On #3 you can use jellyfin/plex/emby to manage your content and import it into kodi with plugins (jellyfin for kodi/plex for kodi/etc). This makes the media content portion of kodi MUCH easier as you now can centrally manage it through the superior jellyfin (or whatever) app which is better for administering metadata and utilize kodi which is better which is much better than most jellyfin client apps when you don’t have to worry about managing content libraries.

Especially so when you get a good skin and device that makes the whole thing worthwhile. My primary playback system is kodi + arctic zephyr reloaded but I haven’t evaluated skins in awhile so maybe there’s something new that’s better. The hardware is a ugoos am6b+ flashed with coreelec which afaik is the only thing that can natively play all profiles of Dolby vision correctly which is great bc my primary tv is an lg oled. Having a jellyfin database as the backend means that all my new media just shows up when I start it up and I also have the option for jellyfin client apps on other devices in the home and remotely. It’s the best option all around, though it does have headaches: ugoos locked the bootloader so hdmi cec doesn’t work with power on very well (I just send a wake on Ethernet through home assistant when the tv and avr come on to circumvent this) and there are some other hdmi cec hiccups (it tends to “steal focus” during things like airplay)

This is 100% the response. I work with kids in mental health and the “kick the can to the parents” response is so shortsighted

Apple and android controls aren’t that difficult to understand. Roblox parental controls aren’t that difficult to understand. Could it be simpler by unifying these things under one framework? Sure - I’ve worked with tons of parents who fall under the trap that Roblox is safe because they set iOS parental controls. I feel for them because they aren’t “tech” people and apple conditions them to expect a setting to be universal across the operating system, so it’s quite a shock when they find out their child has been texting with some groomer from Roblox chat.

The parents who are doing that will continue to do that. Improving those controls will help those parents and I agree efforts should be made for them. But for every one of those parents I encounter I get about 4-5 more who don’t bother to set any kind of parental control or filter on their children’s devices. When their 9 year old starts talking about pornhub and I give them resources on setting up parental controls it almost always falls on deaf ears. They simply don’t give a fuck. They can’t be bothered to spend 20 minutes figuring out how to set it up, even if I offer to walk them through it.

It is the new form of parental neglect, the modern version of a latchkey kid

Kodi has this as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if similar functionality was also in plex/emby too

I don’t know if it was the pod8 or what but the idea that you pay several hundred dollars (or more) for hardware to only need a monthly subscription fee to make it actually function is absurd.

Also this is absolutely insane in the currently climate. I would be interested in data from analysis of my “output” but there is not a chance I would trust any company in the modern age to not sell the resultant data. If I develop signs of colon cancer or something is that going to silently impact my insurance rates because of data brokering?

I grabbed a broken 2019 i9 and repaired it. I thought I had fucked up the repair because it kept thermal throttling but after researching a bit and eventually comparing to a known good machine it appears that I did fine and no, it just does that

Garbage design