Everyone nowadays has their favorite shows and movies that they watch and we're streaming our content online more and more. Amazon, Netflix, and HULU are the big guys and many of us choose to view our content in that way, but must we?
Generally, you would connect to your paid service and enter a username and password and begin streaming to your device of choice, but we don't have to and most of us are mildly aware of this on some level. For instance, YouTube has full movies and TV shows that usually get taken down fairly quickly and there are plenty of less reputable sites that allow streaming. The nice thing about them is that only the uploaders get in trouble for the content, the bad thing is there's no quality control and finding the right link is like Russian Roulette with your computer.
Enter Kodi. Kodi (previously Xbox Media Center or XBMC) is legal, free, open source, and available for any device you can think of. It's basically just an alternative to iTunes or similar media software without the add-ons installed; however, with the proper add-ons it's a streamers Heaven where you can find any obscure anime, movie, television series, or watch the game that you're not paying for cable to see but doesn't broadcast in your area.
A complete tutorial on installing add-ons is beyond the scope of this post and, besides, several great ones already exist, I am merely trying to illuminate other options for those interested in them. I would recommend looking into the Covenant add-on first, as it covers what most people would be interested in the most, but there are always new ones coming out and some of the more specialized add-ons may be more what you're looking for. Google is a good resource for finding what your heart desires and something to the effect of, "best (type of add-on such as live TV, radio, movies, etc.) Kodi add-on," and looking for the most recent article/tutorial is a good starting point...
I hope this has been educational for anyone and I hope that you may save that money for your Netflix account and take yourself or someone you care about out for some fun instead. Maybe a little dinner and then Kodi and chill?
