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Good article.
I wish Nvidia made a launcher without all the ads. Google/Android TV is not bad per se, but then you get ads, and slowdowns... and I just can't be arsed and I go back to Apple TV. (I don't own a Shield. I have Google/Android TV on my Hisense TV.) Unless it's YouTube, then it's the MacBook (because Firefox + uBlock Origin).
The latest Shield is $200 and it's from 2019. I'm thinking a better buy would be a gently used M1 Mac Mini. That will have 256GB storage, 8GB RAM, and I bet it kicks the shit out of the Shield. It's actually unfair to compare a Shield to a whole ass computer but that's what I'm doing. I would get a handheld keyboard/trackpad thing from Amazon for like $20 and control it with that. Set up the overscan, set up a not-admin account with no password, and an admin account with a password. Make the Dock as big as possible, and put Firefox front and center. And maybe some emulators. And the usual, stuff like GamePass, Nvidia GeForce Now, etc. Stuff you'd want on your TV. But like Netflix and shit? Probably best to just go through Firefox.
In the words of Luis Guzman's character in the 2002 film The Count of Monte Cristo, "how is this a bad plan?"
First and foremost, it doesn’t matter at all that it was made in 2019. It plays every video I’ve ever thrown at it and it’s still getting updates.
Second, it’s very easy to replace the launcher, as already mentioned in the thread.
Third, a general purpose computer would almost certainly be more powerful in absolute terms, it would also be much worse in terms of usability for the specific purpose of playing videos and acting like a tv appliance. I’ve used HTPCs before and worked very hard at making them comfortable to use with a TV. No matter how hard I tried, they were always clunky. As soon as I got the shield, I never contemplated using an htpc again.
True — a good set-top box will usually be easier to use than a computer.
But, the point should be made, they're all computers. tvOS, on the Apple TV, shares a lot of code with iOS, which itself is derived from macOS, which goes back to UNIX (via OS X and NeXTStep before that). On the Android side, of course, all Android devices are running some form of Android, but Android TV devices are using a special launcher for TVs. The remote is typically just a Bluetooth device.
My point makes the most sense on Linux because it's a modular OS. It should be possible to use a desktop environment that favours couch control. In fact, Steam OS has such a thing, Big Picture mode. That's not a proper desktop environment though, it's just a program that is launched, but it's good enough for what it's for.
System 7 (Mac OS Classic, before the UNIX/NeXTStep stuff) had At Ease, which was aimed at kids in classrooms, but was sort of a "10'/3m interface". So it was possible in the old, old Mac OS. It's probably possible now. In fact, I'm pretty sure Big Picture mode, in Steam, exists on the macOS version.
Then of course you have things like Plex and Kodi which are designed to be 10'/3m interfaces used in computers. There's also EmulationStation which is bundled with Raspberry Pi emulation setups, but it's also available on its own. There are definitely ways to go about it.
But sure, a curated system like a Shield or Apple TV is going to be a little easier, but you're also going to have to deal with its limitations, like for example ads in YouTube. Of course you can pay that problem away... every month... without end. And it'll go up every year or two.
ProjectIvy launcher is super easy to install and set as default.
Why would they waste their time when there are already ad-free launchers that no one cares about?
You're not getting a M1 Mac Mini for $200. Best case scenario you're paying double.
Mac Mini would make a terrible TV box.