Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

exstreamist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

411–420 of 462 posts

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

#411

Post by sctb »

Fifer82 wrote: post #311
mmanfrin wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've become a bit too used to using the echo as an alarm clock (which I can set without turning on a screen or looking at a light) and for morning/evening news briefings, which is really just a proxy to NPR/BBC podcasts, but it's useful. It is definitely something that I wish there was a 'self hosted' version of that was anywhere near as capable.

Really? I mean, Really???? You have an unregulated device in your home, mining away on data which... you paid for, hard cash. Not a game, not a movie, not a simulation, not an experience. And your only use is an Alarm Clock? This is gold mate, gold. You know when people say "ach, the guy is just an idiot with money"? mmanfrin is what I see.

If you comment like this again we'll ban the account. Please read the guidelines and start following them.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

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

#412

Post by dhimes »

Josephat wrote: post #321
labster wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. Rob…

Orville. Check it out.

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

#413

Post by lr4444lr »

hristov wrote: post #4

Sounds great but the sad reality is that Netflix shows have commercials inside of them. I was really excited about this netflix show "love" until the macdonalds product placement inside of it just made me sick and i stopped watching it. I haven't been watching much original netflix shows since then, but whenever i feel like peeking into a new show i notice product placements pretty soon.

I never understood why product placement upsets people so much. Unless the premise is pure fantasy or a completely alternate reality, real brands help more quickly get me past the sense artificiality that is drama/theater that suspends disbelief. I can get engrossed more quickly. When I see products that are similar and obvious knock-offs of a brand that avoids the name or trademark design, I'm immediately somewhat distanced again from the performance. I genuinely court it. Surely I'm not the only one who feels that way.

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

#414

Post by TomMarius »

funnelsgun wrote: post #301
make3 wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they are life destroyingly addictive though. I myself have skipped classes or doing assignments to play that kind of game, which is one of the reasons why I don't game anymore

I used be like that when I was at school. I was addicted to Modern Warfare and later Modern Warfare 2 to the extent where I almost got kicked out of school because I was getting such poor grades. I’m now a functioning adult and find it hard to get into video games, not because I fear I’ll get addicted but I just don’t get the same dopamine hit from games like I used to. I drive on race tracks to get that hit now.

Yeah, same here. I used to be "addicted" to videogames but nowadays I don't play at all. I fly planes and going to start racing next year.

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

#415

Post by deckarep »

__david__ wrote: post #381
deckarep wrote: post #275

Every time someone is like: “what? You don’t have cable you weird person you!” This is why. Got tired of paying a premium for commercials and over the years the commercial breaks got longer, and longer and longer. Hey cable subscribers...go ahead and channel surf and take some stats on how often a commercial is playing as you iterate through each channel. It’s ridiculous. Netflix is alright with me.

I'm a cable subscriber. I haven't watched an ad in nearly 20 years. DVRs solved the ad problem years and years go. (don't get me wrong—Netflix is great, too. And also torrents. Not even thinking about ads is better than fast forwarding through them).

I used to have a DVR and it did help of course. But I was never fond of having to pay the rental fees of the unit for this feature. True it is still better.

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

#416

Post by detaro »

lr4444lr wrote: post #413
hristov wrote: post #4

Sounds great but the sad reality is that Netflix shows have commercials inside of them. I was really excited about this netflix show "love" until the macdonalds product placement inside of it just made me sick and i stopped watching it. I haven't been watching much original netflix shows since then, but whenever i feel like peeking into a new show i notice product placements pretty soon.

I never understood why product placement upsets people so much. Unless the premise is pure fantasy or a completely alternate reality, real brands help more quickly get me past the sense artificiality that is drama/theater that suspends disbelief. I can get engrossed more quickly. When I see products that are similar and obvious knock-offs of a brand that avoids the name or trademark design, I'm immediately somewhat d…

It upsets at least some people precisely because it often breaks suspension of disbelief. Not many people complain if the hero drives a cool real car or uses a Dell laptop, but it is irritating if the technician in a crime show is telling everyone how they are using "Microsoft Windows Photo somethingorother" to enhance the image of the suspect (when they've been using the typical TV made-up interface that looks totally different everywhere else), or they hold a glowing logo on a device always just in frame.

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

#417

Post by purple-again »

freehunter wrote: post #261
alsetmusic wrote: post #195

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. I get my episodes of BBT from iTunes. You’re correct that BBT episodes are shorter than most…

The Simpsons has some intros that push up to and sometimes over two minutes in length. Sure, they're often clever and do take time and money to create, but it's still time taken from the actual show. Supernatural or Lost are good examples of how an intro should be. Literally just the name of the show on the screen for a few seconds, no theme music that gets annoying halfway through the season, no montage of the chara…

Many people would consider the simpsons intros part of the show not a traditional intro. Seeing what Bart writes on the chalkboard was my favorite part of the show as a kid.

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

#418

Post by jclardy »

nostrademons wrote: post #51
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 suspect regular programming isn't getting dumber, the alternatives are just getting smarter. When I look at the crap I watched as a kid in the 80s (which included a good amount of 70s reruns), basically all broadcast TV today is far superior. But the competition for broadcast TV isn't "no competition" now, it's the Internet, and computer games, and Netflix. The entertainment industry has been blown wide open by the…

I agree on quality, but I am surprised that the TV industry hasn't evolved yet beyond typical 30 second commercial spots. Maybe we haven't hit critical mass of people ditching cable TV - the likely culprit being sports.

With YouTube we see people not relying on direct ad revenue, but rather embedding sponsors into their content. And doing things like recommending products and using Amazon referrals to generate revenue from their channels. I guess the problem with broadcast TV is that commercials still work just as well as they did, they just have a smaller audience.

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

#419

Post by restlake »

kohanz wrote: post #351
brunoc wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stole this from someone else, but I can’t remember who. BBT is what stupid people think smart people are like.

Exactly, the only people I know who like it are non-technical (e.g. my mother-in-law) who like it because "lol, nerds" (disclaimer: I'm not saying there aren't technical people out there who like BBT). For me, it's in the same awful category as 2-and-a-half men of shows with huge audiences that I can't watch for any length of time.

same creator as Two and a Half Men and some of those other shows you’re probably thinking of so that’s an apt comparison

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

#420

Post by delecti »

freehunter wrote: post #261
alsetmusic wrote: post #195

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. I get my episodes of BBT from iTunes. You’re correct that BBT episodes are shorter than most…

The Simpsons has some intros that push up to and sometimes over two minutes in length. Sure, they're often clever and do take time and money to create, but it's still time taken from the actual show. Supernatural or Lost are good examples of how an intro should be. Literally just the name of the show on the screen for a few seconds, no theme music that gets annoying halfway through the season, no montage of the chara…

An intro they only use once is part of the "actual show".
Post reply on HN