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TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

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Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#31

Post by revolvingocelot »

dylan604 wrote: post #28
rthomas6 wrote: post #25

I really don't understand why people are surprised. If you don't have access to the file itself, you don't own it. "Buying" a movie on a platform or paying for a subscription service are both just paying for a revokable license to access a movie. You do not own it and access can be revoked at any time according to whatever platform's ToS. If you want to own an actual copy of a TV show or movie, buy the physical disc.…

>If you don't have access to the file itself, you don't own it. This isn't the full story either though. You can be in possession of a file that has a DRM encryption applied. If the service revokes you keys, that encrypted file in your possession is worthless. So, do you really own that file?

Or the converse! Think of the way GOG sells DRM-free installers -- GOG sells you a license, sure, just like everyone else, but they give you a DRM-free installer, which is bit-perfect to the version of that installer shared on the Pirate Bay's eternal decentralized tracker.

Can I pirate that installer? When I'm caught, which file is the pirated version, and which is the legitimate one I got from GOG's servers? If I wave around my emailed receipt, is that (moral) license enough?

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#32

Post by rthomas6 »

dave78 wrote: post #27
rthomas6 wrote: post #25

I really don't understand why people are surprised. If you don't have access to the file itself, you don't own it. "Buying" a movie on a platform or paying for a subscription service are both just paying for a revokable license to access a movie. You do not own it and access can be revoked at any time according to whatever platform's ToS. If you want to own an actual copy of a TV show or movie, buy the physical disc.…

A decent portion of the article was devoted to the physical disc option and how it's increasingly uncommon for that to even be offered as a choice.

Like I said, if the company isn't selling the movie/show anymore, well, what choice do you have?

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#33

Post by dougmwne »

I think part of the reason this is a big deal is that it breaks HBO’s brand. They have always been seen as a prestige channel that had a catalog of original programming you’d never see anywhere else. Westworld appeared to be part of this original programming portfolio and something that would live on as part of what it meant to be subscribed to HBO, like the Sopranos. Having the series disappear is like finding out that Disney is jettisoning Toy Story.

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#35

Post by footlose_3815 »

revolvingocelot wrote: post #31
dylan604 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you don't have access to the file itself, you don't own it. This isn't the full story either though. You can be in possession of a file that has a DRM encryption applied. If the service revokes you keys, that encrypted file in your possession is worthless. So, do you really own that file?

Or the converse! Think of the way GOG sells DRM-free installers -- GOG sells you a license, sure, just like everyone else, but they give you a DRM-free installer, which is bit-perfect to the version of that installer shared on the Pirate Bay's eternal decentralized tracker. Can I pirate that installer? When I'm caught, which file is the pirated version, and which is the legitimate one I got from GOG's servers? If I w…

And oddly enough, Amazon has DRM-free MP3s. (who knows how long they will host them). And the UI is hard to use / doesn't work in-bulk to get the MP3s you downloaded.

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#36

Post by hedora »

samtheprogram wrote: post #2

This seems like a smart money grab. Keep the hot titles on streaming to keep your subscriber base, and those who really want to watch the fringe shows will probably pay for them, earning HBO more money. Just recently paid for Angry Boys. It’s totally obvious why they would want to remove it from their platform in this culture, and even more so when they are still selling it elsewhere. I wonder if other titles removed…

In the short term, you are probably right. In the long term, people will move to the most convenient option. That means the experience has to be better than bit torrent.

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#38

Post by hakfoo »

LarryMullins wrote: post #5

> For decades before the invention of the VCR, any TV show that aired on any given Tuesday night might never be available again,While I was doing research for The Encyclopedia of New York, I spoke with a curator at the Paley Center in New York about how to find out what aired on NBC in its earliest years as a TV broadcasting company and learned there was no way to watch any of it. There were no tapes. The only record…

I'd expect that there's a fair amount of local-release content that might not have surviving recordings. Individual episodes of things like local newscasts, public affairs shows, those weird weekend "lifestyle" shows where all the guests are local advertisers basically paying for a 10-minute ad spot. There might be a representative episode floating around, but does anyone necessarily have the December 16, 2007 episode of the Channel 83 Action News at Noon? If they do, is it publically accessible, or sitting in some dusty records room at Channel 83, on decaying tape?

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#39

Post by ProjectArcturis »

I'd still like to watch the old episodes of HBO's Real Sex. As far as I know, that was never available on their streaming platforms. I guess they were going for "Prestige TV", and Real Sex was too close to late-night smut. Even on torrents, I can only find a few episodes.

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#40

Post by rightbyte »

twoodfin wrote: post #21
rightbyte wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well I guess they need to do later seasons good in that case. Westworld season 2 was a joke. From a drama in S1 to mindless b-action in S2.

I’d disagree that S2 is where the show went wrong. It holds up quite well on rewatch, with probably 3-4 of the best overall episodes. Ironically, I think Nolan & Joy made the same kind of mistake Dr. Ford criticizes in the premiere: They forgot why people wanted to watch Westworld . Fundamentally, the show was about the park, with all its mystery and detail. They seemed to think it was actually about the ideas around…

Ye I agree with the later. People wanted a Western with cowboys. It also had this "Greec theater thing word" were the audience, the guests, knew the story but the actors, the hosts, didn't.

Concerning the former I guess that is a matter of taste. I watched it with my wife and she was extremely dissatisfied with the change of genre and pace. Lets pretend you know her. You understand why she disliked it right? She loved S1.

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