Internet stuff: Roku player, streaming, local media, videos, etc.

[KBCraig]

We've had our RokuHD player for a few months now, and it's really nice for watching Netflix instant view on TV instead of the computer. As they've expanded their instant library, we've gone from 6-8 DVDs per month, down to 2 or 3. I think we still have one we got in July.

When I read about the new AppleTV streaming local media (stuff on the computers and devices already on your network) to your TV, I thought it sounded pretty handy. Yeah, I know there have been lots of previous solutions that would let you do the same thing, but most of them involved building (moderately expensive) or buying (very expensive) a home theater PC, and applying lots of geekeration to make it all work. There was the 1st generation AppleTV (not expensive, but not an impulse purchase), but it was confused and kludgy.

At $99, the new AppleTV hits the "why not?" purchase price. It streams Netflix and local media (movies, music, photos) stored on any computer attached to the same network. But, we already have the Roku; could it do the same thing?

Turns out there are a few options for serving local media through the Roku. On most of them, it's a secondary feature, but for Chaneru, it's the main purpose.

The instructions aren't all that clear, but the developer responded within minutes to queries on the support forum. I quickly got everything up and running, and now the movies and TV shows I've either purchased through iTunes, downloaded elsewhere, or ripped from DVDs we own (and converted to M4V), all play flawlessly now. So does my iTunes music collection. I haven't looked at the iPhoto folder, but I trust that works too.

Short version: you have to run a webserver on your local computer, create links in the server root directory to the media you want to see, subscribe to the Chaneru "private channel" through Roku, then you're up and running.

The channel is free for 30 days, then it costs a one-time $10 payment. I like rewarding independent developers who create a specific solution and give great customer service.

It's worth it to me, and then some. I was tired of people watching all our favorite movies (which we own on DVD) every time they came up on the TiVo. And I realized that we do that because it's easier than digging out the DVD and watching it. So now I'm going to put that extra TB of storage to good use and rip all our DVDs to .M4V. So now, we can watch The Fifth Element or The Princess Bride because we want to, not because we stumble across them on some cable channel 15-30 minutes into the movie.

[Pat K]

Have fun ripping the castle!

[KBCraig]

I'll worry about ripping down the castle after I rip through this mountain of DVDs we actually own.

I'm not a big IP guy, but I'm not going to rip rental DVDs.

[Pat K]

Sigh.

[KBCraig]

Sigh.

Don't worry, Oh Large One. I understood your "castle" reference (as should anyone with any movie taste at all). I just wanted to make sure others didn't mis-understand what I was ripping.

[Pat K]

Well, aren't you getting all
paranoid and crotchety.