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It’s not a zero-sum game for Apple TV+, Netflix, and Disney+

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Re: It’s not a zero-sum game for Apple TV+, Netflix, and Disney+

#121

Post by alistairSH »

TheHypnotist wrote: post #119
alistairSH wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AppleTV (the device, not the service) does a decent job of searching across streaming services with a single remote. Currently, I use Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and periodically subscribe to HBO Now for a month or two to catch up (then cancel for 10 months). Edit: As noted below, The Force Awakens is on Disney+ now. You can rent it on iTunes.

If Apple (or anyone for that matter) could managed to search through a larger variety of subs, that would be incredible. That's what this streaming market needs.

Here's a list of services Apple TV's Universal Search knows about (pretty sure it also searches Amazon Video, which isn't listed here, and I haven't found an official list)...

https://www.lifewire.com/what-channels-support-universal-sea...

Re: It’s not a zero-sum game for Apple TV+, Netflix, and Disney+

#122

Post by cyborgx7 »

alistairSH wrote: post #120
cyborgx7 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It has never been cheaper or easier That's exactly the thing though. It has been easier. We all remember it being easier, when we pirated something. The actual sentence should be "it has never been easier while also getting to pay for it". That's just not a very compelling case.

Is pirating something really easier? Maybe I've been out of that game for too long, but between finding good/complete torrents of content, avoiding my ISP finding out I was doing it (and sending me nastygrams), needing to keep a server up and running to download/store media, juggling front-ends as they evolved (Plex hasn't always been around), ... Today, I have a single device (AppleTV), a single remote, and can stre…

Here in Germany, Torrenting legally is distribution, so I don't do it. But find yourself a decent streaming link aggregator, install an adblocker and you are golden. Anything with a webbrowser can play it. No major legal streaming platform can claim this.

Also, you are comparing effort it takes to set-up something, with effort it takes to use it, which I'd argue isn't entirely fair.

Re: It’s not a zero-sum game for Apple TV+, Netflix, and Disney+

#123

Post by cercatrova »

Benji_San wrote: post #100
paranoidrobot wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with buying Season Passes is that they're usually a terrible option for many reasons. They're usually not available until well after the season premiered (12+ months later), roughly at the same time that the DVD/Bluray comes out. The quality of them is iffy, at best - SD or HD at poor bitrates. Fine for watching on a tablet or laptop, marginal at best on a TV/Surround system. They're tied to watching on t…

I'm still waiting for "Steam for TV series/Films". I've always felt that that approach would work better as we're unlikely to get a single streaming service with "most content" akin to music streaming". The model works well for distributing games and doesn't have any of the deal breaking problems that you listed (well except for it going out of business, but should not be a problem as long as you have access to the f…

Do you mean...iTunes? Or are you imagining something different?

Re: It’s not a zero-sum game for Apple TV+, Netflix, and Disney+

#124

Post by Kaiyou »

starky wrote: post #46
illuminati1911 wrote: post #2

"For months now, journalists, industry insiders, and consumers have opined on who will “win” the streaming wars and why." The more streaming services there will be, the more likely it is that only thepiratebay and torrents will win.

Yup, I got rid of Netflix because they often didn't have what I wanted to watch, and only have Amazon Prime Video because I don't pay any extra for it with my Prime subscriptions. Not to mention that not every streaming service is available in Canada. If I have to worry about where to find the show I want to watch or whether it is available in my country, then I may as well just go straight to a source that I know wi…

I remember Prime costing $20 per year. Then Prime Video was introduced and the price went up and up. I canceled.

Re: It’s not a zero-sum game for Apple TV+, Netflix, and Disney+

#125

Post by v7p1Qbt1im »

BurningCycles wrote: post #32
alain94040 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's amazing how we have gone full circle in the last 15 years or so. In the old days, people complained about their cable tv bill: why do I have to pay for 250 channels when I only watch 5 of them? Let me pay only for what I watch. Now that the future is here, people are complaining that they need to sign up for too many streaming services. Why can't I just pay once for a bundle and get everything I need? I'm just a…

>why do I have to pay for 250 channels when I only watch 5 of them? Let me pay only for what I watch. But that is still the case. If I could only pay for the shows I watch, I would not complain. But if I watch one Netflix show, I can't just subscribe to that show, I must pay for a ton of stuff I'm not remotely interested in. You still have Netflix, Disney+ and all the cable channels you need to subscribe to if you wa…

I can only speak for myself. But I, and I believe many others, actually prefer a subscription. To be fair. I probably watch more content than the average person. So for me it‘s absolutely worth it. I know and used pretty much every modern pirating technique known to man. While you can get incredibly sophisticated with automation and ease of use. It‘s still not as easy or convenient as Netflix for example.

Also, no Dolby Vision in piracy atm.

Obviously cost is a factor. But more important for me is ease of access and best possible quality. Let‘s take Disney+. In my market it‘s not available yet. I will absolutely pirate The Mandalorian. The fact that it would surprise anyone that it would be a heavily pirated show is laughable. It‘s 2019 and you expect people to wait on a show that‘s available elsewhere? I would pay for it. But they won‘t let me. Their fault for not launching globally .

Re: It’s not a zero-sum game for Apple TV+, Netflix, and Disney+

#126

Post by ken »

taurath wrote: post #65
ken wrote: post #8

> Does the fact that there were four broadcast networks mean that one of them eventually prevailed, and the others disappeared? No. Was there a cable channel war resulting in one dominant cable network? No. I get all 4 broadcast networks for free over the air. Cable channels are infamously bundled so if I get one, I have to get dozens, and it's essentially impossible for channels to fail in the market. These comparis…

> if I get one, I have to get dozens, and it's essentially impossible for channels to fail in the market Totally untrue! Cable companies have to pay a rate to get a channel. Most channels don’t fail, their viewership drops and then they turn into cheap syndication products and mostly use ad money. ESPN is like $15 of your cable bill, and OXY is like $.05. If they didn’t have enough viewers to break even on content co…

Fair point. But I still don't think it's worthwhile to equate "one cable channel (like OXY)" to "one streaming service (like Netflix)".

Re: It’s not a zero-sum game for Apple TV+, Netflix, and Disney+

#127

Post by pnutjam »

ericd wrote: post #96
scarface74 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s not strictly true. If the movie you purchased was from one of the five major studios that support Movies Anywhere, you can link your Amazon Prime, Google, iTunes, or Vudu account (along with others) and any movie purchased on one can be transferred to the other services. https://moviesanywhere.com/welcome

And if I want a DRM free copy so that I don’t have to ever keep track of this landscape of shifting alliances? This is way more mental overhead than I want to devote to movies.

qbittorrent has a built in search function that works great for me. Fire up a vpn and dump the file in my jellyfish indexed folders and away we go.

Re: It’s not a zero-sum game for Apple TV+, Netflix, and Disney+

#128

Post by pnutjam »

im3w1l wrote: post #38
alain94040 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's amazing how we have gone full circle in the last 15 years or so. In the old days, people complained about their cable tv bill: why do I have to pay for 250 channels when I only watch 5 of them? Let me pay only for what I watch. Now that the future is here, people are complaining that they need to sign up for too many streaming services. Why can't I just pay once for a bundle and get everything I need? I'm just a…

The complaint about bundling has the implicit assumption that if you'd pay for only 5 out of those 250 it would be a lot cheaper, but that's not really true. Cost of providing those 245 channels is basically zero, so there are no savings they could pass on. Anyway with these streaming services, it's not so much that people want to pay for a bundle. It's more that micromanaging a lot of subscriptions is a chore. If th…

Comcast's X1 box will do this. It shows me stuff on Netflix, Prime, and their own streaming system. I can also setup recordings if it's airing anytime soon. Too bad they don't support more systems, like Hulu or Disney+.

Re: It’s not a zero-sum game for Apple TV+, Netflix, and Disney+

#129

Post by smileybarry »

cyborgx7 wrote: post #112
fluffything wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might not be a zero sum game for them, but it definetely is a zero-sum game for me. When I want to watch something, I just want to click it and watch it. This is the API that my torrent tracker gives me for free (Airplay to Apple TV works great for this). I'm willing to pay for a service that I use a lot and gives me an API that's at least as good as this. But it doesn't make any sense for me to pay for 5 services…

I'm still baffled by the reasoning that leads to all the DRM theater. It does nothing. the moment a piece of content reaches streaming apps, it's on every torrent and free streaming platform.[1] All it does is that it makes the user experience of paying customers worse. Can't use their preferred video player. Can't use a frontend that puts all the content together. Can't save it for later to watch online, unless the…

It really is just security theater so they can shrug & say "we did the thing" if (when) it gets pirated. Modern game DRM/anti-tamper like Denuvo (as horrible as it is) at least has a realistic goal of "delay piracy past the release week".

Re: It’s not a zero-sum game for Apple TV+, Netflix, and Disney+

#130

Post by tguedes »

cyborgx7 wrote: post #112
fluffything wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might not be a zero sum game for them, but it definetely is a zero-sum game for me. When I want to watch something, I just want to click it and watch it. This is the API that my torrent tracker gives me for free (Airplay to Apple TV works great for this). I'm willing to pay for a service that I use a lot and gives me an API that's at least as good as this. But it doesn't make any sense for me to pay for 5 services…

I'm still baffled by the reasoning that leads to all the DRM theater. It does nothing. the moment a piece of content reaches streaming apps, it's on every torrent and free streaming platform.[1] All it does is that it makes the user experience of paying customers worse. Can't use their preferred video player. Can't use a frontend that puts all the content together. Can't save it for later to watch online, unless the…

At least in Netflix's case, some of it makes sense because of how much work they put in to their website. Almost everything on their homepage is personalized based on what they think will get you to watch that movie/show. From the pictures, summary description, and video preview, that's all customized to get you to watch more.
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