[Fire TV General] harlekinrains:
Thank you for your response. In absence of a much larger and more profound standing on why Plex should still be considered a contender, I found a much more elaborate list of excuses (I respect some of them but they are few and far in between - I will come to that later, I much less respect the people feigning expertise in the following article) which you can look at here: http://www.htpcbeginner.com/plex-vs-kodi-comparison-guide/2/

Now let me introduce you to a very strange concept. The concept, that the 35 USD pricepoint (which might be the only reason you got me interested in the discussion side of things in the first place - because its not the functionality that is new (I've used Kodi now for the better part of a decade) it is the pricepoint) changes the whole proposition.

If the satellite device that is capable of containing and managing the entire database - and doing all the heavy lifting of decoding and playback - costs less than the annual electricity bill for keeping a home server running (which is the entire mantra of the Plex ecosystems), maybe its time to rethink positions.

Because while the Plex followers argument is, that everything can access our home server and if we pay a fee (Personal clouds that get wider connectivity via a service fee are promoted by literally every one of the still producing harddrive manufacturers, allthough not many people are biting), we can carry this access around with us, on all kinds of devices --

the argument for the FIre TV is that - you can carry it around anyway - without any sort of structural dependencies (that arent self inflicted). The same goes for your phone, or tablet. Why not run the logic directly on those devices - they are more than capable - so the only thing that renders them to become "dumb terminals" is the manufacturers policy (I.e. the iPad Air 2 is so powerful, because we planed on selling you on the update with the functionality later - hope you enjoy).

So at one point this all becomes a discussion about control - and that whoever owns the "home server" (and the service you are paying for) can make the rules., because we want to artificially dumb down the satellites. So that they can not exist on their own (or at least not without a service contract).

This is the idea of central command and control - which brings with it positives like - access restrictions, parental control, but also "streamed bookmarks" for example.

There is something to be said about the idea of owning your data, and running and maintaining your own servers its just, that today already - every informed consumer can plug in a harddrive into his router, carry a 35 USD Mediacenter around and install the same software that drives all that onto a smartphone he or she most certainly owns as well. There also is no service dependency and each device is intelligent enough on its own, that the "central brain" isn't needed anymore. If one of the devices wants to become a host - it becomes a host. If you unplug it and throw it to a friend - he/she can then use it at their home, without losing any of the functionality.

I can gift you a fully fledged media center for the price of a DVD boxset (Yes, DVD ;) ... boxset).

And in this world - Plex looks more and more like your grandfather that is hitting on you for money.

(I dont think Bookmark streaming is an especially compelling point, but it is a valid one - the same thing goes for "owning your data" - its the centralized storage and playback device, all of your other hardware needs to access that becomes a thing of the past. And sadly thats the only functionality Plex has made its selling point on).

Also there is the issue of Plex playing ball with all those interests that arent user facing. Making deals that are detrimental to those interests. Proclaiming that "Plex knows best" and you will want to pay for "a more curated experience". While in return not even providing content. But only a gateway.