Is cheap the way to go with streaming? Walmart thinks so.
Do we really need Vudu Spark?
I'm a bit baffled with Walmart.
It seems like every major tech company in the world is releasing some kind of steaming television device. This begs the question, did Walmart need enter the foray as well?
We have the Roku Streaming Stick, the Amazon Fire Stick, and the Google Chromecast, not to mention Apple TV and all the smart TVs that stream on their own. Surely, this is enough for us to choose from.
Seems that the folks at Walmart didn't think so.
Does anyone really need this?
Enter the $25 Vudu Spark, (even the name feels like a rip from the competition, doesn't it?) brought to you by Walmart.
Yup, its cheap. But it's also a piece of junk, and I hope people don't buy it. Unlike the competition, which offers options like Netflix, Hulu Plus and HBO GO as streaming options, the Vudu Spark comes loaded with one singular app: Vudu.
The Vudu app kind of follows the iTunes movie store model whereby users can rent videos and TV episodes. So, you always have to pay.
This is not what people want. Nope, we want a lot of spectacular options for a small monthly fee.
Think about the decline of purchased music due to streaming services like Spotify. Why should we think TV and video are any different? Really, we shouldn't, because they're not.
So, I wonder what the point was of Walmart making this investment. It has the money to take a gamble, but why play the game when you know you have a losing hand?