Dan Nosowitz writing for Popular Science:

The interesting thing about the Chromecast is that it isolates a single feature found in some other streaming TV products, eliminates everything else, and cuts the price and size down. Apple TV has a Chromecast in it, essentially, but the Chromecast eliminates 90 percent of what the Apple TV can do and cuts the price by two-thirds. Google thinks that one feature, the slinging feature, is enough to carry its product.

The first thing I thought of when I heard about the Chromecast was how weird it would be to use it with guests over. What is everyone else doing while you’re browsing around on your tablet? Are they crowding around you? Are they making suggestions from across the room, with no context as to what applications you are browsing  or what direction you’re heading in terms of content provider, genre, etc.?

But, Dan nailed it when he said “Google also has a spectacularly lousy history of supporting its TV products.” Is this going to be just another product that Google ceases development of?

If you want a cheap internet streaming device for your TV, just buy a Roku or an Apple TV. You’ll be a lot happier and avoid getting caught up in Chromecast’s eventual train wreck (which already appears to have begun).

(Via The Loop.)