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Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

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Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#381

Post by criddell »

gbear605 wrote: post #323
merlinsbrain wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re willing to pay, why not rent from the iTunes Store / Amazon Prime? Pick one, they’ve had all the movies / TV shows I wanted to watch, which are not all mainstream. If there’s an exception and there’s something you don’t find it there - well, do you, but I really don’t understand how piracy is the default answer to convenience with people claiming they have the willingness to pay. Someone else commented abou…

Another good option is your local library system. They almost certainly have the dvd, and for free too.

Doesn't Netflix still do DVDs by mail? That might be a good option as well.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#382

Post by lozaning »

kerkeslager wrote: post #360
an_opabinia wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People who had cut the cord... As long as you don't care about the zeitgeist... That's not really what it's about. You have no idea how utterly janky Plex and torrenting is. People on Hacker News find IT stimulating, so their experience is basically moot. It's like trying to predict trends based on a nerd's hot take of the iPod. It has always been about enforcement. Seen in this lens, the hassle of pirating movies…

> You have no idea how utterly janky Plex and torrenting is. Compare these experiences: 1. Search Netflix. Discover it's not there. 2. Search Amazon. Discover they have it, but it's not available for free as part of your subscription. 3. Search Hulu. Leave Hulu, because it's not there. 4. Finally go back to Amazon and rent the movie, not sure why you're paying for Prime if you still have to pay on top of that for hal…

Your step 1 should really be, spend enough time on the internet to gain enough clout to get invited to a private tracker, and then maintain your seed ratio so you dont get kicked off.

Otherwise if you're downloading stuff off the pirate bay it's either going to get you nailed pretty quickly for IP infringement, or you'll end up with fake files and a virus thats labeled as a codec you need to install.

Running a VPN or seedbox or any of the other numerous things to get around this (usenet is my own weapon of choice) results in what may be for you and I an easy or even fun activity, but not for my sisters kid or whatever.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#384

Post by katbyte »

dfxm12 wrote: post #365
on_and_off wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has already happened to me as well. Look, I want a convenient way to watch movies. I would even be ready to pay more than I do right now to Netflix to have a library of ALL the movies I want to watch. 1 library, not 10, especially if they may or may not contain the movie I want to see. My honeymoon period with Netflix and co is over. - I feel that their original content has dried out : there is even more of it, bu…

It's disingenuous to call switching libraries "inconvenient". We're talking about opening a new tab or switching an app. A few finger budges for ~2hr of entertainment. I don't know what to say if you find that so inconvenient, especially compared to the effort it would take to go to a torrent site, find a high quality stream, make sure it has the right special features you're looking for, or what have you, to pirate…

> A few finger budges for ~2hr of entertainment.

It's more like: check sites 1-5 looking for the movie, can't find it (or it a PPV download, OR the app/site doesn't support 5.1 DDS, its quality is bad) get frustrated go onto $torrentsite, sort by size, download one with most seeders & a larger file size wait 30-60 min and done.

Netflix used to make it easier as their app UX and quality are high so it was a one stop shop. Now i just find torrenting easier to make sure its high quality with 5.1.. however i may not be the norm.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#385

Post by madengr »

lucasverra wrote: post #89
cptskippy wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I look forward to Netflix et al removing the account deactivate button from our profile pages in favor of a phone number that calls into an IVR Labyrinth.

simpler method trick 1) Create virtual card 2) Switch payment method to new card 3) Delete virtual card 4) Cha ching !

My credit card is stolen every other year. Somehow XBox live (for my son) has no problem figuring out how to keep charging me, despite the number changing.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#386

Post by katbyte »

zzzcpan wrote: post #325
on_and_off wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has already happened to me as well. Look, I want a convenient way to watch movies. I would even be ready to pay more than I do right now to Netflix to have a library of ALL the movies I want to watch. 1 library, not 10, especially if they may or may not contain the movie I want to see. My honeymoon period with Netflix and co is over. - I feel that their original content has dried out : there is even more of it, bu…

It seems to me neither your case nor what parent comment describes is about convenience, but merely about not wanting to pay too much for all the streaming services. I mean I don't think you would pay 10x more for netflix if it had everything, right?

i'd pay 2-3x which is more than i pay now (I refuse to use more then netflix tbh)

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#387

Post by blacksmith_tb »

gbear605 wrote: post #323
merlinsbrain wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re willing to pay, why not rent from the iTunes Store / Amazon Prime? Pick one, they’ve had all the movies / TV shows I wanted to watch, which are not all mainstream. If there’s an exception and there’s something you don’t find it there - well, do you, but I really don’t understand how piracy is the default answer to convenience with people claiming they have the willingness to pay. Someone else commented abou…

Another good option is your local library system. They almost certainly have the dvd, and for free too.

They will likely also offer free streaming (though I realize that is "another service" in the sense that you again have to log in, search and browse) like Kanopy[1] which does offer a lot of older films, foreign films, and documentaries.

1: https://www.kanopy.com/

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#388

Post by partialrecall »

scarface74 wrote: post #378
partialrecall wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you throw in the rest of Pixar and Disney animated stuff, you're still probably talking about under 100 movies total, right? One cheap usb hard drive and an afternoon on the public library's wifi and you could own non-DRM copies of all of these movies.

And you still have to get the movies to the mobile devices and TVs....

Plug the hard drive into the TV or mobile device. I'm pretty sure mobile devices support USB harddrives these days, but I know for sure "smart TVs" do. If you prefer dumb tvs (as I do) plug an old computer into that. Or if you want to save power, plug a new computer into it. Or get something that supports DLNA (e.g. a playstation or I believe roku's and roku-like devices) and use a DLNA server on your NAS/workstation (I use minidlna, some people I know use Universal Media Server (cross platform GUI, GPLv2.)) Or use a more commercial DLNA-like solution such as plex.

There are many options here. That's one of the upsides of pirating non-DRM media. Storage is stupid cheap and anybody on HN should be able to figure out how to get an arbitrary mp4 file onto an arbitrary screen.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#389

Post by vmchale »

Qwertystop wrote: post #267

> “Consumers want choice — but only up to a point,” said Kevin Westcott, Deloitte vice chairman and U.S. telecom and media and entertainment leader, who oversees the study. “We may be entering a time of ‘subscription fatigue.'” Missing the point hard here. To the degree that "consumers want choice", I would expect the choice they want is the choice of media, not the choice of subscription services. People don't subsc…

> We may be entering a time of ‘subscription fatigue.'”

Also know as... not wanting to spend three times as much? lol.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#390

Post by scarface74 »

lostgame wrote: post #284
jimcsharp wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For cheap ^ If someone finds themselves chasing whatever streaming service has The Office, maybe it's worth dropping the $300 or whatever for everything on iTunes.

They're still DRM'd. I can't use them in VLC.

And once again, you aren’t a potential customer. Do you really think that streaming companies are going to live an die by the people who want to use VLC?
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