Sideloading was basically the main reason people picked Fire Sticks over more locked-down options. Without it, it just becomes another closed streaming box, and a lot of the “power user” appeal disappears.

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xnx 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> Sideloading was basically the main reason people picked Fire Sticks over more locked-down options.

Any advantage to a Firestick over a Chromecast with Google TV?

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hollow-moe 7 hours ago | parent [-]

CCwGTV was discontinued, now there's only the Google TV Streamer thing...

	▲	xnx 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Good point. I guess the Firestick advantage is $35 vs. $80 for Google's box.

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kennethrc 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

"Basically the main reason"?

I can count among my friends and family some 50 Fire Sticks, and we're all happy with them, as they do what they say on the box. We Tech folks (and some more than others) live in a bubble, but the other 99% of the users couldn't care less about this.

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spwa4 9 hours ago | parent [-]

If that's true, then why would Amazon ever care about this?

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mlloyd 7 hours ago | parent [-]

Because those folks don't move the needle on sales. They're buying one, maybe two firesticks and using them OOB. I'd bet a significant portion of sales go to people 'jailbreaking' them and buying in bulk.

	▲	spwa4 7 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Then this would be stupid. Obviously if the product stops doing what people want (jailbreaking, not sure what the scare quotes mean) sales will plummet.