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Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

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Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#41

I cannot for the life of me understand the rebrand. This has got to be some idiot exec who just wanted to put their stamp on things. One of those decisions that isn’t for the benefit of customers or shareholders—just the exec.

I think that the point of the rebrand was to eliminate the expectation that HBO shows would be available on HBO Max. For example, Westworld is no longer available on Max.

Why would HBO shows not be available on HBO's own platform? Makes no sense whatsoever.

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine being the person who took a rock solid brand like HBO and flushed it down the toilet…

There was another really good New Yorker piece recently about Howard Schultz (the Starbucks CEO responsible for elevating the company into the juggernaut chain it is today) and his insistence on rolling out these Oleato drinks that are literally just coffee with olive oil drizzled in. Granted, I don't think Oleato is enough to kill Starbucks, but my takeaway of the whole thing was that sometimes these C-suite guys en…

I don't know anything about Oleato, but some people swear by the coffee+MCT oil (bulletproof coffee) combo. I see several brands at Whole Foods that are basically this (Super Coffee and others). Oleato doesn't sound too far off from that, and looking it up, it looks intriguing.

But reading more about it, seems they put way too much oil in the coffee. Super Coffee has 3 grams of MCT oil, I'm seeing Oleato with 34 grams of oil reported in a Grande.

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#43
post #9

Baffles me why all these streaming companies are shooting themselves in the foot. For about 18 months there was a golden age where it was easier to pay for things than to pirate. Now we’re in a situation where it’s even /harder/ than it’s ever been. People will pay for media if it’s easy and a good experience. The barrier to piracy is non-existent these days and you actually get a far better experience.

These copyright owners always defeat themselves. Netflix used to have a rich selection of content. Now every single studio has its own shitty streaming service instead. You subscribe to one of these things and you find they have like 5 films you like. You watch one of these things and you find they compressed the "high definition" stream so much it has artifacts in 90% black frames. Meanwhile "pirates" have everythin…

My lifetime Plex pass I bought a few years ago is paying off in spades.

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#44

I cannot for the life of me understand the rebrand. This has got to be some idiot exec who just wanted to put their stamp on things. One of those decisions that isn’t for the benefit of customers or shareholders—just the exec.

I think that the point of the rebrand was to eliminate the expectation that HBO shows would be available on HBO Max. For example, Westworld is no longer available on Max.

They should have called it HBO Min.

Closer to reality.

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that the point of the rebrand was to eliminate the expectation that HBO shows would be available on HBO Max. For example, Westworld is no longer available on Max.

Why would HBO shows not be available on HBO's own platform? Makes no sense whatsoever.

Often it can be more profitable to license out shows to other services, if the show isn’t doing well enough to warrant keeping on your own.

Disney does this as well, and Netflix will do this regionally.

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine being the person who took a rock solid brand like HBO and flushed it down the toilet…

There was another really good New Yorker piece recently about Howard Schultz (the Starbucks CEO responsible for elevating the company into the juggernaut chain it is today) and his insistence on rolling out these Oleato drinks that are literally just coffee with olive oil drizzled in. Granted, I don't think Oleato is enough to kill Starbucks, but my takeaway of the whole thing was that sometimes these C-suite guys en…

What a better way to give your customers the shits than to drizzle oil in coffee.

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that the point of the rebrand was to eliminate the expectation that HBO shows would be available on HBO Max. For example, Westworld is no longer available on Max.

Why would HBO shows not be available on HBO's own platform? Makes no sense whatsoever.

Probably trying to save money on residuals or some sort of licensing (music perhaps).

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#48

Does anyone care about 4k? Ive been using either 720 or 1080p for years and never had an issue

I don't particularly care either. These streaming services will compress the video pretty horribly anyway. I saw lagging artifacts in a panning shot once and I started wondering why I pay these people.

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#49

"Legacy" marketing wank. I signed up last year. They want 33% more ($150 -> $200) for absolute no value at all. A greedy profit-price spiral cash-grab is what it is. Canceling the day before the renewal and back to torrents I guess. https://auth.max.com/cancel-subscription

I haven't done it in over a decade. Is the bay still the way it's mostly done by casuals?

TPB is hot garbage these days. I really recommend doing some research and finding some better sites.

I ended up just buying a private tracker account on some shady third party site, was well worth it. YMMV.

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#50

Does anyone care about 4k? Ive been using either 720 or 1080p for years and never had an issue

The Dolby Atmos/Vision standards also provide HDR, dynamic brightness, and surround sound. People spend thousands of dollars on home theater setups to meet those standards. Max has almost completely stopped producing cinematic content, so I can’t imagine the upsell making much sense.
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