Chromecast: What It Is And What It Isn’t

It wasn’t a surprise when Google unveiled their follow up to the Nexus 7 tablet with a better display. It was, however, a shock when they announced Chromecast. A $35 TV dongle meant to receive content thrown at it from phones, tablets, and computers, Chromecast potentially has “disruption” written all over it.

The obvious comparison that comes to mind is Apple’s Airplay. A streaming technology built into Apple TV which allows you instantly stream something from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to your television. Chromecast and Airplay provide a similar experience, but comparing the $35 Chromecast device to a $99 Apple TV is misleading and where the comparison ends.

Currently both devices provide different experiences aimed at different people with needs that only slightly overlap. Chromecast is a solution for Google’s movie store. It’s a fix for Chromebooks (or windows laptops) needing to project a slideshow. It’s a stopgap to hopefully something much more encompassing coming in the future. It’s a lot of things, especially with the ability to be fairly hackable and extendable, but it’s not a replacement for Apple TV, or even Roku. For one, why are photos missing from being able to be ‘cast’ to the TV? Mostly, though, Chromecast not having some built-in, dedicated, content sources keeps it from being a must-have for routines built around Netflix or movies from the Play store.

Chromecast isn’t particularly difficult to set up or use, but someone who isn’t looking for the exact solution the device fixes will most likely be disappointed. More likely though, they’ll end up letting Chromecast sit, unused, taking up an HDMI port. Someone in need of “casting” specific things to a television will see $35 as a steal and the answer to their problems.