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Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

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Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#301

Post by durden0 »

tedsanders wrote: post #269
8ytecoder wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know when product managers are going to realize that one size doesn't fit all. Different people use Netflix differently and usually even the same people use it differently at different times. There should be an option to switch between these modes. Netflix, for example, could easily have multiple modes. A discover based on my past preferences/popularity mode and a categorical listing mode. The problem is them…

They do have these modes, though, right? The home page is for discovery based on your past preferences/popularity. And there are TV and movie pages in which you can display shows by genre or even A-Z. Disclosure: I work at Netflix and would like to make it better for everyone who uses it.

Huh, you are correct, never realized that was possible. You have to dig a little to get to it (change view format and then select from sorting options) but it's there.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#302

Post by somehnguy »

scarface74 wrote: post #284
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 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…

FWIW I have a Roku TV and it is fantastic. The best software of any smart TV I have ever used and the interface is always snappy. My parents just bought one based purely on my recommendation for how good of an experience it has been compared to every other smart TV I've used. I primarily run Plex on it, maybe Hulu is implemented poorly. But that would be Hulus fault, every app I've used has worked great.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#303

Post by x86_64Ubuntu »

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…

Technology from the standpoint of media creation is different than building a resilient network for content delivery.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#304

Post by OnlineGladiator »

scarface74 wrote: post #284
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 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…

If it were the TV, why would the problem only happen with Hulu and not Netflix or any other app?

Also I bought a very expensive TV, and while I didn't dissect it I don't think there are any cheap parts in it - and the reviews all agree it had a top-of-the-line processor at the time and that was only a year ago. I mean it even has glass bezels for the OLED panel.

I don't think anything you say applies to my situation at all. I think Hulu just has some shitty software.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#305

Post by jorblumesea »

MentallyRetired wrote: post #288
newfangle wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Great resume builder

Compared to any big 4 or FAANG though? You can work at MS and pull 40 hour weeks or AMZN/FB with 60. Pays better, looks better.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#306

Post by EpicEng »

shmerl wrote: post #283
EpicEng wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think it's more that they are DRM obsessed and don't give two flying ducks about Linux. If Linux were important, their DRM would work on it. For one I blame them, for the other I don't.

I have to admit I just don't care that much anymore. In the spectrum of things I have the time and energy to really care about, DRM has fallen off the list. I want to watch The Mandalorian, and damn; it was pretty great.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#307

Post by shmerl »

EpicEng wrote: post #306
shmerl wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think it's more that they are DRM obsessed and don't give two flying ducks about Linux. If Linux were important, their DRM would work on it. For one I blame them, for the other I don't. I have to admit I just don't care that much anymore. In the spectrum of things I have the time and energy to really care about, DRM has fallen off the list. I want to watch The Mandalorian, and damn; it was pretty great.

My point is simple, DRM-free services have no issues with video on Linux, because video doesn't really depend on the platform. Video is video everywhere. As long as they aren't using some crazy custom codecs that no one has support for, it will work.

DRM on the other hand is a platform dependent junk. So quite naturally it limits use cases which work with it.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#308

Post by dehrmann »

cookiecaper wrote: post #29
MentallyRetired wrote: post #3

I don't think anyone on hackernews would be surprised by this. The scale they have to operate at is absolutely insane. To scale flawlessly on day 1 is a big ask of any development team.

Indeed. Last night I was telling my wife that it'll be real interesting to see how well the launch goes and that I'd expect them to have continuous issues for the first 3-6 months (which may be Netflix's only prayer). Video is hard to get right, with quirks across many combinations of platform/device/OS/browser version/video card/playback resolution/format features, and it consumes around 90% of total internet traffi…

> The logical conclusion, of course, is that Disney should've just bought Netflix

If we're playing this game, Apple should buy Disney. YTD, Apple's market cap has grown by more than the entire market cap of Disney.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#309

Post by EpicEng »

shmerl wrote: post #307
EpicEng wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's more that they are DRM obsessed and don't give two flying ducks about Linux. If Linux were important, their DRM would work on it. For one I blame them, for the other I don't. I have to admit I just don't care that much anymore. In the spectrum of things I have the time and energy to really care about, DRM has fallen off the list. I want to watch The Mandalorian, and damn; it was pretty great.

My point is simple, DRM-free services have no issues with video on Linux, because video doesn't really depend on the platform. Video is video everywhere. As long as they aren't using some crazy custom codecs that no one has support for, it will work. DRM on the other hand is a platform dependent junk. So quite naturally it limits use cases which work with it.

That is not in any way untrue... but I understand why they don't care :)

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#310

Post by debt »

edoceo wrote: post #235
cwkoss wrote: post #227

Disney is responsible for vast lobbying efforts to criminalize access to culture around intellectual property. Make the moral choice and pirate their content instead of giving them your money to fund further overreach.

Wouldn't the moral choice be to just not watch? Isn't piracy stealing? Morally: don't buy it, don't steal it and also don't view it. Reward other content providers and reduce the relevance of Disney.

“Wouldn't the moral choice be to just not watch?”

I agree with you here but people grew up with Disney. Certain people have an affinity for Disney like I’ve never seen for any other brand.

They will bend over backwards to justify watching it, even if it means making some serious moral compromises.

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