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TV: Now What?

commonsware.com

111–120 of 168 posts

Re: TV: Now What?

#111
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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? I mean, honestly, having app stores be separate from the phone maker sounds like a great idea. The monopoly that apple has on the app store is harmful to both producers and consumers of apps. > Would you want it to be…

That’s not what you’re saying. You’re saying that a content producer should never be allowed to distribute on their own site and that you as a software developer, author, music producer, etc should not be allowed to distribute your own work.

I don't think anyone is saying that.

Just because an extreme version of an idea is way too much, doesn't mean the more moderate versions are without merit.

Re: TV: Now What?

#112

Plex, Jellyfin, LibreELEC, Kodi... those are the best solutions for those wanting to manage their own destiny and TV experience. You can run them on practically anything and there are Tiny PCs, stick-form-factor Raspberry Pi devices (like CM4 TV Stick), and other silent small boxes you can attach to a TV for a thin client interface or just a shared media library / TV experience. It'd be nice if Amazon, Apple, Netflix…

The Jellyfin user experience would be a ton better if the client app for the iphone/ipad actually took advantage of local playback instead of relying on transcoding. Random seeks, rewinds, and especially subtitles timing are all better if the client is just accessing a file stream. This is especially true as the codecs change and the on-NAS GPUs fall behind due to the lifecycle differences.

Run the Infuse client and point it to your Jellyfin instance.

Re: TV: Now What?

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s not what you’re saying. You’re saying that a content producer should never be allowed to distribute on their own site and that you as a software developer, author, music producer, etc should not be allowed to distribute your own work.

I don't think anyone is saying that. Just because an extreme version of an idea is way too much, doesn't mean the more moderate versions are without merit.

What is a non extreme version of not letting content producers distribute thier own content and where do you draw the line?

Re: TV: Now What?

#114
post #15

The fragmentation is both a flaw and a feature. It means we have diversity in media vendors, at the cost of a pretty high cognitive load to just watch something… which app is it on? What’s the account login? Search the device main search, then go to each app and do its own individual search. All while dodging ads and autoplay and “what’s new” and “for you.” It sucks for users. But it also sucks for developers, who ha…

> huge cable bills

now we have to pay for the internet + streaming service(s)

and most "big" internet providers keep increasing their prices.

Re: TV: Now What?

#115
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to see a standardized streaming protocol be developed. That way there can be a market for the client side (different apps that organize content you've subscribed to) and for the server side (like web servers are commodities). It would eliminate content providers having to roll their own streaming back ends and front end apps for so many platforms.

> I would like to see a standardized streaming protocol be developed. Like... HLS? > It would eliminate content providers having to roll their own streaming back ends and front end apps for so many platforms. Oh you mean metadata. Forget it. We built a live streaming service specializing in classical works (opera, ballet...), and even within that tiny particular niche, nobody can agree what "standardized" metadata sh…

Yeah more than HLS. It would need to handle authentication and authorization such as is the user subscribed and what content is available them that they may have purchased a la carte. It would need listing of available content for search and indexing by the client. Presumably the major forms of content are standalone (ie movies), series which are a collection of content broken up into seasons, and potentially live streams. Finally it needs a way to purchase new content.

The industry is standardized enough to agree on distribution formats (VHS, DVD, etc) and to have awards for different established categories and video rental companies used to be able to organize their collections well enough. I want studios to handle distribution, that is operating a streaming farm for their content, and get out of owning the storefront. I want a digital Blockbuster type experience with everyone's content commingled. No having to go to the Disney store, and the HBO store, and the Paramount store and oh last month this content was on Netflix and now I can't find it because it's on Amazon this month.

Re: TV: Now What?

#116

Plex, Jellyfin, LibreELEC, Kodi... those are the best solutions for those wanting to manage their own destiny and TV experience. You can run them on practically anything and there are Tiny PCs, stick-form-factor Raspberry Pi devices (like CM4 TV Stick), and other silent small boxes you can attach to a TV for a thin client interface or just a shared media library / TV experience. It'd be nice if Amazon, Apple, Netflix…

The Jellyfin user experience would be a ton better if the client app for the iphone/ipad actually took advantage of local playback instead of relying on transcoding. Random seeks, rewinds, and especially subtitles timing are all better if the client is just accessing a file stream. This is especially true as the codecs change and the on-NAS GPUs fall behind due to the lifecycle differences.

Are you using SwiftFin? It is much better than the standard Jellyfin iOS app, I’ve never had any problems with it.

Shoutout to the FinAmp app for music, too.

Re: TV: Now What?

#117
post #19
post #15

The fragmentation is both a flaw and a feature. It means we have diversity in media vendors, at the cost of a pretty high cognitive load to just watch something… which app is it on? What’s the account login? Search the device main search, then go to each app and do its own individual search. All while dodging ads and autoplay and “what’s new” and “for you.” It sucks for users. But it also sucks for developers, who ha…

“Huge cable bills” - we’re already back there. Netflix is $23, Apple TV just increased to $10c Disney+ is now $14, Hulu is $20, Max is $16, Paramount is $10, Peacock is $6. You can easily spend $100 /mn on streaming services.

And the commercials are coming within a decade.

Re: TV: Now What?

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 you couldn’t just choose a single channel aside from the premium channels.

You cannot pick only Star Wars from Disney+ either. Or Orange Is The New Black from Netflix.

Re: TV: Now What?

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you couldn’t just choose a single channel aside from the premium channels.

You cannot pick only Star Wars from Disney+ either. Or Orange Is The New Black from Netflix.

You can buy “Orange is the New Black” and Star Wars from iTunes…

Or you can pay for one month, binge and cancel your subscription to each without a contract

Re: TV: Now What?

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ignoring your irrelevant hypotheticals for which I am not arguing, why is having distribution channels controlled by the content owners beneficial? At this point there is no way for a third party to license content from enough content owners because of cross licensing deals and their ownership of competing platforms. So there can be no place where one can watch a diverse selection like netflix used to be. Is this goo…

It’s not a hypothetical. You are saying that the government should outlaw content producers from distributing their own content. How do you define content producers and are you going to force them to allow anyone to distribute their content? Are you going to apply the same standards to all content producers? There was never a time that Netflix had the majority of the top content - especially movies Sure you can watch…

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