I remember when Netflix started separating the DVD service from streaming and thinking they were absolutely crazy, because no one would ever want to watch movies from their computer, movies go in that box under the TV…
I think I first connected a laptop with a tv-out to a TV in like 2003. Wasn’t hard to find a desktop video card with video out.
But the people doing that probably weren’t the first to sign up for a pay streaming service.
The Boxee came out in 2010. Like an early android box for your TV and supported Netflix, but could also stream from a network drive. I remember paying ~CAD$200 (or CAD$250?) for one and got a $25 best buy gift card.
~3 years later I sold the boxee for $100 and bought a Chromecast with that gift card and another few bucks.
You couldn't browse the catalog on the device. You had to open the website on a computer and add anything you wanted to watch to your queue. The Roku would only let you select items from that list. The same queue that was used for the DVD mailings.