Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

interneteconomist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

491–500 of 507 posts

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#491

Post by monocasa »

monetus wrote: post #448
monocasa wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, Apple's content has been some of the best, particularly for such a new player. I was shocked at how they became an HBO equivalent in about two years.

A bunch of people in this thread share your opinion, but I consistently feel like they have the worst writers on average. Most of their shows have poison pills. Foundation had representations of math akin to the hacking from hackers(1). See didn't have many societal mechanics based around... Not seeing - this seemed especially silly with the warfare. Ted lasso and mythic quest are the best, but suffer from the "a lit…

I guess I was able to give foundation a pass on that simply because of the fact that there is by definition no way to express an unknown branch of mathematics. The sin of hackers was that we knew at the time what mid 90s hacking offense looked like. We don't know what a new branch of math in the year 10,000 dependent on many branches ofath also unknown to us in the year 2020 looks like or what tools and processes mathematicians would use to help them manage that complexity. At that point is sort of give the writers/vfx carte blanche to make it at least look really sweet since accuracy is off the table anyway.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#492

Post by pnathan »

taeric wrote: post #316
pnathan wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After having sampled Disney+, HBOMax, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime a fair bit in the past year, my take is that Netflix has the UX nailed. I can, for instance, "thumbs down" a recommendation. Some offerings I never want to see. Their catalog tends to the darker themes, and I'm not fond of that. Hulu and Amazon Prime are mostly irrelevant to me. I'll probably axe the Hulu sub. HBO has a few things I like. Disney+ t…

A problem is that voting and getting recommendations is a tiny market compared to Disney basically pumping out what people are wanting to watch. Yes, you can say they just focus on family content. But that is kind of the point. They identified their market and cater to them really well. Who is the market for Netflix? Their curse is that they can find untapped markets, but then the content owners can invest surprising…

I don't actually like 99% of the Disney+ catalog and don't watch it. I like watching the MCU aaaand that's about it. Its great that D+ hitting a niche and hitting it hard, but I don't want it. A pal of mine has basically seen all of it with his family though. Niches, right?

I would estimate the Netflix target market is basically the non-family under-35s. It's actually closer to my tastes in general. Netflix also has a better real international selection IMO.

There's no clear differentiator between any of the above outside of (1) UX and (2) content. They all are a means of schlepping video to my screen. They are all almost perfectly commodity in my opinion.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#493

Post by coryfklein »

PoignardAzur wrote: post #415
KingMachiavelli wrote: post #175

I really hope Netflix proves everyone wrong. HBO and Disney+ may have a huge advantage but neither seems interested in the tech side. Disney+ may be OK now (it's been a while since I checked) but HBO Max seems to be extremely inconsistent when it comes to streaming quality. Even new, popular shows like Euphoria on HBO Max are only 1080p with a bitrate so low that the frequent, dimly lit scenes are a blocky mess. At t…

> Disney+ may have a huge advantage but neither seems interested in the tech side. Anecdotally, having interviewed for Disney Streaming, they seemed extremely interested in the tech side.

Wow your interview anecdote is totally different from mine. My interview at Disney+ was one of the weirdest I've ever had. Really open ended questions, but the interviewer was looking for very specific answers. At one point the interviewer just laid back in his chair and closed their eyes for a few minutes. I came away really confused and – unsurprisingly – without an offer but not really sure what I was expected to have done differently.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#494

Post by rnotaro »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #468
Joeri wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My kids couldn’t handle youtube. They would watch algorithmically created garbage (5yo) or endless game streaming (9yo) and be impossible to handle afterwards. First we did youtube time-outs, but every time we added it back into the mix we saw their behavior get worse, so eventually we banned youtube outright. Give me a curated platform like disney or netflix any day.

Youtube is not for kids; TOS does not allow it.

They literally have Youtube for kids..

https://www.youtube.com/kids/

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and...

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#495

Post by greghinch »

samwillis wrote: post #184
redm wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised YouTube isn't on your list. We having streaming services, but my kids mostly watch YouTube.

Absolutely no YouTube for our kids, just don’t trust it, not even their kids app. Too many stories of bad content. Here in the uk we have the joy that is CBeebies and CBBC, so have iPlayer (and all the other kids BBC apps) on iPads for the kids. The only other one we let them have free reign on is Disney+, I’m sure this will change for the older one soon.

Things my son (2 and a half) likes to watch on YT:

- Lorry trucks (semis/big rigs) driving on the road/motorway

- The tube/trains/subways coming in and out of stations

- Large excavators digging in quarries and loading dump trucks

The videos are usually pretty slow paced and calm, and we're happy to let him watch in small blocks (5-10 mins max) from time to time. He's shown no interest in typical cartoons, kids shows, etc. I'd love to cut off YT completely, but are there other places to get this type of content for him?

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#496

Post by P_I_Staker »

noahtallen wrote: post #328
rchaud wrote: post #116

The golden age of Netflix was when it had a full library of other networks' shows. It was completely unsustainable at $8.99/mo or whatever it was back in 2013-15. The price of the brick went up each time renewal discussions happened, and the rights holders were planning to set up their own networks anyway. What I didn't anticipate was how fast Netflix would dump AAA content and replace it with a deluge of B and C gra…

While obviously Netflix has a lot to loose here, it don’t think it’s “their fault” for dumping AAA content. The reality is that every content producer on the planet knows they’ll make more money selling their own subscription platform. Netflix can’t continue to get Marvel movies, for example, now that Disney has pulled the plug. There’s not any amount of cash Netflix could afford to pay which would be enough for The…

There's two sides of this coin. On one hand, consumers have gotten a horrendous deal in the past with cable. Expensive price, plus tons of commercials; they literally don't even broadcast a good portion of the day. Even current Netflix, with their shitty lineup, beats the deal I was getting on cable.

On the other had, consumers have now grown accustomed to really favorable deals on content. All media must be free. Everything must be rolled into one low, low price. We used to happily buy 1-4 CD(s) a week. I'm pretty sure I've spent more on CD(s) in a single transaction than on an entire year of spotify... and that was as a kid with no money.

We used to buy DVD(s) all the time. You'd spend $200-500 a year on several streaming services. I feel like I spent that just on DVD(s) as gifts for christmas every year. People don't want to pay a cent for news or subscription media. This used to be a major expenditure.

It used to be that a good chunk of your money was spent on media. You have to have entertainment to make your life better, so you pay whatever you have to. In the past there was far less competition, and consumers were getting some really bad deals. Now I think consumers are often out of wack with their expectations.

Why on earth should the government implement price fixing to limit what people make on intellectual property? Why do you think $10-20/mo is the fair price for ALL THE CONTENT IN THE WORLD, vs. the $50-100 you'd have to pay (and a cable package would be like $100-300)... In the 90s we'd pay over $100/mo for like 5 CD(s), and cable prices were insane.

This stuff isn't cheap, easy, or risk free to produce either. I've been as critical of producers as anyone, but people often lose sight of this.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#497

Post by sedatk »

yskchu wrote: post #460
sedatk wrote: post #383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think back button suddenly closing the app is more hostile. When you do it accidentally, the recovery steps are painful (app switch, find app, focus to it etc). I totally understand why Netflix would prevent it from happening. I think iPhone solved it better than Android with the "super back" link or the app hopping gesture. Android could improve the back button with a long-press requirement in order to navigate aw…

Sorry, I totally disagree that is is "completely in the right", I use 3 other video apps, they all give exit prompts instead, here is an example: Netflix could have done what Prime video does Prime Video: "Do you want to exit the app? (Yes/No)", then done Netflix: scroll all the way down the menu options: Home, Play something, New & Popular, TV Shows, Movies, My List, Get Help, Exit Netflix (click), 8 clicks in total…

I think the existence of exit prompts is sole admission of how painful this experience is for the users. The prompt itself can be a hindrance for the user too. I still think that it's an Android UX problem, not Netflix.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#498

Post by epolanski »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #474
epolanski wrote: post #452

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix has produced some good movies in recent years. Your big budget talk applies much more to disney marvel money milking the same cows with the same movie variation over and over and consistently riding the remake agenda of all their classics (which I liked tbh).

Can you name a few? I can only think of three memorable ones; Annihilation (genuinely good film IMO), Bright (mediocre; decent worldbuilding but lacking) and Bird Box (mediocre, massive budget spent on promotion and hype). I get big "direct-to-dvd" vibes with most other stuff they put on. And nobody talks about these films, which for me is a big indicator that it's not worth watching. I'll admit Netflix spends a lot…

Roma, Unforgivable, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Dont Look Up, Bird Box, The Irishman, lots of good movies, few of them are greatbut some are good.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#499

Post by pas »

monocasa wrote: post #491
monetus wrote: post #448

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bunch of people in this thread share your opinion, but I consistently feel like they have the worst writers on average. Most of their shows have poison pills. Foundation had representations of math akin to the hacking from hackers(1). See didn't have many societal mechanics based around... Not seeing - this seemed especially silly with the warfare. Ted lasso and mythic quest are the best, but suffer from the "a lit…

I guess I was able to give foundation a pass on that simply because of the fact that there is by definition no way to express an unknown branch of mathematics. The sin of hackers was that we knew at the time what mid 90s hacking offense looked like. We don't know what a new branch of math in the year 10,000 dependent on many branches ofath also unknown to us in the year 2020 looks like or what tools and processes mat…

Foundation's problem is not with "math visuals", but that it's amazingly bad. Cliffhangers so dumb that made me vow never to pay for that show. Plotlines so weak I was wishing they'd just show more of the bland visuals in quiet. Pacing so fucked Asimov is going to rise up and bitchslap them.

(Of course in the books there is some mention of how the math looked. Just a fuckton of equations on a wall :D)

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#500

Post by mixmastamyk »

rnotaro wrote: post #494
mixmastamyk wrote: post #468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Youtube is not for kids; TOS does not allow it.

They literally have Youtube for kids.. https://www.youtube.com/kids/ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and...

And? Small percentage bothers to use, and it’s not foolproof on inappropriateness. They were caught surveilling kids also.
Post reply on HN