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A golden age of consumer convenience is passing

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Re: A golden age of consumer convenience is passing

#201

Post by MisterBastahrd »

skocznymroczny wrote: post #118
TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #13

Media embedded advertising has already been a thing for years, but companies hate leaving money on the table so they cannot resist the temptation of showing more ads. I wonder why it is that Steam hasn't had any issues remaining such a successful video game platform, while other forms of media have struggled to keep up. You're competing with piracy, but you throw ads in my face. I can download any show or movie I wan…

Steam was at the right place at the right time. Also it was more insidious in its behavior. Throughout the late 2000s and 2010s most AAA games were Steam releases only. Even boxed copies were not much more than a Steam code. This allowed them to build a powerful network effect. At some point gamers were demanding that any new big release was a Steam release ("no steam no buy").

There's another factor too: Steam just plain doesn't change the store that much. When I open the Steam store to browse, I bypass literally everything to scroll to the bottom of the page. There I will find a few tabbed lists. One will show me new and "trending" games (I have no idea what they consider trending), one will show me the current top selling games, and another will show me upcoming games that are receiving hype. I rarely ever view anything else on that page unless they're running a seasonal sale.

Re: A golden age of consumer convenience is passing

#202

Post by U6XWpjvdqi4xTPJ »

bubblethink wrote: post #197
bsder wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I want to push back on calling Uber's methods to avoiding regulations to be unethical, separately from discussing the wages. Nope. Uber doesn't get a pass. Uber could have confined themselves to the secondary cities with terrible cab service. Basically that's any city in the US other than New York and Chicago. People would (and some did!) have greeted them like liberators. For example, taxi service in Las Vegas was…

But why ? You start with the place with the most impact and deal with the long tail later. So NYC should be the first. Several states don't allow direct sales of electric vehicles despite how well it works in other states. It's a pointless legal issue that will drag on for years/decades. If Tesla et al. had the same impunity and legal cover as Uber, they would be selling everywhere, and we would all be better off.

Don't allow direct sales of vehicles*

Let's not pretend that it's limited to EVs. EV makers are just the only ones who think they're special and shouldn't need to follow the law. shrug

Re: A golden age of consumer convenience is passing

#203

Post by MisterBastahrd »

rowanG077 wrote: post #60
jcranmer wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wonder why it is that Steam hasn't had any issues remaining such a successful video game platform, while other forms of media have struggled to keep up. Well, Youtube's ad problem comes from the fact that it is run by the largest internet advertiser. Netflix--video streaming in general--suffers from the fact that there are very few major content producers, and after seeing the monetary success of Netflix, the con…

Epic game store definitely tries to enforce exclusivity. Prime example beeing Square Enix games. FF7 Remake first released on Epic Game Store and only much later released on Steam. Kingdom Hearts still isn't available in Steam and probably never will be. It's one of the prime reasons I will never buy from them. That way lies madness.

Epic even gives away two games a week. Still doesn't make much of a difference.

Re: A golden age of consumer convenience is passing

#204

Post by fomine3 »

jabbany wrote: post #124
skocznymroczny wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steam was at the right place at the right time. Also it was more insidious in its behavior. Throughout the late 2000s and 2010s most AAA games were Steam releases only. Even boxed copies were not much more than a Steam code. This allowed them to build a powerful network effect. At some point gamers were demanding that any new big release was a Steam release ("no steam no buy").

This does make some sense. Games are big (file size wise) and prone to updates. Steam helped handle this distribution in a reasonable way. It's also why people prefer app stores or package managers, because they give a predictable distribution experience over hunting for scattered software. I'd say the problem with Steam is that it should have a community-run alternative/competitor. There hasn't been much push for on…

Also Steam's CDN is extremely fast in my experience. I'm surprised how MSFS2020 downloader sucks.

Re: A golden age of consumer convenience is passing

#205

Post by fomine3 »

U6XWpjvdqi4xTPJ wrote: post #195
Scoundreller wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be like me and keep seeding the stuff that’s going to be obscure in 5 years. Of course, you’ll need to wait for me to open up my client every couple weeks, but you’ll get it eventually.

The problem with seeding, for me, is that it effectively implies a need to keep two copies of content. One however you downloaded it and then one actually named properly and stored in a reasonable hierarchy... (Not to mention all the *.nfo and *.lnk they include!)

Hardlink or reflink could be your friend.

Re: A golden age of consumer convenience is passing

#206

Post by fomine3 »

hakfoo wrote: post #121
charcircuit wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>and are WAY more popular than any anime. Which is why they can get away with charging less per copy.

But it's a self-perpetuating death loop problem. At those prices, the only buyers are extreme fans buying it almost more like a merchandise item (compare figurines) than people who want to view the content. I know this is a thing in Japan-- the anime releases tend to be a few episodes at a time, at prices that would be considered astronomical most places. There are potentially many market equilibria-- selling 200 cop…

Anyway now Blu-ray for anime is tend to be a fan goods rather than practical media, while paperbook is still decent media for manga. Many people no longer have Blu-ray player equipment, and obviously not work for smartphone/tablet. Average people just watch anime by streaming subscription. Manga subscription is growing but not a major thing for popular mangas.

Re: A golden age of consumer convenience is passing

#207

Post by ChrisLomont »

LtWorf wrote: post #181
nightski wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Retail investors and hedge funds do not always demand short-term results. If that was the case, Tesla and growth companies like it would simply not exist on the stock market. Instead, they are wildly popular.

But they plan to make money from selling the stocks, not from actual dividends.

What makes you think this? Did you look it up? Have a source?

Every 401k or other investment place I've seen allows either taking dividends or reinvesting them. I've never one seen a fund that picks only divide free or divided providing stocks as a choice.

And every big fund also provides all sorts of general index funds, which certainly contain both. And individual stocks themselves decide to pay dividends or not, and routinely change so.

I don't think your distinction is at all a relevant factor in these funds to nearly any end buyer.

Please provide a citation as to why you think your claim is true.

Re: A golden age of consumer convenience is passing

#208

Post by fomine3 »

wswope wrote: post #187
NoboruWataya wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't agree that it's zero sum - this is a niche market that, if it could reach a broader audience, would experience an influx of new customers. That could potentially benefit all the players in the market, though of course it would benefit the company driving the popularisation the most. Personally I think that in marketing like this NordVPN are not trying to convince existing VPN users that their service is bette…

> this is a niche market that, if it could reach a broader audience, would experience an influx of new customers. Honestly curious: what makes you think that? I'm someone who really likes VPNs, but in all my experience, they have some really rough edges for non-technical people. I would never recommend one to my non-technical friends or family unless they had a very specific need for it. Using Nord as an example, sin…

Even if VPN services are like you said, still they want to sell more and it's possible by ads. Degradation could be justified for "privacy".

Re: A golden age of consumer convenience is passing

#209

Post by suzzer99 »

quietthrow wrote: post #114
suzzer99 wrote: post #102

I'm the dinosaur that still watches most content on a DVR. The fast-forward button never fails.

Can you explain your setup a little bit. I have sling and I can record shows that are store in their cloud. however the fast forward is not exactly smooth to skip ads. most of the time Its skips a little too far ahead or too early and I end up fiddling with it going forward and backwards to be in a reasonably right spot (~5 secs before the ad finishes or after it finishes.) 1) Are there any devices available that all…

I have Frontier FIOS and a physical DVR Box. Yeah you have to get really good at stopping at the right point. But I've never found a cloud FF/RW that's close to as snappy as a physical box.

Re: A golden age of consumer convenience is passing

#210

Post by fomine3 »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #33
fein wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps too inconvenient for some, but use an hdmi cable for a direct hookup instead of (I'm assuming) a chromecast. Maybe I'm just old fashioned at this point, but my "TV" is just used as a monitor to a dedicated media tower running windows.

I have an Amazon FireTV and one day, when I had my work Windows PC at home, it could stream via Bluetooth (like an external screen). There was lag when starting / changing videos, but otherwise it seemed to work well enough. Don't most smart TVs have Bluetooth today? In my case, the FireTV is plugged into my (dumb) PC monitor.

It is called Miracast, via Wi-Fi Direct.
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