Review: Crackle.com
So I browse the ads on my PS3, as it is wont to do, and it offers me tv shows - specifically anime - on Crackle in the browser. So I fire it up, I have nothing to lose, right?
First off, the browser on a PS3 is kinda wonky. But they're advertising it as working. It sorta works - except after the last security update I can't seem to tell the browser I want it to run flash. It keeps asking, 'want to run plugin?' which is the stupidest security question, because it doesn't tell me what plugin, nor what website the plugin is running for. So I can't really give them an answer that is secure or not secure.
But the website? Sure, it's got Anime. It's got movies. A few of each, anyhow. Instead of showing the graphic for the series or movie poster or dvd cover, it shows a scene from the show itself. Be great if the icons weren't tiny. Then instead of showing a title graphic, it shows the category graphic - basically their ad they're running. You can click on each to show a graphic related to the series or movie title, but you'd have to do that each time.
You can sort-of browse their titles by clicking on a double-arrow in the corner. But if you click on any of the titles, the list at the bottom goes back to the beginning of the list. Also, the shows are sorted in sortof a last-in-first out, so some blocks are in order of air, some are in order of when-they were uploaded. And they're sorted by episode title. So unless you know the shows fairly well, you haven't a clue what actual series they're offering you. And the episodes/seasons aren't numbered or even dated. You don't know when they're from or when they aired or when they'll expire from Crackle. Browsing is terrible. Every time you click on something it reloads the ad - which thankfully might not be the same one - before telling you anything about the show. So you see the same ad every time you click, every time you're trying to see what episode in the list you're looking at.
And I did try this on my computer - it started to load, but erred out in both Safari and Chrome.
Oh, and watching episodes? They're pretty low-res, even for TV shows. Their feature stuff is okay, but it's a blurry 480, generally. Better image of TV shows on Netflix, as it happens, since many of the same shows are available there to compare.
I'm really glad more companies are getting into the streaming biz. Let the services win or lose based on their service, not behind the scenes handshakes without consumer preference.
But Crackle? It's not ready for prime-time. But if you don't have Netflix... Crackle is the same level as Hulu+, without the ability to find shows by series readily. Netflix is still the gold standard, and this is... A nice technology demo, not a working product.
First off, the browser on a PS3 is kinda wonky. But they're advertising it as working. It sorta works - except after the last security update I can't seem to tell the browser I want it to run flash. It keeps asking, 'want to run plugin?' which is the stupidest security question, because it doesn't tell me what plugin, nor what website the plugin is running for. So I can't really give them an answer that is secure or not secure.
But the website? Sure, it's got Anime. It's got movies. A few of each, anyhow. Instead of showing the graphic for the series or movie poster or dvd cover, it shows a scene from the show itself. Be great if the icons weren't tiny. Then instead of showing a title graphic, it shows the category graphic - basically their ad they're running. You can click on each to show a graphic related to the series or movie title, but you'd have to do that each time.
You can sort-of browse their titles by clicking on a double-arrow in the corner. But if you click on any of the titles, the list at the bottom goes back to the beginning of the list. Also, the shows are sorted in sortof a last-in-first out, so some blocks are in order of air, some are in order of when-they were uploaded. And they're sorted by episode title. So unless you know the shows fairly well, you haven't a clue what actual series they're offering you. And the episodes/seasons aren't numbered or even dated. You don't know when they're from or when they aired or when they'll expire from Crackle. Browsing is terrible. Every time you click on something it reloads the ad - which thankfully might not be the same one - before telling you anything about the show. So you see the same ad every time you click, every time you're trying to see what episode in the list you're looking at.
And I did try this on my computer - it started to load, but erred out in both Safari and Chrome.
Oh, and watching episodes? They're pretty low-res, even for TV shows. Their feature stuff is okay, but it's a blurry 480, generally. Better image of TV shows on Netflix, as it happens, since many of the same shows are available there to compare.
I'm really glad more companies are getting into the streaming biz. Let the services win or lose based on their service, not behind the scenes handshakes without consumer preference.
But Crackle? It's not ready for prime-time. But if you don't have Netflix... Crackle is the same level as Hulu+, without the ability to find shows by series readily. Netflix is still the gold standard, and this is... A nice technology demo, not a working product.