I’ve been confronted with many new streaming options lately. It all started at the Creekside Farmer’s market on Friday. I was chatting with the Cupertino Library volunteer manning the booth when an Asian lady jutted in and steered our conversation towards TV shows. When asked if she had anything specific, she mentioned Squid Game.
The volunteer said it was highly unlikely that Squid Game would be available, but they were free to look on Kanopy (aka the service Cupertino Library provides for streaming movies / TV). When the search turned up null, another Asian lady jumped in and quietly mentioned an illegal Chinese streaming service called Donao (“多瑙”) that should offer it for free.
Out of curiosity, after getting home I checked if the San Jose Public Library system offered streaming as well; it turns out they do, through a service called Hoopla.
On Saturday night, I tested out both Kanopy and Hoopla. From Kanopy I checked out IMAX: To the Arctic (aka cute polar bears running around); from Hoopla, I checked out Pokemon the Movie 2000 (aka satisfying childhood nostalgia). The streaming worked well for the most part. When I was casting to our Samsung TV through the Hoopla iOS app, things were a little laggy, but the option to download the movie to your device remedies that problem.
All these new streaming services (Kanopy, Hoopla, Donao) plus my existing services (CuriosityStream, Amazon Prime Video, PBS documentaries, CBSN Live, Crackle, Crunchyroll, Peacock) should keep my days nice and filled and make shadier means (*cough* torrents *cough*) completely unnecessary.
PS: became aware of a PBS history documentary series called Secrets of the Dead
