End of the Road for SlingCatcher?

Less than a year on the market, the SlingCatcher‘s entrance fee has dropped by 2/3rds from retail launch pricing of $300 down to a rock bottom $99.99 at Best Buy. I can only assume sales have been horrible. Which pains me on personal level. The digital media Swiss Army knife vision of the SlingCatcher was a factor in joining Sling Media way back when. And the inability to execute on that vision was also a factor in my decision to leave. (“losing my religion“) However, despite it’s imperfections and unfulfilled promise, $100 to merely stream from a Slingbox to another television in the home or abroad is a great value – neverminding those hobbled extender and DMA capabilities. Here’s hoping the inventory purge foreshadows a new SlingCathcer in the pipeline with the sort of modern hardware and features found in the current crop of media streamers. But with Sling’s corporate ownership, and resultant focus on the DISH Network Slingbox DVR, I wouldn’t count on it.

Published by
Dave Zatz