Wow, thanks for sharing this! I used to pay for Infuse as well, but switched to Plex for the deep linking. Might go back to Infuse because the Plex app occasionally freezes at startup.
I do have all the Blurays. They're collecting dust in the garage ;)
My kids are only 3 and 2. They would probably destroy the disks and the player in no-time. Also: I don't have a Bluray player connected to the TV (apart from the Playstation, which I definitely don't want them to fiddle with yet). I use an old computer to rip the discs.
I might let them use the discs when they're a bit older.
You make a good point. The "it was better in my day" argument isn't always valid. I didn't mean to imply that something is inherently good just because it existed in the past.
But I do believe that having a smaller collection is nicer. It leads to a deeper appreciation for what you have. Each item in your library feels more special and valuable. And getting something new becomes exciting (I still remember getting a copy of The Lion King on VHS). This isn't something I get from browsing Netflix because new stuff is constantly being added.
As a bonus, it also helps with decision paralysis, which young kids are more susceptible to. At least that's my experience. Give them lots of toys and they'll play with none. Keeping the toy selection limited and rotating them is better (at least for my kids).
Thank you for letting me reflect on this! I will rephrase the post.
Same here! I have debated making something similar for my personal music collection. I used to meticulously organize my albums in iTunes and listen to them in full. Somehow I stopped doing that with Spotify. The magic of the album is gone for me.
I was quite surprised of the printing quality as well.
Never had it clog up. But I have all kinds of issues with that printer. Always connects to the network but randomly refuses to print. Sometimes it only prints half a page. Sometimes it prints half a page and retries by itself. Scanning is pretty much impossible on macOS because the drivers aren't maintained. etc...
It's horrible. But when it prints, the quality is good...
Honestly, I get cold sweats from the thought of having to print something.
Author here (surreal to see my post at the top of HN!)
My kids are 3 and 2, and they don't watch TV like adults. They watch a bit of movie, get up, walk around, do something else, come back, and watch a bit of another movie or even switch to a TV show. It's weird!
I like your idea about flexibility, but they're too young right now. Maybe we'll introduce your "bank" concept when they get older or increase the "TV budget". But for now we stick to 2x 30 minutes.
I hope so!