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Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

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Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#291

Post by WhompingWindows »

For a long time, a friend recorded TV shows and movies on multiple VCRs. I went to their house, it was literally stacks of video casettes on every wall surface, thousands of them. They even used to mail them back and forth to other countries in trades for other English content.

Nowadays, they digitized all of it onto 12 2 TB harddrives. They take a different one out every evening and organize and share, get more things, etc. While the cost may be comparable, the fact that they could regain their house walls was a huge boon.

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#292

Post by philistine »

zinodaur wrote: post #202
philistine wrote: post #103

What you’re describing is data hoarding. I pirate a ton too, but you know what I do with a movie or TV show after I’ve watched it? I delete it. Poof, gone. But it’s still in the most important dataset I have. My memory. To help with the metadata of my own memory, I write down a list of the films I’ve seen. I only keep the movies I really love and want to rewatch (Robocop). That TV show I just finished that was great…

Good thing you have all those "data hoarders" to leech off of when you wanna download something tho...

My seeding ratio is in the positive! I keep the downloaded file and seed until I hit 2.00, then it's gone.

I have to convert and move the original file for my TV anyway, so sometimes the file will be gone from my library, but I'm still seeding the original for a while afterwards.

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#293

Post by jafo »

lobocinza wrote: post #237
georgeecollins wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't pirate, I pay for content, but I like to own a digital copy of music content. So I buy MP3s rather than subscribe to a service. It's probably strange-- and maybe dumb-- but I feel like in the long run I never know what will happen to a service in terms of how it may change in price or quality. If I own a CD or an MP3, I know I have what I want. It may not be rational. I know some people think I am crazy.

It makes sense but on practical terms it's expensive and uncovenient to buy MP3s.

Long ago, computing was about freedom.

"I can organize a music collection the way I want...AND take it with me wherever I go?"

Somewhere along the line "convenience" displaced "freedom".

"Why manage my own collection when I have Spotify or Apple Music?"

I suspect the pendulum will swing back at some point.

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#294

Post by mikkergp »

eternityforest wrote: post #262
philistine wrote: post #103

What you’re describing is data hoarding. I pirate a ton too, but you know what I do with a movie or TV show after I’ve watched it? I delete it. Poof, gone. But it’s still in the most important dataset I have. My memory. To help with the metadata of my own memory, I write down a list of the films I’ve seen. I only keep the movies I really love and want to rewatch (Robocop). That TV show I just finished that was great…

This is one of the very first tines I have seen data hoarding described as a problem rather than just a hobby. It does seem to have aspects that are a bit more troublesome than people talk about. Reddit seems very pro hoarding, this thread seems to see it like physical hoarding. It doesn't seem to be as much of a problem as this thread would make you think though.

OP Doesn't need to go to rehab, but OP described a problem (expense is growing) and one solution would be to think about the collection in a different way. I think in this case, it is a 'problem' in a practical sense, not a moral one. That being said if OP just wants to vent and doesn't want a solution then there's that too.

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#295

Post by philistine »

temp8964 wrote: post #189
philistine wrote: post #103

What you’re describing is data hoarding. I pirate a ton too, but you know what I do with a movie or TV show after I’ve watched it? I delete it. Poof, gone. But it’s still in the most important dataset I have. My memory. To help with the metadata of my own memory, I write down a list of the films I’ve seen. I only keep the movies I really love and want to rewatch (Robocop). That TV show I just finished that was great…

> data hoarding, which is a problem. Data hoarding is not a problem. It's a hobby. Everyone needs a hobby, most hobbies cost money. Traveling? Cost money. Woodworking? Cost money. Photography? Cost money. Biking? Cost money. Gaming? Cost money (+ way more time). Data hoarding is just a hobby like others. Plus data hoarding can have great value, if you choose to hoard good content.

Any hobby can turn into a problem. I'm quick to judge the data hoarders, because I absolutely do not consider myself one, but it can absolutely be a benign hobby. That being said, a 45$ a month electricity bill directly related to the hard drives, that's a lot of dough for making a number go up.

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#296

Post by pwg »

pirate-Loo6uoDu wrote: post #193
idkyall wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many drives do you have in your server? Or do you just have very high power costs? I thought drives consume ~7-9w unless they're very high RPM. Maybe consider upgrading to a few high density drives? Hard drive costs have corrected recently after the Chia craze last year.

My estimate is that it's idling at ~250w. I'm admittedly fudging the details a bit, right now archive-team-warrior is using a lot of CPU because it's archiving telegram, and that's pushing the number up. Calculating it again the actual number is a bit lower than that, and it wasn't in US dollars.

With a Kill A Watt (or similar, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_A_Watt) meter, you don't have to estimate power usage, you can measure the actual power usage.

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#297

Post by sophacles »

Supermancho wrote: post #289
sophacles wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did OP ask if it was a problem? Did OP state it was a problem? Not that I see - AFAICT the only people declaring it a problem are the busybodies latching on to OP spending the same amount on this hobby as they would dining out at a decent restaurant once a month.

> Did OP state it was a problem? The title ascribes it to "piracy" costs, which is incorrect. GL with whatever.

The title is > Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

That doesn't say it's a problem. It's a statement of fact. You are projecting a problem onto it.

I pay more for dinner out than I would if signed up for HelloFresh to be delivered to my house.

What if I like eating out?

What if neither cost has any meaningful impact on my bottom line?

Is that a problem too?

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#298

Post by kgwxd »

wollsmoth wrote: post #221
kgwxd wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you play the media without going through Amazon or Apple to do it? Is the quality guaranteed to be good when I choose to watch it? What kind of ads am I going to get when I click play? Even if there are no ads now, is that guaranteed to be the case forever? Downloadable, ad free, and DRM free. Music has been selling that way for decades. I've spent thousands on that kind of media, I'd have spent 10 times as much…

It sounds like you have a lot of concerns about this that all kind of conveniently put you in a place to pirate whatever you want. Most of the time I watch things once, so I rent it if it's not on a platform I subscribe to. Generally then I can watch it on my tv, ps4, phone, computer, whatever. Consider that money spent on these products are an indication to studios about what people like. Movie studios, production c…

I don't need any excuses to download whatever I want. It doesn't cost anyone anything, and no suffering of any kind is introduced into the world for anyone.

Most, if not all, things I've downloaded, which isn't much, I've either rented before, seen on TV or in a theater, or have been on one of the streaming services I pay for at some point. Does that cover me ethically? Some people seem to think so. I personally don't care either way and not a single person on this planet is any worse off for my lack of concern.

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#300

Post by temp8964 »

philistine wrote: post #295
temp8964 wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> data hoarding, which is a problem. Data hoarding is not a problem. It's a hobby. Everyone needs a hobby, most hobbies cost money. Traveling? Cost money. Woodworking? Cost money. Photography? Cost money. Biking? Cost money. Gaming? Cost money (+ way more time). Data hoarding is just a hobby like others. Plus data hoarding can have great value, if you choose to hoard good content.

Any hobby can turn into a problem. I'm quick to judge the data hoarders, because I absolutely do not consider myself one, but it can absolutely be a benign hobby. That being said, a 45$ a month electricity bill directly related to the hard drives, that's a lot of dough for making a number go up.

Hard drives can be turned to sleep when they are not being accessed. If you do that, the electricity cost will be very low.

There is a believe that this will damage the hard drives. I am not sure how valid it is.

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