Roku Rocks

Spending a weekend in San Francisco is not only relaxing, but first and foremost inspiring. People are more colorful, streets are more lively, and technology is simply cutting edge (Sorry Houston, you lose out on this one big time!). The latest find, thanks to Ibu's and Tim's lovely Kasbah, was a Roku device.

What does it do? It allows you to stream Netflix movies directly onto your TV, anytime, no mail or CD involved. The little Roku box is $99.99, and all you need is two things: (a) a decent Internet connection, and (b) a Netflix subscription for unlimited DVDs... the cheapest plan for $8.99 a month will suffice.

You can find the Roku manufacturer information here, and the Netflix information here.

Instead of watching movies on your TV, you can, of course, also use your computer instead. In this case, no Roku box is required, but an unlimited Netflix DVD subscription is still a must! Either which way, enjoy the next generation of TV home entertainment.

As an add-on and a word of caution: Just talked to Lakshmi, our recent grad student, about her experiences with downloading Netflix movies directly. While the downloads go very fast, the spectrum of movies available is not as rich as it seems--they typically do not comprise recent blockbusters... I guess Netflix will take care of this over time...