Movies Everywhere

WITH TODAY’S streamers and smart TVs offering myriad apps to watch movies from, one thing has become painfully obvious about discs: they’re clunky. While I’m a firm believer in pre-recorded media due to its superior technical merits, I’ll admit that shelves overflowing with discs can get overwhelming. Also, let’s face it: case spines aren’t nearly as sexy as a slick onscreen interface. From early Windows Media solutions to the latest apps like Kodi, I’ve seen numerous options crop up over the last decade to bring pre-recorded media to a modern playback environment. But there hasn’t been a simple consumer-friendly offering that lets the general user migrate an existing collection to a digital media library with a stylized interface. The closest I’ve seen is Kaleidescape, but the hardware for that system is pricey, and the company’s latest 4K/HDR-compatible offering is a disc-free solution that requires repurchasing your movie library through its online store.

I recently learned about Zappiti, a new company to these shores (they’ve been in Europe for quite some time now) with a compelling digital media library and hardware solution featuring multiple options for an average user to choose from. Zappiti offers an array of “players” that can access your media directly from either onboard or attached storage, or from