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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)

#281
post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re assuming I went to the doctor regularly, not just when I had an issue to present.

Pretty much every studies show that the best working medical system are those with the best screening and prevention in place, among with are regular (usually free in Europe) checkup, accented for at risk population (child, aged people,...). Depending on your age in France there are lots of yearly /every 3 years checks entirely free that the national health agency push you to do. So I may have assumed that yes but th…

It is less than ideal in USA in many ways.

That my insurance, and by extension, my ability to maintain a relationship with any one doctor is tied to my job, means that when I change jobs, there is a high likelihood that I now may no longer have a plan available to me in a network with said doctor, or, if I do, it may not be available at the same price. And of course, a gap in employment or employment by a company that does not offer much or any coverage means an even more precarious situation.

Even if you're making the effort to get regular screenings here, there's a good chance youll be seeing a doctor who is both caught in a slog of appointments with a maximum length of fifteen minutes as dictated by the insurance company and who you have never seen before

The value of an ongoing relationship is something that is dismissed as valueless by large corporations who would prefer that all goods and services be seen as completely fungible - with the existence of any particular person on either the buy or sell side simply an irksome artifact of the system that they have not yet been able to squeeze out via automation or otherwise.

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

#282
post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix can grow by getting more users by offering attractive services and features instead of advertisements. Even if they stop getting new users, and just maintain their current user base, what is so bad about that? Nobody is going to go broke from that.

>Netflix can grow by getting more users by offering attractive services and features instead of advertisements. I wasn't suggesting that it was desirable for Netflix to show ads. I was replying specifically to the "growth for growth's sake" because it's misleading. As for "Netflix can grow by getting more users by offering attractive services and features" , that's circular reasoning. They need growth to help pay for…

> As for "Netflix can grow by getting more users by offering attractive services and features", that's circular reasoning. They need growth to help pay for new attractive services and features.

Growing is exactly what investors money is for, besides their monthly revenue that allows them to grow a bit every period of time X.

> The problem is that their none of their existing user base signed a 30-year irrevocable contract to always pay $11.99 for the next 360 months. Consumers have free will and their preferences change which is why Blockbuster couldn't count on their old customers to keep walking into their stores to rent DVDs.

That's a problem for when netflix loses users at a rate that will damage profit rates unacceptably, not before.

> E.g.: https://www.google.com/search?q=netflix+lost+subscribers

They lost market share because Disney+ has exclusive content Netflix doesn't and some users preferred to only maintain one service, there's nothing Netflix can do about it besides trying to make their product _more_ attractive, not less.

You could argue that maybe they could regain market share by making the product cheaper, but I doubt they will ever achieve a cheaper enough price where people would be willing to pay for both Netflix and Disney+/Other streaming website with more attractive content for them or switch back to netflix because it's become trash without an interesting catalogue and full of ads for being so cheap.

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

#283
post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every time I am visiting USA, I am flabbergasted at the medication ads on TV. Not just for off-the-counter stuff like paracetamol or anti-inflammation medication but actual freaking prescription only drugs. And they actually ask you to speak to your doctor about the drug. Haha what? Shouldn't my doctor morally and by default be suggesting the best treatment for what I have? And if I don't trust his/her treatment plan…

Playing devil's advocate... doctors are neither omniscient nor perfect. > Shouldn't my doctor morally and by default be suggesting the best treatment for what I have? Shouldn't programmers by default be suggesting the best algorithm/programming language/design patterns for the problem at hand? In a perfect world, yes. But we live in an imperfect world where sub-optimal choices are made due to time constraints, lack o…

>>shouldn't my doctor morally and by default be suggesting the best treatment for what I have?

>Shouldn't programmers by default be suggesting the best algorithm/programming language/design patterns for the problem at hand?

Are you implying non technical users would somehow be able to make a crucial technical design decision because they saw an ad somewhere? That seems quite absurd.

In my professional experience, every time a non technical stakeholder has tried to force a specific technology to solve a complex problem, it has been disastrous.

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

#284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People had watch parties the moment episodes dropped for GoT. Bars would even air episodes in later years. Most of the world watched it together, both legally and illegally. It was definitely the same thing.

GoT was in 10-20 million in final season worldwide. Seinfeld finale was 70-80 million in US alone. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-may-16-ca-50143... The numbers don’t even compare. With Seinfeld that’s literally 1 in 5 people in the US. GoT is what, maybe 1 in 100?

Overall, when accounting for all platforms and delayed viewing throughout the week, the final season of Game of Thrones averaged more than 44 million viewers per episode [1]

Game of Thrones’ season 8 premiere was pirated almost 55 million times in the first 24 hours [2].

And this is when people have 100 times more choices every day.

[1] https://observer.com/2019/05/game-of-thrones-finale-ratings-...

[2] https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/17/18412159/game-of-thrones-...

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

#285
post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Playing devil's advocate... doctors are neither omniscient nor perfect. > Shouldn't my doctor morally and by default be suggesting the best treatment for what I have? Shouldn't programmers by default be suggesting the best algorithm/programming language/design patterns for the problem at hand? In a perfect world, yes. But we live in an imperfect world where sub-optimal choices are made due to time constraints, lack o…

> Shouldn't programmers by default be suggesting the best algorithm/programming language/design patterns for the problem at hand? In a perfect world, yes. But we live in an imperfect world where sub-optimal choices are made due to time constraints, lack of knowledge/experience, etc. I don't understand. Are you saying you frequently have non-technical customers of your software business asking for specific languages,…

Do the vendors of these languages, design patterns and frameworks have billions of dollars riding on your choice? If so, you'd better believe your non-technical customers would be seeing ads pushing them to advocate for one over another. The more non-technical the better, because technical deficiencies become less of a barrier. You already see this today with products pitched at the bosses rather than the underlings that are getting the work done.

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

#286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People had watch parties the moment episodes dropped for GoT. Bars would even air episodes in later years. Most of the world watched it together, both legally and illegally. It was definitely the same thing.

GoT was in 10-20 million in final season worldwide. Seinfeld finale was 70-80 million in US alone. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-may-16-ca-50143... The numbers don’t even compare. With Seinfeld that’s literally 1 in 5 people in the US. GoT is what, maybe 1 in 100?

https://fortune.com/2019/04/17/game-of-thrones-season-8-pira...

> Data from piracy monitoring firm MUSO indicates the show was pirated 54 million times in the first 24 hours. That’s a steep increase from the season seven premiere, which set piracy records of its own, with 90 million illegal viewings in 72 hours.

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

#287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can pay the $10~ per month for premium and get rid of the ads. Many people here on hn complain about the ads but are unwilling to pay to support non ad version at the same time.

I just use a Pi-hole server now. I don't have a problem paying for subs, I use Apple Music and used Spotify, I like Netflix or Prime. But Google/Youtube is unethical with their ads. Yesterday I saw an ad showing "the police kidnapping people in california" from a Russian account. No way to report it anymore, now way to prove it was true, a blatant example of trying to influence people negatively. I'll support the con…

Isn't Pi-hole unethical?

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

#288
post #271
post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the exact same commercial for anti-AIDS drugs sixteen times per hour. European here, I will go over my surprise / weirdness about having ads for chronic disease medication like that, to ask : do you actually, you as the patient, choose which medication you receive for disease like that? Does your opinion override that of the doctor? Is it not ultimately a moot choice both by you and the doctor because the one you w…

As an American, what shocked me in the UK was the amount of ads for sports gambling. Literally every commercial during games was for a betting site. It felt pretty gross.

As an American we may not want to be throwing the proverbial stone in that glass house

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

#289

Im enjoying Hulu/Netflix/Prime Video while I can. My kid has grown up in a household without commercials and where you get points for who can hit “skip” the fastest when one does pop up. Commercials were always annoying but when you aren’t used to seeing them then it really hits home that your seeing the exact same commercial for floor wax sixteen times an hour and the exact same commercial for anti-AIDS drugs sixtee…

In a similar way I am a deadbeat for advertisers, they have never convinced me to by any product ever. Even worse, an irritating advertising made me expressly avoid advertised products because as a consumer I dont want to pay for the advertising through the added price to the product itself.

I stopped watching TV a long time ago and feel way more peaceful. While browsing online I am using adblockers anyway and wonder how long until I cannot access content this way. If it stops working I will stop using and theres no turning back to advertising to me, it doesnt work and irritates me.

I would like to see a micropayments system for online content but with the option to plus/minus up the microdonnation based on whether i found the content useful, whether it was clickbait, etc. It would be great to be able to pay more for a movie that i liked and less on a movie i couldnt stand and didn’t finish watching.

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

#290
post #283
post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Playing devil's advocate... doctors are neither omniscient nor perfect. > Shouldn't my doctor morally and by default be suggesting the best treatment for what I have? Shouldn't programmers by default be suggesting the best algorithm/programming language/design patterns for the problem at hand? In a perfect world, yes. But we live in an imperfect world where sub-optimal choices are made due to time constraints, lack o…

>>shouldn't my doctor morally and by default be suggesting the best treatment for what I have? >Shouldn't programmers by default be suggesting the best algorithm/programming language/design patterns for the problem at hand? Are you implying non technical users would somehow be able to make a crucial technical design decision because they saw an ad somewhere? That seems quite absurd. In my professional experience, eve…

> Are you implying non technical users would somehow be able to make a crucial technical design decision because they saw an ad somewhere? ... In my professional experience, every time a non technical stakeholder has tried to force a specific technology to solve a complex problem, it has been disastrous.

No, and in fact I am against TV advertisements of prescription medications. However, what I am challenging is the attitude Europeans (and some Americans) have that doctors should never be questioned, for they always know what's best and you should just shut up and follow their advice.

See, general practitioners have a very small amount of time to understand and diagnose your problem, draw the correct solution from their vast stores of knowledge, and prescribe something before moving to the next patient. In most cases they don't have time to stew about what your disease might be for hours and hours on end.

But guess who does have time to stew and research for hours, days, and months? The patient. And in the cases of chronic diseases, the patients can often become more expert in their disease (and related medicines and side-effects) than your average general practitioners.

So in summary, I believe:

- No, we should not allow TV adverts for prescription drugs

- Yes, patients should do online research about their diseases, including potential treatments and drugs

- Yes, patients should ask their doctor questions and make suggestions, presenting findings they've gathered

- Yes, patients shouldn't hesitate in getting a second opinion from a different doctor. Not all doctors have the same experience level.

- No, doctors should not bristle at this but encourage research, correcting misconceptions and answering their patients' questions. It's their body, after all

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