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TV: Now What?

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Re: TV: Now What?

#51

Post by ghaff »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #50
ghaff wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prices have been creeping up (and Netflix is the worst offender). But, if you can live without live TV and can do without that one show on such and such a service, it's still a pretty good deal relative to the cable TV bundle especially if you also had one or two premium stations/streaming services like HBO.

$7.99 in 2010 is $11.27 today. The remaining $4.22 delta is reasonable given that their business model has changed from purely licensing with zero competition to being locked out of popular content and forced to produce their own.

Oh, I understand the reasons. It's just one of services where my monthly payments are yellow to red on my radar. I keep them but it's on the bubble.

Re: TV: Now What?

#52

Post by mindslight »

scarface_74 wrote: post #47
mindslight wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, just pirate. I can kind of understand why people started giving Netflix money for the convenience, despite that supporting an industry desperately trying to destroy the Internet. But now with a thousand and five different "services", continually squeezing users for more revenue, digital restrictions management that makes perfectly good hardware stop working, and ever more surveillance telemetry in the various app…

So instead of just paying a few bucks a month I’m going to go through the trouble of trawling the internet to find a good torrent and then set up my own Plex server (been those done that) - alternative I can just open an app and not think about it.

Judging by the various threads on this topic, the current streaming reality isn't "a few bucks" and it actually involves quite a lot of cognitive overhead (exactly when you just want to be relaxing!). Neither do you have to go "trawling" for torrents - public trackers/catalogs easily get you the contemporary zeitgeist and its back catalog. But sure, keep on enjoying the simulated liberation of the corporate sandbox. My comment was meant for those on the fence.

Re: TV: Now What?

#53

Post by Eisenstein »

slovette wrote: post #33
bmy78 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one says you have to subscribe to ALL of the streaming platforms at once. If cost is an issue, pick 1 or 2 services, watch the shows you’re interested in, then cancel those and pick 1 or 2. Rince and repeat. You have choice with this approach and you don’t need every service offered.

While perhaps a nominal iteration of improvement, cable was this way too. You didn’t have to have the $100 /month service package. There was always the $30 /mo basic cable (no guide box). The industry simply recycling its business model in new delivery methods is a valid complaint/perception.

The problem with cable was you couldn't have 'basic cable + FX' or 'basic + AMC' it was $30 for lame selection of mostly crap and then $80 - $100 for anything better.

Re: TV: Now What?

#54

Post by nullindividual »

slovette wrote: post #33
bmy78 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one says you have to subscribe to ALL of the streaming platforms at once. If cost is an issue, pick 1 or 2 services, watch the shows you’re interested in, then cancel those and pick 1 or 2. Rince and repeat. You have choice with this approach and you don’t need every service offered.

While perhaps a nominal iteration of improvement, cable was this way too. You didn’t have to have the $100 /month service package. There was always the $30 /mo basic cable (no guide box). The industry simply recycling its business model in new delivery methods is a valid complaint/perception.

But! With cable, if you didn't buy the upper tier packages, you may have missed out on some great shows/networks (e.g., HBO). And cable companies often use contracts to make downgrading expensive. With streaming services, cancelling after you've binge watch the shows you're interested in comes with no penalty.

Re: TV: Now What?

#55

Post by Eisenstein »

scarface_74 wrote: post #43
hotnfresh wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The fragmentation is both a flaw and a feature It’d be purely a feature if we banned shared ownership of distribution and production, like we did with movie studios and movie theaters for decades.

This is monumentally a bad idea. Do you really want to ban all producers from being able to distribute their own goods and depend on middlemen? Whether you know it or not, since the 1930s things have changed, TVs are popular, there is this thing called the internet and websites. Do you also want to ban software developers and song writers from being able to publish their own work on websites?

> Do you really want to ban all producers from being able to distribute their own goods and depend on middlemen?

Yes.

> Whether you know it or not, since the 1930s things have changed, TVs are popular, there is this thing called the internet and websites.

So?

> Do you also want to ban software developers and song writers from being able to publish their own work on websites?

Maybe. It doesn't appear to be a problem yet, but if it is then let's pursue that option.

Re: TV: Now What?

#56

Post by hotnfresh »

scarface_74 wrote: post #43
hotnfresh wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The fragmentation is both a flaw and a feature It’d be purely a feature if we banned shared ownership of distribution and production, like we did with movie studios and movie theaters for decades.

This is monumentally a bad idea. Do you really want to ban all producers from being able to distribute their own goods and depend on middlemen? Whether you know it or not, since the 1930s things have changed, TVs are popular, there is this thing called the internet and websites. Do you also want to ban software developers and song writers from being able to publish their own work on websites?

It would be better for consumers if productions were available through more outlets rather than fewer, so yes.

Re: TV: Now What?

#58

Post by AussieWog93 »

scarface_74 wrote: post #47
mindslight wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, just pirate. I can kind of understand why people started giving Netflix money for the convenience, despite that supporting an industry desperately trying to destroy the Internet. But now with a thousand and five different "services", continually squeezing users for more revenue, digital restrictions management that makes perfectly good hardware stop working, and ever more surveillance telemetry in the various app…

So instead of just paying a few bucks a month I’m going to go through the trouble of trawling the internet to find a good torrent and then set up my own Plex server (been those done that) - alternative I can just open an app and not think about it.

It's funny you mention that. Convenience is exactly why I switched to piracy earlier this year.

To watch content legally, I first have to work out who owns the rights in Australia (it can be different to the US, and often changes - e.g. last time I watched The Terminator it was on Netflix but now it's on Amazon Prime), see if I have that app (I'm not signing up to an app to watch one film, even if it were free it's not worth the bullshit), and if not pick a different film and start the whole process again. It's worse for TV shows, where season 1 could be exclusive to Netflix but seasons 2-7 are only on Stan.

To pirate content, I open the Elementum tab in Kodi, type in what I want to watch, and 20 seconds later it's directly streaming from the bittorrent network in fantastic HD quality.

Elementum is a plugin for Kodi, works great.

Re: TV: Now What?

#59

Post by scarface_74 »

hotnfresh wrote: post #56
scarface_74 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is monumentally a bad idea. Do you really want to ban all producers from being able to distribute their own goods and depend on middlemen? Whether you know it or not, since the 1930s things have changed, TVs are popular, there is this thing called the internet and websites. Do you also want to ban software developers and song writers from being able to publish their own work on websites?

It would be better for consumers if productions were available through more outlets rather than fewer, so yes.

You didn’t answer the question , are you really saying that it should be illegal for any content producer to distribute their own content on their own website?

I’m assuming you would apply those same standards to software developers, writers, song writers and any video content?

Re: TV: Now What?

#60

Post by scarface_74 »

Eisenstein wrote: post #55
scarface_74 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is monumentally a bad idea. Do you really want to ban all producers from being able to distribute their own goods and depend on middlemen? Whether you know it or not, since the 1930s things have changed, TVs are popular, there is this thing called the internet and websites. Do you also want to ban software developers and song writers from being able to publish their own work on websites?

> Do you really want to ban all producers from being able to distribute their own goods and depend on middlemen? Yes. > Whether you know it or not, since the 1930s things have changed, TVs are popular, there is this thing called the internet and websites. So? > Do you also want to ban software developers and song writers from being able to publish their own work on websites? Maybe. It doesn't appear to be a problem y…

You agree with the fact that iOS developers must go through the App Store? Would you want it to be illegal for you to distribute any content you produce and for you to have to go through a middle man?

Does that also mean if that I wanted to create my own Indy movie I couldn’t sell it on my own website?

How does it help the consumer for all content to have to go through a middle man where they get a cut?

And it matters because the law was there in the thirties when the only way to get movie content out was via the movie theaters. Now anyone can publish content

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