(2017-07-16, 01:29)scott967 Wrote: (2017-07-14, 02:41)MetalChris Wrote: (2017-07-14, 00:06)Mercury Wrote: i have a hard time believing that i'm the only one who wouldn't welcome more streamlined integration with streaming services like netflix, and the Kodi library, even if i'm the only one on this thread apparently ;-)
You're not the only one. I'd like to be able to ditch my Roku and use Kodi for Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc. But as has been stated, those companies don't really want to be part of Kodi. They want you to use their app, on their chosen platforms only. Perhaps in the future this might change, but for now, this is where we are.
This I believe is the main point why a "commercial" Kodi wouldn't be some breakthrough OP wants. The streaming business model is based on locking the user into a platform so that ads can be pushed to or personal data pulled from the user (if the content is free you are the content). There's no incentive for streamers to lose control over the front-end to Kodi, open source or commercial.
scott s.
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It makes sense from a business standpoint for streaming services to push their own front-end instead of outsourcing to Kodi, or even supporting Kodi implementing it on their own. Businesses want to control the asset OR they want to partner up with a liable party to do it for them if they feel they can get the edge in that way. No sensible business would partner up with an open source platform because there is no way to control that asset.
What I "think" would be beneficial, is a front end based on Kodi, that can be commercialized and that can partner up with streaming services already out there, and be liable to it's partners. Kodi is just a piece of software, to be a real "product" it need to be bundled with content and hardware. Plug and play. Even if you DO allow for the option for people to use their own hardware, and their own content, the mainstream markets will want plug and play.
Just to be clear here... I love Kodi, I've been using and toying around with Kodi for years, if i thought there was something better out there i could pay to have, I would just buy it, but there isn't. Nothing would please me more than to see a plug and play product that actually does what people generally want, based on Kodi. I'm not a contributor to Kodi for lack of skill and time, but I would like to find a way to get Kodi out there, being a true player in the market. I know others are doing this, I also know many of them are doing so illegally, and that fact alone insures that they will never scale their products to actually be recognized as a major player in the market, and basically just end up giving Kodi a bad rep.
I would also like to stress that, contrary to popular opinion, my main motivation is NOT to bank on the Kodi devteam's effort. My main motivation is to make Kodi better by making it the best, most user friendly and headache free experience as humanly possible. And that requires maintenance, liability, people being "on call", and leverage in the market to close deals and form partnerships, in short, it requires money, more money than anyone would have to spend on something that can't be self sustaining, so it needs to be self sustaining, it needs to be commercial.
So my question boils down to this... CAN someone bundle a modified version of Kodi with a plug and play product and a streaming based subscription service, or can't one? Can the front end still be called Kodi, as in "powered by Kodi" or can't it?
