Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day • Hacker News Board

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#281

Post by oplav » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 2:43 AM UTC

madrox wrote: post #219

chrisseaton wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Disney+ the same tech as DisneyLife? For what it’s worth my daughter loves DisneyLife and I also enjoyed being able to watch the classics so thanks very much for your work.

Some of the central services are, but most of it was redone by BAM...especially the streaming infrastructure. I don't know where they host. Last I heard, they still used their own metal. I have to imagine that changed. The DisneyLife browse experience was built on Google Cloud using App Engine in Python.

When BAM was part of MLB Advanced Media, it was pretty heavily involved with AWS, so unless things changed, I would guess there.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#282

Post by freeflight » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 2:45 AM UTC

endorphone wrote: post #196

mizzao wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main cost for Netflix is content, not engineering. They spend billions developing new shows. Disney has tons of existing material they can just monetize, so huge advantage there.

"Disney has tons of existing material they can just monetize" To be clear, Disney is pulling the content from existing monetizations -- including Netflix -- to try to monetize it on their own platforms. This isn't free real estate. There is a very real cost. And Netflix is going to put the money they aren't paying Disney to produce their own content and buy up other content. Disney is playing a very risky gambit here…

> Disney is playing a very risky gambit here.

Disney has way deeper pockets than Netflix, they can afford to play the long game, spending their revenue on gaining market shares.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#283

Post by shmerl » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 2:46 AM UTC

EpicEng wrote: post #271

shmerl wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't use them and don't rent anything from them.

Yet you seem pretty annoyed by their lack of Linux support... I don't want to go too far on this because I agree with you on DRM, but "doesn't work on Linux" is a non-issue for most consumer products, for whatever reason.

Sure, you should be annoyed, since it's caused by them using DRM ;) I pointed it out very explicitly in the original comment. I.e. it's not like they are specifically anti-Linux, they are simply DRM obsessed. Which of course doesn't make it any better for Linux users.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

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Post by scarface74 » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 2:47 AM UTC

OnlineGladiator wrote: post #156

jonwachob91 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> The logical conclusion, of course, is that Disney should've just bought Netflix Why buy Netflix when you could get a similarly qualified team and infrastructure by buying Hulu? Oh wait... Disney already owns Hulu... Whoops. What about ESPN. ESPN has a really good streaming product. Oh wait... Disney already owns that one too... Disney didn't need to buy Netflix, they just needed to use the resources they already…

Hulu is so buggy on my TV I regularly think of cancelling it. I'm not sure how valuable their technical infrastructure is.

The problem is probably your TV. All TV manufacturers try to get away with the cheapest bill of materials possible for their “smart” components. Roku’s CEO said during a Recode Media interview that it’s their goal to make their platform run well while only adding about $20 to the hardware cost. You really can’t expect much from a low cost streaming stick or the built in components on TVs.

I got two free AppleTV 4K’s by taking advantage of a promotion from DirectTv Now, the difference in performance between them - with an Apple A10x chip - and the built in Roku TV is noticeable.

But if you have a smart TV that’s not a Roku, it’s probably even worse.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#285

Post by scarface74 » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 2:49 AM UTC

pfooti wrote: post #231

OnlineGladiator wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not talking about the interface. I mean it literally won't load or crashes regularly. I have fiber internet and no issues with Netflix or any other streaming service. I'm glad it works for you, but it's pretty awful for me.

yeah, the same happens for me - i have a relatively recent vizio tv, and the hulu app is terrible - video skips and freezes or the whole app crashes. I've taken to just using my mediapc to run hulu in a chrome tab instead. Both devices are hooked to the same ethernet hub, and other things like prime video and netflix run just fine on the vizio.

It’s the TV. The built in apps on all smart TVs are subpar.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#286

Post by m000z0rz » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 2:50 AM UTC

ryanburk wrote: post #266

patrickthebold wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with Disney, but what does Epic do other than build software?

presales, consulting, and support.

Yes - for the software they (disclaimer: we) build. We don't provide healthcare. The comparison with Disney seems misleading.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#287

Post by intrnttrll » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 2:55 AM UTC

Can't help but remember that just a few days ago, when disney PR was ramping up all over social media, the top comment was praising Iger and how great of a CTO he was and what a great tech company Disney was...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21466940

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#288

Post by MentallyRetired » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 2:59 AM UTC

newfangle wrote: post #155

jonwachob91 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> The logical conclusion, of course, is that Disney should've just bought Netflix Why buy Netflix when you could get a similarly qualified team and infrastructure by buying Hulu? Oh wait... Disney already owns Hulu... Whoops. What about ESPN. ESPN has a really good streaming product. Oh wait... Disney already owns that one too... Disney didn't need to buy Netflix, they just needed to use the resources they already…

I believe disney has every advantage in the streaming wars so i decided to see if they have any open dev positions and i also decided to check what reviews of working there were like. Seems like Disney does not have an engineering culture and software engineers are at the bottom of the totem pole.

OP on the thread and actually I'm a former disney dev for disneyworld.com. It's a sweat shop. They had me working 100 hours a week the first 4 months I was there. They would order me food so I wouldnt have to leave my desk. Many times I slept under it.

Then I had 6 months of pretty normal hours working on maintenance, then I went back on another project and they had me working 60 - 80 hours (with some 40 and some 100 sprinkled in) for 18 months straight before we finished the project and I bailed.

Great resume builder but be prepared to put in hours.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#289

Post by bcrosby95 » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 3:00 AM UTC

cbsks wrote: post #246

OnlineGladiator wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hulu is so buggy on my TV I regularly think of cancelling it. I'm not sure how valuable their technical infrastructure is.

The Hulu Android TV app crashes several times a week for me, and about 25% of inputs are ignored. It used to work just fine, but then they redesigned in a few months ago and it went to shit. The interface got significantly worse as well, why can I only see 3 items at a time when browsing on my 50-something inch TV?

They made that change on Roku 2-3 years ago. Before that you could see 15 or so shows at once, but half the images would get stuck and never actually load. My assumption is they gave up on having a reasonable UI for technical reasons.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#290

Post by georgeecollins » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 3:03 AM UTC

scarface74 wrote: post #277

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This kind of makes sense. It isn't their competency. I think it's general advice to never work in a role at a company where that's not their core competency. E.g., engineers are praised at places like Google, etc. Engineers working in entertainment (e.g, Disney) or health care (e.g, Epic Systems) are not as well treated.

Disney has always been about technology. From the animatronics and the other attractions at the theme parks to the engineers at Pixar and LucasFilms. As I posted above, they own BAMTech, one of the most well respected companies in the streaming infrastructure space. Building for scale is not hard for good engineers, building for rapid, reliable scale from day one is hard. No one knows how to do it. Building for scale…

>> Disney has always been about technology.

Um.. have you ever worked at Disney? It's a great company but having worked there I wouldn't describe it that way.

>> From .. the engineers at Pixar and LucasFilms.

Two visionary companies, staffed by many ex-Disney employees and bought by after their technical innovations were completely mature.

Disney is an amazing company that I respect but having worked there I would say that modern Disney is about brands and family entertainment and they figure out technology when they have to.