In memory of the Chromecast
Yesterday, Google killed the Chromecast line and replaced it with a more traditional streaming box, the Google TV Streamer 4K moving the popular plug-and-play dongle line to the infamous Google Graveyard.
To be fair though, the fourth and last generation of Chromecasts were traditional streaming boxes with remotes and everything anyway.
So, let us remember the decade-long life of the Chromecast.
The dawn of the Chromecast (2013)
In 2008, the first Chromecast engineer, Majd Bakar noticed the way his wife, Carla, would start a movie on their TV. Bakar said in an interview on Google’s blog, “She would go to her laptop to pick a movie using a streaming service, add it to her queue, and then close the laptop. Then, she’d open the movie on her gaming device. I used to watch her and think, ‘This is really hard ... Why do you do that?’”
It turned out that TV interfaces back then (and even now to a certain extent) were very unfriendly. They were slow, clunky and difficult to use. They had dozens of buttons sprinkled around the remote, controlling a few essential functions, for example turning on and off the TV, changing video source or adjusting volume, and also numerous, obsolete functions like recording live broadcasts, changing and live TV channels or accessing “smart functions” on live TV.
This inspired Bakar to join Google in 2011 to create “products that would change how people used their TVs”. He pitched the Chromecast idea, and in 2013, the first generation of the Chromecast was released.
Simplicity
Chromecast was very well-received for the very same reason that Bakar and Carla created it. It was a simple, cheap $35 dongle that did absolutely nothing but put video from your smartphone or computer onto the big screen.
All it needed was a HDMI port and a power socket.
Chromecast Audio (2015)
The next three generations did more-or-less the same job, but the Chromecast Audio was probably the most interesting product in the Chromecast line.
It did exactly what the regular Chromecast did but for speakers.
This was, of course before the days of the Google Home (now Google Nest) smart speaker; I suspect the reason why there was only a single iteration was that the Google Home speakers replaced this interesting little device’s job.
Chromecast Ultra (2016) and Google Stadia (2019)
In 2018, Google launched the closed beta of a cloud game-streaming service called Google Stadia which was released in 2019. It was a futuristic vision of a replacement to the traditional game console, where all your games would be in the cloud and you could access them and your in-game progress in a matter of seconds on any internet-connected device.
One of these was the Chromecast Ultra.
Released as part of the second generation of the Chromecast, Chromecast Ultra was a beefed-up version of the regular Chromecast. Google boasted support for 4K resolution and HDR10 content as well as faster loading speeds. But the most interesting thing about this device was that it was one of the first devices the Stadia team decided to support. Of course, it’s reasonable given that the faster loading speeds might help the game experience and that the big screen was a prime target for Stadia.
The user experience was rather simple as well. If you had a Stadia controller as well as the Chromecast Ultra, you could link the two (by entering a code with the controller) for the ultimate big screen experience.
Now, Google Stadia has long been discontinued, personally I think it is a shame, but it is still quite a fascinating story in the life of the Chromecast.
Chromecast with Google TV (2020 & 2022)
For the fourth generation of the Chromecast, Google diverged from the Chromecast formula and created the first set-top box “Chromecast” if it could be described as one: instead of a simple device relying on a smartphone for casting content, it had a remote to navigate through content on-device.
Of course, it makes it easier for some users to watch their content, but it does ruin the minimalistic appeal of the Chromecast. With a traditional Chromecast, all user profiles, watch history, streaming service accounts, etcetera are on the user’s smartphone, which means that they are perfect for letting other people use, for example to choose a movie when they come over.
Interestingly, the two variants seemed to supplement the traditional third-generation Chromecasts (as well as Chromecast Ultra) instead of directly replacing them, but it was a sign of the beginning of the end.
The ending (2024)
In 2024, the Chromecast line was replaced with the Google TV Streamer, due to competition from cheaper set-top boxes, and for whatever reason, the people at Google didn’t believe the Chromecast have much of a market left.
But I believe there will always be a market for a plug-and-forget dongle that streams content from your phone to your TV.
To put it another way, it’s one less remote to lose.