The Vergecast

The history of Roku and the fight over CarPlay

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Today on the flagship podcast of dedicated streaming hardware: 

We try out a couple of show formats we’ve been planning for a while. 

In Version History, we tell the story of the Roku Netflix Player, debate its legacy, and try to decide whether this thing belongs in the Version History Hall of Fame. 

  • From Fast Company: Inside Netflix’s Project Griffin: The Forgotten History Of Roku Under Reed Hastings
  • From CNBC: How Roku used the Netflix playbook to rule streaming video
  • From CNN: Netflix Player offers PC-free movie watching
  • From Wired: Review: Roku Netflix Set Top Box Is Just Shy of Totally Amazing
  • From The New York Times: Why the Roku Netflix Player Is the First Shot of the Revolution


    • After that, it’s time for debates. Nilay Patel and David Pierce yell at each other about who should own the screens in your car. Are CarPlay and Android Auto the answer, the solution to universally crappy automaker software?

    • Car companies haven’t figured out if they’ll let Apple CarPlay take over all the screens
    • The rest of the auto industry still loves CarPlay and Android Auto
    • Everybody hates GM’s decision to kill Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for its EVs
    • Rivian CEO says CarPlay isn’t going to happen
    • Apple’s fancy new CarPlay will only work wirelessly


      • Later, David answers a question from The Vergecast Hotline about political spam texts.

      • From The Washington Post: How to stop receiving spam texts
      • From PCMag: Stop Robotexts: How to Block Smishing and Spam Text Messages


        • Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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