I actually keep my streaming apps down to the bare minimum on my Roku. I delete the default YouTube, Netflix or Disney streaming apps, as honestly, they're too expensive and designed to be too addictive. I even go as far as tape over the 'Advertiser Supported Four' streaming buttons on my Roku remote (as seen to the right)! I use my own Plex media server to serve up my own media libraries and act as a DVR for my pair of HD Homeruns (with a simple roof antenna!) to serve up all the usual national broadcast TV suspects.

A Caveat:

I will admit I've become addicted to the dedicated streaming broadcast 'fan channels' that show endless show-after-show of the same stuff (mostly recycled): This Old House, Tiny Nation, and Tastemade have all become select favorites. I look forward to 'The West Wing' and 'The Wire' getting their own channels. The very limited selection of loud advertisers that berate these channels with their repeated ads can go to hell; Lately, it's MAGA advertisers spending bad money on an uninterested audience. But, I'm getting off topic...

I believe we should all support our local Libraries, and the wide breadth of services they offer. Yes, you can borrow books. But with the internet, you can borrow digital books and not even leave the house. Your local library also has movies (like on DVD!), and its own streaming app that thankfully is Ad free. It provides quality, thoughtful entertainment that can be enjoyed on your TV, mobile phones, tablets and online:

Kanopy

You'll have to find it in your local App store, and it's got a very plain logo. When downloaded to your streaming device, it'll go through the usual user authentication every app has nowadays - you'll need to type your special 4-digit code into a web browser.

Wait, I don't have a Library Card!

Thankfully, Kanopys' online signup is painless, and they will even help you find your local library, and show you a link to go sign up and get the required Library Card and PIN number. Took less than 2 minutes, and I was back on Kanopys' site with fresh Free Library of Philadelphia digits and a brand new streaming service on my Roku!

It's home screen is yet-another-streaming-service layout, and the breadth of content doesn't have recent content. But if you're looking for a nostalgia trip of the movie you saw as a kid, it's probably on here and available to stream. Most modern streaming services rotate these types of movies in and out of availability to make their limited selection seem 'fresh' and 'always new'.

Got kids? Let them run free in this video app, knowing it's got a Kids section and it's probably safe of weird propaganda. The video is surprisingly well encoded (not just some bulk job), where I noted the limited dynamic range of older movies wasn't lost in video compression, and was impressed with low-light scenes that often don't stream well.

Considering that 1 out of 5 American's are illiterate, and that includes Ex-President Trump (Feel free to check both those stats...), we are heading (gladly) toward Idiocracy the future reality. The death of the local Library will be the death knell of this inevitable future. You can prevent this by getting a Library card, as the more citizens they serve (and have on record), the bigger budget they get to benefit your local neighborhood. It's pretty obvious math, but that's how (good) Government's work.

Finally, I can't let a blog post about Libraries go by without mentioning my local West Philly Tool Library where anyone can borrow that tool you need for the one project, but don't want to buy it and never use it again.