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Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

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Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#321

Post by Josephat »

labster wrote: post #148
jjeaff wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that is certain is that there are more commercials now. If you watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory sans commercials, you will notice that it is only 17 minutes long! And that includes the 60 second intro. So 13 minutes of commercials for 16 minutes of actual content. No chance I'll be going back to regular TV.

To be fair, the commercials are the best part of watching The Big Bang Theory . Much better to spend a few minutes imagining how cool I would be if I just owned Product X rather than see a nerd minstrel show with an annoying laugh track.

For those who took the bait, I'm thinking they're missing something. For what it is worth, I've met quite a few young people who credit their interest in studying medicine and biology to shows like CSI (which I personally loathe).

Anyone have an anecdote of young BBT fans being drawn to physics or math?

Sure, it's a comedy, but it's not like there's a watchable Star Trek turning a new generation towards STEM. Mr. Robot, probably just breeding more anarchists.

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#322

Post by Fifer82 »

MikeFez wrote: post #318
Fifer82 wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So sorry, you paid money so that google and amazon can collect your data (at this point, you were not given the device, you were not paid, you literally worked to pay to be mined). And you are on Hacker News? Like tell me brother, as an educated guy, how you got here?

What an absolutely foolish reply. Do you shop on Amazon? Do you use Google search or Gmail? Do you watch Netflix? Do you use a credit card? You have a thousand data points mined per day - an Echo or Google Home are no different from any other service that you may be interested in using. Especially as these devices are not "listening in" until their keyword activates them.

1. No 2. No 3. No 4. No 5. No

The device is not "Listening In" and yet, remind me how you "activate it" to make it "Listen In"?

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#323

Post by grawprog »

neals wrote: post #5

I accidentally watched some TV the other day. Having not seen any regular programming for at least a year, I was amazed at how much ... dumber it has become. Also, why did we sit through so many commercials for so long? It feel a little like a twilight zone episode, where we sit there watching a box telling us what to buy.

I know what you mean. I watched a show the other day that was actually made to air on network tv. I'd forgotten about tv reality. Most shows being made nowadays don't feel like they're set in tv reality any more. It was weird to watch something so firmly made for primetime television as opposed to Netflix or something else. I can't remember the last time I watched an actual 'television' show. It gave me this odd nostalgia and made me realize just how much things have changed. I also got this weird unrelated sense of relief that i'd never have to watch a movie on TBS ever again. I don't know why this thought came up but all these memories of watching butchered movies as a kid came back as I watched the happy go lucky, fcc friendly 'tv' programming.

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#324

Post by glenstein »

jwally wrote: post #207
pesfandiar wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder why Netflix doesn't add a "random content" button. That's one of the appeals of TV versus Netflix that could be replicated very easily. Something more akin to changing channels like "random cartoon" or "random comedy" would remove one last obstacle in the way of converting cable subscribers.

If I were king of netflix... There'd be a "cable-style-menu" option to mimic the way cable / satellite menus have looked since the late 90's. Maybe 50 or so channels of similar programming running on a time schedule, where you have the option of catching the last 30 minutes of "Terminator 2 - Judgement Day" or watching from the beginning. Its mindless, but I think that style of consumption is what a lot of people wan…

I think you're really onto something, but I would offer a slight modification. The value of watching something live is knowing it's an experience you are sharing with other people. Have a single live channel, where the purpose of the channel is that it's the live one that people across the country can be watching at the same time.

You could do multiple channels, but I think if you really, really want to capture the "I'm watching this with the rest of the country" feeling, a single live channel would be the safest bet.

It also may have value strategically, because there are some shows that "work" more as a live show, and there are some TV series that have better cultural impact if they are released in a serialized way. For instance I suspect Game Of Thrones has been more successful at permeating culture by releasing one episode a week than it would have been had the whole season been dumped at once.

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#325

Post by kossae »

MikeFez wrote: post #318
Fifer82 wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So sorry, you paid money so that google and amazon can collect your data (at this point, you were not given the device, you were not paid, you literally worked to pay to be mined). And you are on Hacker News? Like tell me brother, as an educated guy, how you got here?

What an absolutely foolish reply. Do you shop on Amazon? Do you use Google search or Gmail? Do you watch Netflix? Do you use a credit card? You have a thousand data points mined per day - an Echo or Google Home are no different from any other service that you may be interested in using. Especially as these devices are not "listening in" until their keyword activates them.

The biggest one I’m always reminded of is “Do you have a phone?”... The always-on, cloud-connected device that you carry everywhere at all times?

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#326

Post by glenstein »

niftich wrote: post #138
pesfandiar wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder why Netflix doesn't add a "random content" button. That's one of the appeals of TV versus Netflix that could be replicated very easily. Something more akin to changing channels like "random cartoon" or "random comedy" would remove one last obstacle in the way of converting cable subscribers.

The 'random' button would interfere with their aggregate viewership tracking and recommendation algorithms. When the viewer appears to select a particular show to watch, you can have reasonable faith in the viewership numbers. If the platform were to offer a random choice, the fact that the resulting view was not organic would need to be tracked separately. Conversely, you'd want a better way of figuring out whether…

>If the platform were to offer a random choice, the fact that the resulting view was not organic would need to be tracked separately

So just track it separately and don't interpret it the same way as deliberately chosen shows. I don't see the problem.

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#327

Post by danbolt »

jwally wrote: post #207
pesfandiar wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder why Netflix doesn't add a "random content" button. That's one of the appeals of TV versus Netflix that could be replicated very easily. Something more akin to changing channels like "random cartoon" or "random comedy" would remove one last obstacle in the way of converting cable subscribers.

If I were king of netflix... There'd be a "cable-style-menu" option to mimic the way cable / satellite menus have looked since the late 90's. Maybe 50 or so channels of similar programming running on a time schedule, where you have the option of catching the last 30 minutes of "Terminator 2 - Judgement Day" or watching from the beginning. Its mindless, but I think that style of consumption is what a lot of people wan…

That seems like the sort of thing they'd totally do for one of their hackaton projects.

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#328

Post by linkmotif »

labster wrote: post #148
jjeaff wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that is certain is that there are more commercials now. If you watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory sans commercials, you will notice that it is only 17 minutes long! And that includes the 60 second intro. So 13 minutes of commercials for 16 minutes of actual content. No chance I'll be going back to regular TV.

To be fair, the commercials are the best part of watching The Big Bang Theory . Much better to spend a few minutes imagining how cool I would be if I just owned Product X rather than see a nerd minstrel show with an annoying laugh track.

Thanks that’s such a great way to put it! I couldn’t have said it better myself. Watching shows like BBT about “nerds” is really depressing. I mean compare how math was depicted in 1952 vs today: https://imgur.com/a/Mvwgt. Look, it’s math, sort of. Today it’s nothing but a minstrel show that makes science seem even more inaccessible than it was portrayed just 20 years ago.

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#329

Post by Fifer82 »

kossae wrote: post #325
MikeFez wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What an absolutely foolish reply. Do you shop on Amazon? Do you use Google search or Gmail? Do you watch Netflix? Do you use a credit card? You have a thousand data points mined per day - an Echo or Google Home are no different from any other service that you may be interested in using. Especially as these devices are not "listening in" until their keyword activates them.

The biggest one I’m always reminded of is “Do you have a phone?”... The always-on, cloud-connected device that you carry everywhere at all times?

No. I don't have a phone. I don't need one. No one in the world at any time for any reason may simply interrupt my current cadence. If it is good news, I can wait, if it is bad news, I can wait. If it is part of a job, I want 20k, (so I don't get issued one).

Having a phone isn't a free pass to letting business into the home that will in the end use your habits to sell you those habits at a premium.

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#330

Post by jogjayr »

drdrey wrote: post #234
ggregoire wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Watching TV and play video games have not the same effects on the brain. Watching TV puts your brain in idle mode

I don't disagree -- but why do we value reading books so much over watching TV? Aren't you consuming stories passively in both cases? (let's say reading Harry Potter vs watching Harry Potter)

Because skills gained from reading fiction transfer relatively easily into more productive pursuits: studying, programming, writing. Not to mention that reading isn't "consuming stories passively". You need to develop an imagination and draw pictures in your head.

It's hard(er) to develop useful skills from TV watching; the only thing I can think of is maybe learning about filmmaking, and that's only if you're watching to learn rather than watching passively.

I read mostly fiction as a kid and owe most of my career to my reading and writing skills.

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