You would still have to be living in medieval times if you were to claim that you have never streamed anything online. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a movie or tv show, it could simply be music or a short video on Youtube.
The fact is, today there are multitudes of apps and services online that provide you unlimited hours of streaming. Be it Netflix, Spotify, or just YouTube, you have a dozen of premium apps that let you stream content online without leasing your security or demanding any other contractual amenities.
But despite it all, how widespread or rather accessible is streaming according to you? And not just that, when one starts to talk about the phenomenon of streaming, the nature of streaming might seem like a big question mark. Of course, like everything else in the world, streaming has its set of advantages and weaknesses, and so, what are they exactly? Well, that is exactly why we’re here.
In this article, we shall be covering the different aspects of streaming; the good, bad and the ugly. What is it that you have to do? Simply follow StreamingRant for complete guidance to get started!
Streaming is Better Than Downloading
When the internet was relatively, we all remember downloading files, saving images, and programming videos according to the requirements of our device. But we also would remember how time consuming it was; it would sometimes take days to download a full season of our favorite show, and that too, if we’re lucky enough to have a fast-functioning internet connection.
Waiting all those hours to be over to finally open and consume the processed file was all that we could think about. Streaming has changed that entire experience for us. It has evolved our experience and improved content consumption significantly. One can safely bet that no one has to wait for an entire day to stream content online anymore.
What is even more interesting with streaming is that it’s temporary. You don’t even need to have that much storage in your device to consume it. The file you download on your device stays there until you find time to delete it for good; data from streaming apps are gone once you close them.
What Are The Strengths and Weaknesses of Streaming?
Here are some of the many strengths and weakness of streaming:
Instant
One can’t help but deny that the world that now lives on instant gratification would be so absorbed in streaming; because it’s immediate.
Storage
It doesn’t even matter how large or small a file is or what format it is made of, streaming doesn’t make you wait. And more importantly, it doesn’t require any storage space. If you want to listen to a file or watch something on your device, you don’t need to get yourself a hard drive to store it.
No Schedule
You can choose what you wish to watch or listen to and that means there’s no specific order to schedule that you need to adhere to either.
Active Internet
If you want to stream anything online, it’s mandatory for you to have an active internet but you need to be very conscious of your upload speed vs download speed. Ignoring this crucial aspect is likely to result in a poor quality stream, due to frequent buffering and lag interruptions.
With a downloaded file, you can take it along and watch it even when the internet isn’t working. But streaming, due to it being a real-time action, requires cellular data or a wifi connection.
Speedy Connection
Another contributing factor to improved streaming experience is a good internet connection. If the speed of the internet is slow, you will face a turbulent stream. It could potentially drop the playback activity or start buffering or even stop entirely. This can be for a number of reasons from loose connections to even the weather – you can look and find out does weather affect satellite internet if this is something you’re concerned about.
What Is The Perfect Internet Speed For Streaming?
Streaming requires your internet to act smartly. What does that mean? Simple, it means that your internet service should ideally be broadband and have a set of requirements that come with the package. These specifications are highlighted below:
- 1.5 Megabits per second or more commonly Mbps is mandated if you wish to stream music or podcasts, audio files, online.
- 3Mbps is required if you want to stream high-definition videos online.
- 25Mbps is mandated to stream a 4K UHD video online. A couple of new-age cloud-based gaming services allow you to stream games online, meaning you don’t have to download them at all. But for that the basic broadband requirements depend on the screen resolution and game complexity. You would require `0Mbps which can go up to 35 Mbps should you choose to stream in 4K.
In Conclusion
Human behavior and demands are changing with the times, and with that, many activities that they previously engaged in are becoming redundant and other options are being optimized. Streaming is one such thing; it is fast, more accessible, and efficient. You can stream anything online as long as you have a fast internet connection. It doesn’t require a hard drive because there’s absolutely no need to store anything; be it an audio or video file.