Put another nail in the coffin of cable television.
Cell phones have made landlines obsolete. The Internet is gradually doing the same thing to live broadcast television.
Video streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime have set the stage for a world without cable. And the Google Chromecast provides the catalyst for such a change.
While smart TVs already have access to the Internet, the $35 Chromecast essentially gives any television with an HDMI jack the same ability.
The Chromecast is essentially a wireless link between your TV and computer or mobile device. Plug it in and easily stream music or movies from your laptop, tablet or phone.
Chromecast’s strength is its simplicity. Setup takes less than five minutes, which includes downloading the free Chromecast app to your mobile device.
Unfortunately, Chromecast is slightly limited by what you can watch on your mobile device. There are a limited number of services that can use Chromecast, but that list is sure to grow over time.
This allows the device to play off of the strength provided by the booming growth of online streaming. While it’s far from revolutionary, Chromecast only further establishes the shift from cable towards online viewing.