Google TV beats Roku and Fire OS for some pretty simple reasons

In the early days of smart TVs, companies regularly took a swing at their own operating systems, simply because there were no off-the-shelf solutions available. Predictably, the results were disastrous, which is how add-ons like Rokus and Chromecasts gained traction. Badly optimized software was made worse by weak processor technology. I was overjoyed when I plugged in my first Chromecast in 2013 — and that was just as well, since the apps on my 2011 Sharp LCD were abandoned before the decade was out.