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HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

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Re: HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

#2
I wish they would take on Netflix with some better UI functionality. I can't even fast forward at hbogo.com without picking up the mouse. The only keyboard commands that work are Spacebar to pause and play and F to get full screen.

Another problem is that if I watch 2 episodes in a row and I bookmark the page of the 2nd episode to finish it later, the URL in the address bar is actually still the URL of the 1st episode.

Re: HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

#6
This is like when Apple said their Music platform would be more human curated rather than algorithms like competitors such as Spotify. But the reason why I love Spotify's recommendations and not Apple's is because Spotify focuses on algorithms and does them so well.

Same with Netflix, in my experience they truly know what I will like to watch, they seem to know what shows I'll love and what shows I won't love but will help pass the time, and seem to show it to me just when I want it.

I imagine it takes a lot of time and lots of past history and data on users to create those algorithms so when starting out the human curation method is required. And for companies like Apple, may be the long term strategy because the alogrithm method that YouTube and Spotify comes at the cost of potential tracking and privacy concerns.

Re: HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

#9
As Netflix has moved away from carrying lots of other people's movies to largely producing their own in-house TV shows, it feels like they barely have enough content to need an algorithm to curate it. They just show the same new Netflix originals over and over in ever category.

I'm sure Netflix has piles of data that shows this is the best strategy. It just seems like a differentiated curation strategy doesn't matter that much in this battle. It will come down to who is producing the most popular original content most consistently.

Re: HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

#10

This is like when Apple said their Music platform would be more human curated rather than algorithms like competitors such as Spotify. But the reason why I love Spotify's recommendations and not Apple's is because Spotify focuses on algorithms and does them so well. Same with Netflix, in my experience they truly know what I will like to watch, they seem to know what shows I'll love and what shows I won't love but wil…

I think it also depends on what you listen to. I've seen plenty of people complain about Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist and how it doesn't get it right, but I love it. If you listen to a wide range of genres, it will give you a weird mix, but otherwise its been my go-to for many years now.
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