TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Netflix Player

The Netflix Player by Roku is the first product that allows subscribers to have movies and TV shows from the service’s Instant Viewing feature (aka “Watch Now”) to be streamed directly to their TV screen.

It’s difficult not to see the value in this model — for a $99 initial cost for the box, and for $9 a month, you can watch on your TV any movie Netflix has available online.

It’s an attractive proposition, but I am not convinced a subscription-based system is a better choice than Apple’s model. I simply don’t rent that many movies a month.

It might make sense for others, but what makes the AppleTV a better choice is that it is a complete solution. AppleTV doesn’t just stream movies from a service; it can play your videos, stream movies or TV shows from the best media store, stream your music, and your photos seamlessly to your home entertainment center.

And there’s another part of being a “complete solution” that is often overlooked: it’s enjoyable to use. You will want to use it, rather than just tolerate it, like you will any of its competitors — and that’s if you can get them to work consistently with your PC and network in the first place.

The AppleTV is easy to set up, is a joy to use, and plays all of your media. It is a complete solution, and its competitors simply aren’t. That is convincing.