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The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

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Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#451
Frankly, they shouldn't have increased their subscriber fees recently. It's not the time. They could've done it closer to the beginning of the pandemic, when it wouldn't have really affected the amount of subscribers, as people would've kept subscribed anyway - but to do it now was suicide. I know at least 5 people - personally - who quit Netflix after that.

The password sharing thing is also huge, as due to the insanity of the fragmentation that the ludicrous number of streaming services has caused, a lot of friends and families cope by subscribing to one service apiece and sharing them among each other.

As soon as these little tricks stop working and it becomes more expensive, people will just drop it. It's not like Netflix has actually worked on any value adds recently - tbh I feel their content offerings have gotten so poor recently it's next on the chopping block for me, too.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#452
post #322

I doubt most of the subscription loss is attributable to reasons that most HN types go on about (the rants about wokeness, not enough scifi, carousel UI, pirating etc...). What's probably going on is after after a few years of pandemic isolation and Netflix binging, the arrival of pandemic triggered inflation, and overall higher employment rates, people just have less interest, time, and money to binge watch longer f…

I would tend to agree. Another factor is that people have choices now. There are other public streaming companies which gives investors something to compare to. When you are out there on your own the sky is the limit for stock price. Now it's why should more for a premium for X when Y is growing faster etc.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The purpose is to be a signal to the distributor: "fix your payment model or we're not paying". I pirated for a long time. When Netflix became a thing, I stopped pirating (since it was easier). Now I pirate again. If a new company came along with a good model, or the industry as a whole decided this streaming debacle is stupid, I would definitely stop pirating and give my money to someone. Until then, why would I pay…

What is a "good model" to you?

When I open IMDB database a drop down with links appears. If publisher decided not to provide movie for purchase - these are links to torrent files to download movie in HD, FHD and 4k with preselected language and subtitles settings. If publisher decided to provide movie for purchase - links to buy it with comparable price to a movie ticket. But you buy Movie not an HD+English+SpanishSubs file version and you don’t have access to 4k video. You can also buy subscription to IMDB which will include 100-200 hours worth of content per month. You don’t buy movies this way. You stream them and they don’t belong to you once your subscription ends. Publishers get their money based on minutes of content watched by users.

It won’t work?

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#454
post #322

I doubt most of the subscription loss is attributable to reasons that most HN types go on about (the rants about wokeness, not enough scifi, carousel UI, pirating etc...). What's probably going on is after after a few years of pandemic isolation and Netflix binging, the arrival of pandemic triggered inflation, and overall higher employment rates, people just have less interest, time, and money to binge watch longer f…

Especially since there is not even enough good content on Netflix to fill 1-2 hours per week. The article nails the central issue: the shows on Netflix are not good.

Yes, that's largely it. Many of the shows, especially newer ones, are actually just kinda trash. Why pay for trash? Not to mention the raised prices and cracking down on password sharing.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not easier. I've got a BS in EE and am old enough to have downloaded episodes of the TV show 24 over 56k using early BitTorrent. I've successfully set up plex (which requires an in house server/spare pc), sonarr, radarr, usenet, etc. I'm probably the 99% percentile in ability to pirate. And its not easier than netflix. 90% of people I know probably couldn't set this up. And the other 10% would spend more time di…

I was at a friends house, he was starting GameOfThrones. I was like "you going to cancel hbo after??" He explained he was pirating. But! He is non technical (a nurse by trade). I was very confused asked to see his setup. He walked over to small black box under his tv. I was fascinated. It was a raseberry pi enclosure with hdmi out, it was prepackaged - networking p2p software for looking up stolen items, a UI better…

Kodi with the right preloaded plugins can do wonders and make it accessible to non-technical users

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're stealing income, specifically from me and all of my coworkers. Perhaps you think that you're only stealing from Producers and A list actors, but there are entire departments that receive residuals on a production. - On screen performers, stunt performers like myself and actors who grind out a comfortable living. Those residuals also go to qualifying for health insurance through earnings. You are directly steal…

Uh huh, I'll stop stealing from you when you stop stealing from me. Advertizements everywhere stealing my attention, public space, and landscape beauty. Stealth taxes on empty hard drives and other storage media. Hardware-destroying rootkits and other malware (lost a DVD drive to DRM, will you reimburse me?). Draconian control mechanisms and lobbying stealing my control of the devices I own. Mountains upon mountains…

You, personally, are stealing from my income. All those issues you raise are valid and important issues to address. Stealing because those things make you angry makes you part of the problem.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#457

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know how to phrase this nicely, but this is precisely the type of Hacker News nerd-blindness that I find amazing. It's "easier"? Is it? For young children who want to watch their kids shows and don't know what 4k means? For grandparents who want to see some k-dramas and have no clue about DRM or geo-locked? Sure, Netflix has issues and it's made some bad decisions, but let's not delude ourselves here. The gro…

It's not easier. I've got a BS in EE and am old enough to have downloaded episodes of the TV show 24 over 56k using early BitTorrent. I've successfully set up plex (which requires an in house server/spare pc), sonarr, radarr, usenet, etc. I'm probably the 99% percentile in ability to pirate. And its not easier than netflix. 90% of people I know probably couldn't set this up. And the other 10% would spend more time di…

Check out jellyfin it runs fine as a service on the users PC. You create different directories for TV shows and movies and drop files in and they show up shortly after.

Plug the PC up to display and presto.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not easier. I've got a BS in EE and am old enough to have downloaded episodes of the TV show 24 over 56k using early BitTorrent. I've successfully set up plex (which requires an in house server/spare pc), sonarr, radarr, usenet, etc. I'm probably the 99% percentile in ability to pirate. And its not easier than netflix. 90% of people I know probably couldn't set this up. And the other 10% would spend more time di…

I was at a friends house, he was starting GameOfThrones. I was like "you going to cancel hbo after??" He explained he was pirating. But! He is non technical (a nurse by trade). I was very confused asked to see his setup. He walked over to small black box under his tv. I was fascinated. It was a raseberry pi enclosure with hdmi out, it was prepackaged - networking p2p software for looking up stolen items, a UI better…

Ask your friend where he bought such a wonderful device

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#459

I'd been looking for reason to get rid of Netflix once they made it impossible to adequately curate the user experience — they kept shoving content I didn't want to see at me, as well as content I'd already seen, and gave me no way to exclude shows or types of shows from being presented to me. Netflix is amazingly anti-user, and anti-user choice. The autoplay of short clips they introduced made it actively anti-user.…

My point was when they raised the price - insult to injury (not great content)

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not easier. I've got a BS in EE and am old enough to have downloaded episodes of the TV show 24 over 56k using early BitTorrent. I've successfully set up plex (which requires an in house server/spare pc), sonarr, radarr, usenet, etc. I'm probably the 99% percentile in ability to pirate. And its not easier than netflix. 90% of people I know probably couldn't set this up. And the other 10% would spend more time di…

I didn't understand the GabeN reference but looked it up: > "Piracy is a service problem." Valve's Gabe Newell said that years ago, touting the success of Steam, his online video game distribution service.

It’s a pretty famous quote and he’s correct. Steam has DRM aspects but is pretty seamless. It is entirely way more work to look for cracked games and download those than to just buy it on steam.
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