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Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

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Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#141

Post by akhosravian »

qppo wrote: post #56
sjwright wrote: post #2

And the real question is: will history repeat itself with Netflix, et al? HBO demonstrates that it’s still an open question.

As long as I am given the option to purchase content without advertisements I will do so. If I can't watch a piece of content without ads, I'll either wait until I can or pirate it. Usually the former. Frankly I think content is just overvalued and the actual creation of content is extremely inefficient, from a financial point of view. My personal experience has been that Hollywood film/television studios are poorly…

I’d be interested in hearing more about what you mean by market distortion here.

A lot of the silliness in things like how much stars are paid seems applicable to software development — tiny incremental value adds become very substantial with a large enough audience.

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#142

Post by matheusmoreira »

Nextgrid wrote: post #79
matheusmoreira wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somehow people will find a way. If we can't have a universal browser, maybe the answer is to make a browser for every web service. We can make custom apps that pretend to be the official ones while interfacing with the company's servers. Whatever it takes to maintain control.

Does anyone really have the time and motivation? It seems like so far there aren't any alternative clients (basic web wrappers don't count) for services that need it the most - think WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, etc?

> Does anyone really have the time and motivation?

I don't know if anyone has tried. It's definitely possible, though.

I used to play some of those predatory mobile games. At some point I got sick of their addictive "daily tasks" game design and decided to automate all of it. I intercepted the game's network traffic: it was just JSON. Didn't take long to write software to talk to the server and do the tasks for me.

Any code that's running on the client can be tampered with or replaced. It's probably not going to be easy but it's certainly possible.

> WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram

WhatsApp is already among the best messaging services. It doesn't really do anything that would motivate people to replace it with something better. Having custom software which lacks the remote message deletion feature would be interesting but it would be too much work for too little gain.

I don't use Facebook and Instagram enough to have an opinion.

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#143

Post by qubex »

Razengan wrote: post #137
WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #39

I will bet a lot that Netflix is headed this way too. Once Netflix stops growing, it will need to find additional growth, and advertisement will be the way to additional profit.

"Growth" is now one of my most hated overused business lingo, after "innovation". Is it too naive to hope that this pandemic will make us collectively question the value of creeds like growth for growth's sake?

How can your hatred for any corporate lingo term outrank that reserved for the bulwarks ‘leverage’ and ‘synergy’?

‘Granularity’ is a big up-and-comer too.

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#144

Post by lvs »

qubex wrote: post #143
Razengan wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Growth" is now one of my most hated overused business lingo, after "innovation". Is it too naive to hope that this pandemic will make us collectively question the value of creeds like growth for growth's sake?

How can your hatred for any corporate lingo term outrank that reserved for the bulwarks ‘leverage’ and ‘synergy’? ‘Granularity’ is a big up-and-comer too.

Let me circle back and touch base with you by EOD.

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#145

Post by fergie »

the_duke wrote: post #112
WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #39

I will bet a lot that Netflix is headed this way too. Once Netflix stops growing, it will need to find additional growth, and advertisement will be the way to additional profit.

There is already plenty of product placement on Netflix. The smoking is notorious, for example. They cram in cigarettes wherever they can, often to the detriment of the scene. I really wish there were laws mandating a very obvious " this scene was sponsored by X" overlay.

Not sure if its region dependent, but my Netflix shows a warning about product placement at the beginning of the show.

I have to say that it was a bit of an eye-opener- a lot of these ads are not obviously product-placement at all. The one that shocked me the most was an episode of "Friends from College" where the main characters went up the Napa valley for some wine tasting and then stopped into McDonalds on the way back- it was such a sharp, natural and realistic storyline that I would have never assumed that it was product placement. It dealt with "McDonalds-shame" in very sophisticated way that you wouldn't think McDonalds was capable of, and actually made me feel (as somebody who has been wine tasting in Napa and tries to avoid Mickey Ds) that a fast food burger is "allowed".

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#147

Post by imprettycool »

WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #39

I will bet a lot that Netflix is headed this way too. Once Netflix stops growing, it will need to find additional growth, and advertisement will be the way to additional profit.

I doubt it. Netflix doesn't have a monopoly on infrastructure like the cable companies did.

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#148

Post by anticensor »

the_duke wrote: post #112
WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #39

I will bet a lot that Netflix is headed this way too. Once Netflix stops growing, it will need to find additional growth, and advertisement will be the way to additional profit.

There is already plenty of product placement on Netflix. The smoking is notorious, for example. They cram in cigarettes wherever they can, often to the detriment of the scene. I really wish there were laws mandating a very obvious " this scene was sponsored by X" overlay.

Product placement is done since the beginnings of cinema and television.

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#149

Post by jimmaswell »

the_duke wrote: post #112
WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #39

I will bet a lot that Netflix is headed this way too. Once Netflix stops growing, it will need to find additional growth, and advertisement will be the way to additional profit.

There is already plenty of product placement on Netflix. The smoking is notorious, for example. They cram in cigarettes wherever they can, often to the detriment of the scene. I really wish there were laws mandating a very obvious " this scene was sponsored by X" overlay.

You actually want movies you're watching to have a distracting overlay taking you out of the moment? Before the start of the movie or something would be a lot better.

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#150

Post by lostlogin »

lvs wrote: post #144
qubex wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can your hatred for any corporate lingo term outrank that reserved for the bulwarks ‘leverage’ and ‘synergy’? ‘Granularity’ is a big up-and-comer too.

Let me circle back and touch base with you by EOD.

Do we show agreement with these horrors by upvoting or downvoting?

These coded replies kill me and saying nothing would be more helpful.

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