I'm literally buying new smart plugs today because the manufacturer discontinued the firmware. They're still in perfect condition, and the exact same set up that I've always had. It's extremely frustrating.
I wonder how you'd enforce that though. Sure, for companies that just discontinue a line of products you could force them to open up their code. But what about companies that go under and just fold? Unless someone takes the time to open it up as the company goes under, there is no forcing function that I could think of?
Maybe an escrow of sorts but that seems like a hackers wet dream for proprietary software.
When it comes to streaming devices, nothing beats Apple TV in my opinion.
Outside the Apple TV app itself, the OS has very little ads. The only thing I dislike about it is the lack of Kodi + Google Drive plug in, but Infuse Pro works.
From a media perspective, I am inclined to agree; however, like the article said, the experiences of these devices are getting worse for seemingly no reason. Personally, I'm inclined to believe NVIDIA may not make another device like the shield because of the focus on AI and chips. I'd imagine these devices make little profit compared to all the money being made with the current focus on AI.
I don't really like the lock downed experience of Apple's ecosystem, but the software updates make these devices, particular the Apple TV, better every year.
