Choice of device to watch on

We're sorry to hear about your experience, @Jane_B. Here's an updated list of compatible devices for DIRECTV STREAM: https://www.directv.com/support/article/000066174 Kesiah, DIRECTV Community Team

That list does NOT tell us anything in the way of what model and/or version works with DirecTV Stream.

No worries. Click this link Download the DIRECTV App | DIRECTV Support and select 'Internet Connection (No satellite) for more details. Kesiah, DIRECTV Community Team

I am on an old computer and not planning to download anything

I did take a chance on clicking on it.  What a lot of clicks! Just for information that I feel should have been included in the first answer.

As I said in my OP "Wish it was just a matter of some new features not running rather than cut off completely!  What next?"

My idea with "What next" is what are they going to kick us completely off or next? I would have liked to continue using what they kicked us off of even if the newest features were not there.

We value your feedback. DIRECTV invests in technology and features that make it easy to enjoy your favorite shows, news and sports anytime. Kesiah, DIRECTV Community Team

Not being able to use it any longer makes it "easy"? I am not looking to buy additional equipment.

Older hardware isn't always capable of running new codexes, which can be because newer hardware has the codex built in to the video system and/or the older processor can't run the codex in software, or because they need the OS to have some feature that is not in the version of OS on the older hardware.  Supporting multiple hardware/software platforms can be exhausting.  Unfortunately, most hardware these days is lucky to be useful 3 years after it's first released.  If you buy it when it goes on sale as its replacement comes out, you'll get much less life out of it.  When the platform provider drops support for it, then developers will as well.