Please Pay for a Year of Nothing • Hacker News Board

Re: Please Pay for a Year of Nothing

#121

Post by alisson_dover » Fri, Oct 20, 2023, 1:11 AM UTC

ct0 wrote: post #120

alisson_dover wrote: post #117

PSA: in the US you can get a free account at https://www.kanopy.com/ by just joining a local library. Kanopy is my preferred streaming service, it has a big collection of quality movies (not Netflix-type trash).

Its free but limited use per person over the month. great service. Libby is also free if you have a library card and want to use it for more than streaming.

Libby and Hoopla: free books, audio books, movies.

Just to add: Kanopy gives you 15 free movies per month. Not enough for binging TV shows but certainly enough for 15 quality movie watching sessions per month.

Re: Please Pay for a Year of Nothing

#122

Post by ct0 » Fri, Oct 20, 2023, 1:11 AM UTC

citizenkeen wrote: post #63

jjulius wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's something a bit twisted about using my kids for their own financial gain. Hence my pirating of said shows - no issue getting those repeat views in via Plex/NAS.

I keep thinking about Plex but I struggle with the idea of teaching my kids that stealing is okay. Like, for a little kid: "This kind of theft is okay, this kind of theft isn't." seems nuanced for a little kid.

If you own the dvd's you can guilt free run the movies from plex.

Re: Please Pay for a Year of Nothing

#123

Post by deeviant » Fri, Oct 20, 2023, 1:12 AM UTC

I'm sure this is an unpopular opinion, but I have very little sympathy for writers. The work today is on average horrible, derivative and opposite of inspired. I'm at the point where I'm almost ready for AI to take over.

It's just that rare gem that hits now and then that gives me pause, but frankly, I can't remember the last time I watched a movie that actually moved me.

Re: Please Pay for a Year of Nothing

#124

Post by bigstrat2003 » Fri, Oct 20, 2023, 1:13 AM UTC

citizenkeen wrote: post #63

jjulius wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's something a bit twisted about using my kids for their own financial gain. Hence my pirating of said shows - no issue getting those repeat views in via Plex/NAS.

I keep thinking about Plex but I struggle with the idea of teaching my kids that stealing is okay. Like, for a little kid: "This kind of theft is okay, this kind of theft isn't." seems nuanced for a little kid.

I think that's fair. But Plex isn't just for stolen content. My Plex server is full of movies/TV shows that I ripped from discs I bought. Granted that it's more expensive to do that, but that could be a viable way to ditch streaming services without setting a bad example.

Re: Please Pay for a Year of Nothing

#125

Post by kaibee » Fri, Oct 20, 2023, 1:14 AM UTC

jprete wrote: post #115

forrestthewoods wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The number of scripted shows tripled from 2009 to 2022. From 210 to 599. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/peak-tv-2022-co... !

This was also the period where Netflix et al discovered that shows become more costly to make and less likely to get brand-new subscribers around season 3. So it’s hard for me to give that statistic any weight.

> This was also the period where Netflix et al discovered that shows become more costly to make and less likely to get brand-new subscribers around season 3.

This isn't the only reason I stopped watching shows, but its certainly a contributing factor. Kinda gets old seeing some cool first season setup a bunch of interesting story arcs, great show, etc and then cancelled.

Re: Please Pay for a Year of Nothing

#126

Post by coryrc » Fri, Oct 20, 2023, 1:16 AM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #47

kiba wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once you see a detective show, you basically seen 80% of all detective shows. That's why it seems that there can be nothing to watch, because 80% is basically a rehash, just with different characters and slightly different plots.

Yeah, you're right, I watched one season of Law and Order and thought "Great, I've seen 80% of all detective shows, no need to watch any more." /s

If you've seen one episode of Law & Order or House you've seen every episode in the series.

Re: Please Pay for a Year of Nothing

#127

Post by r00fus » Fri, Oct 20, 2023, 1:16 AM UTC

wly_cdgr wrote: post #53

TL;DR: Adult whose TC is probably $300k+ makes time to write a whole ass blog post indignantly complaining about a $30 price hike for an annual subscription to a children's content channel

Personally seeing a doubling of price while studios aren't releasing anything because of the stupid war against the actors guild is just an affront to my sense of decency.

I was going to say Disney+ was going to stay because my kids love the content but I posed it to them and they agree - let's cancel and if the need arises we can binge for a month. Or borrow DVDs from the library. Or play their switch or watch YouTube etc etc.

Re: Please Pay for a Year of Nothing

#128

Post by labster » Fri, Oct 20, 2023, 1:17 AM UTC

kiba wrote: post #44

jayd16 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you say it's a fixed amount of content? Finite, sure, but it's not fixed.

Once you see a detective show, you basically seen 80% of all detective shows. That's why it seems that there can be nothing to watch, because 80% is basically a rehash, just with different characters and slightly different plots.

Honestly detective fiction is perhaps the worst format you could give for your example, because the structure of the story allows you to essentially tell a different short story with different characters every time. Moody Twin Peaks has almost nothing in common with the goofball Psych (except the one tribute episode). Inspector Lewis plots are complex and intellectual, while Castle is fluffy and predictable. Recipes for Love and Murder, Brokenwood, Midsomer Murders, and Murdoch Mysteries are more about life among the varied settings than the murders; the murders give us an excuse to explore the characters around them.

Though maybe the most important point of that is that watching TV from different countries will make your viewing more interesting.

Re: Please Pay for a Year of Nothing

#129

Post by CivBase » Fri, Oct 20, 2023, 1:17 AM UTC

cortesoft wrote: post #81

I honestly can never understand people who say there is not enough good content on streamers. Every single service I have subscribed to has way more content that I want to watch than time I have to watch it. I watch maybe an hour a night, and I have a huge backlog of shows I’d like to watch that I slowly work through. Even my current list will take me years, and I have new shows to add all the time. Are these people…

There's plenty to watch. Just not much I consider worth my time. I can count on my fingers the number of movies and TV shows from the last couple years I was interested in. So why should I pay an arm and a leg for it? I could own physical copies of the material I care about for as much as they want me to pay in streaming subscriptions.

Re: Please Pay for a Year of Nothing

#130

Post by r00fus » Fri, Oct 20, 2023, 1:17 AM UTC

mvdtnz wrote: post #95

crooked-v wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://i.imgur.com/OmLPVzB.png

Can you explain why you think this image is relevant here?

It means "don't complain about other people who have a reasonable complaint" - it doesn't in fact make you look smart.