2014-09-11, 16:16
Hi OK so things are moving on and developing and XBMC is no longer XBMC, which is reasonable XBMC has also become a foundation, much like the Mozilla foundation - although maybe not yet as wealthy.
However I think that one of the things I would like to see for the future of XBMC is a move away from the amateur (and often extremely illicit) apps that are supplied via the XBMC community. Fair enough that the XBMC foundation should have a liberal attitude to users supplying these apps, but why should they be an end in themselves?
Currently the majority of XBMC apps are of a very poor quality. Netflix or LoveFilm this isn't. If you only care about stealing movies this system is for you. But if you want quality apps like Flickr, Facebook, Twitter etc, XBMC will disappoint. What apps there are qualify as barely adequate.
I know this started out as amateur project. But people grow up. I was around since before XBMC developers described the possibility of XBMC running on anything more than the original old XBox as "unthinkable".
Illicit apps that download pirated content are fine, I don't really care about this (as this is what most XBMC apps seem to do), but ultimately they may damage the reputation of the foundation, particularly if this is all XBMC does. As strange as it may seem to some people, large numbers of ordinary people are not interested in accessing pirated content. They see themselves as honest and preferring to make honest choices.
So if I were to say what I would like to see as the biggest change for the future, it is the provision of quality apps (and perhaps an app store) in XBMC. You guys might think it's a crazy idea, but I will bet you every last dollar you have if you go to any of these large companies, they will flock to try to help you with development for apps for their platforms (and money too for that matter.)
You already have a vast audience - and next to Microsoft Media centre, XBMC (or Kodi) is probably the most used Media Centre software in the world. Why exactly shouldn't the foundation earn revenue from this, and at the same time vastly improve the XBMC user experience? As what I assume is a charitable foundation there is no limit to the good that could be done with the money that is made.
So as things go, this think is the biggest change I would like to see.
However I think that one of the things I would like to see for the future of XBMC is a move away from the amateur (and often extremely illicit) apps that are supplied via the XBMC community. Fair enough that the XBMC foundation should have a liberal attitude to users supplying these apps, but why should they be an end in themselves?
Currently the majority of XBMC apps are of a very poor quality. Netflix or LoveFilm this isn't. If you only care about stealing movies this system is for you. But if you want quality apps like Flickr, Facebook, Twitter etc, XBMC will disappoint. What apps there are qualify as barely adequate.
I know this started out as amateur project. But people grow up. I was around since before XBMC developers described the possibility of XBMC running on anything more than the original old XBox as "unthinkable".
Illicit apps that download pirated content are fine, I don't really care about this (as this is what most XBMC apps seem to do), but ultimately they may damage the reputation of the foundation, particularly if this is all XBMC does. As strange as it may seem to some people, large numbers of ordinary people are not interested in accessing pirated content. They see themselves as honest and preferring to make honest choices.
So if I were to say what I would like to see as the biggest change for the future, it is the provision of quality apps (and perhaps an app store) in XBMC. You guys might think it's a crazy idea, but I will bet you every last dollar you have if you go to any of these large companies, they will flock to try to help you with development for apps for their platforms (and money too for that matter.)
You already have a vast audience - and next to Microsoft Media centre, XBMC (or Kodi) is probably the most used Media Centre software in the world. Why exactly shouldn't the foundation earn revenue from this, and at the same time vastly improve the XBMC user experience? As what I assume is a charitable foundation there is no limit to the good that could be done with the money that is made.
So as things go, this think is the biggest change I would like to see.