaming Stick+. I didn't replace any Roku Ultra devices, just the older ones.

In 2021, Roku introduced the 3820 Streaming Stick 4K and the 3821 Streaming Stick 4K+. I didn't run out and buy one, but decided to see how well they worked based on others. My Streaming Stick+ devices were good and didn't need replacing, so I was in no hurry.

Research showed they were actually the same device, but came with different remotes in the box. Same processor, same memory, same storage, same everything except the remote. I got my hands on a Streaming Stick 4K+ and tested it. I really liked it, so I bought a Streaming Stick 4K for my own use, replacing a Roku Premiere+ (3921).

So, all is well, right?

No. Not by a long shot.

It turns out that the stick I love so much has good WiFi because of a fancy-schmancy cable that has a WiFi receiver built in. And some of them are going bad. Well, a lot of them. High number, but likely a low percentage. But enough to make it a pain for a lot of people.

Roku sells replacement cables for the 3800/3810. And they're out of stock. And have been out of stock. And no estimate on when they'll be back in stock. If ever.

Roku has really dropped the ball on this one. Now, sure, most of the sticks work fine. Only a small percentage have issues. But a small percentage of a large number can itself be a large number. And that's what seems to be going on.

If you have a Roku stick, and it works, and you're happy, great. If you are thinking about getting a stick, I can say that mine all work great. But that cable issue really bothers me, enough so that I won't recommend a stick.

Yes, I bought a stick recently, and like it. But I don't have a problem spending my own money and dealing with a bad decision. I don't want to cause someone else to spend their money based on my recommendation then they regret the decision. I want your Streaming Life to be free of trouble. Roku is making that difficult.

Live TV streaming on Amazon Fire TV

Recently Roku added a Live TV section to their main menu. While it does bring something that Roku users haven't had before, it pales in comparison to what Amazon Fire TV has with their setup.

Roku's is pretty much content from the Roku Channel, along with selections from some live streaming services. Yeah, that's a description of what Amazon Fire TV offers, but the details are different.

The only real live TV guide is actually within the Roku Channel. If you have Pluto TV, or Xumo, or Sling TV Free, or any of a number of other free live streaming apps, you won't find them in one place. And where it does have links to other services, it's simply links to those apps, whether or not you have them installed. You'll see in a minute why I bring this up.

Again, Roku's Live TV section is not as useful to me as Amazon Fire TV's. So let's see what I like about Amazon's setup.

The Fire TV section for live TV is called "On Now," which actually is a good description when you think about it. There is a guide that brings in many channels (not all) from services you have, not services they suggest.

Remember when I said that Roku has links to apps whether or not you have them installed? Amazon only lists content from apps you have installed, and have configured to work with the On Now functionality.

After you launch the On Now guide, pressing the Menu button on the remote lets you configure the service. You can add or remote services (actually hide or show the source) and arrange them. And within each service, you can pick and choose which of the available channels show up in the On Now guide. I like that approach much better.

You can even select favorites, and they'll be listed at the top, regardless of the order of the services selected. The favorites will still show up within the sections for each service. Oh, and if you pick a channel as a favorite in two different services -- there is some overlap on these services, after all -- they will show up twice.

When you select the content to view, it does open the corresponding app, but unlike Roku, it only picks from installed apps. And with content from multiple services all in one place, it is far superior to Roku's offering.

If you've read many of these posts, you know I'm in the Roku camp when it comes to a primary streaming app. Regarding this type of feature, however, Fire TV is far ahead of Roku. If this is important to you, and you have a hard time deciding between Fire TV and Roku, this may be the factor to push you to the Amazon Fire TV camp, and have that platform as the basis of your Streaming Life.

My favorite live streaming service

If I had to pick one live streaming service, what would I pick?

That's a trick question. Because I don't have a live streaming service. That means my favorite is none.

Well, sometimes it's none. Other times it's not. So why is that?

I don't watch TV the same way year-round. And you probably don't either. I mean, think about it. Do you watch TV in December the same way you watch TV in May? Or July?

In December, I'm more likely to be in a situation where the TV is on and Hallmark Christmas movies are playing. But not so much in July. Plus, I watch college football, so my TV viewing during the fall and winter months isn't the same as in spring and summer.

The point is that I don't watch TV the same year-round. And, as a result, I don't need the same TV setup year-round.

With me, the only live streaming I really care about is college football. With you, it may be something else. But with me, from early September until early January, I subscribe to a live streaming service that gets me college football. Then I cancel, because I don't need it the rest of the year. I don't need it, so I don't pay for it.

Maybe you could save some money by not subscribing to a service you don't need. Do you need Netflix year-round? Could you get by subscribing for a month, canceling for a month, subscribing for a month, canceling for a month, and so on? If so, you just cut your Netflix bill in half. Let that sink in.

The point is that I don't watch TV the same year-round, so no one way works for me year-round. I certainly don't have a live streaming service year-round. So, to answer the original question of which is my favorite live streaming service? The answer is none. Because I don't need nor do I want a year-round live streaming service in my Streaming Life.