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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

#431

Post by fetus8 »

merlinsbrain wrote: post #311
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…

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…

What happens if I'm willing to pay, but said movie isn't available in my local region on any of the digital store fronts? It happens all to frequently to me. I know I'm definitely an outlier, but I genuinely have no real choice sometimes, but to pirate a movie. You know what happens when I really like said unavailable movie? I usually pop on Amazon and buy a bluray copy if it's available.

For whatever reason, it seems that certain eras of film from various countries are just missing from streaming catalogs. Not only are the films missing, but they can be incredibly hard to find on services due to naming and translated names. Recently, I was trying to watch Cure aka Kyua (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cure_(film)), good luck asking Siri to find this movie. The name "Cure" brings up nothing related, and "Kyua" is essentially not recognized. I found 1 or 2 films by the director, by searching his name directly. It's a cluster, and it's frankly a shame that I have to resort to piracy when I'd absolutely be willing to pay for such movies.

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

#432

Post by partialrecall »

fragmede wrote: post #427
fhennig wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently rented a movie on amazon, and then I didn't have the option to get english subtitles, only subtitles in my native language. I wonder why that is, and I'm assuming it is because of some cumbersome contractual relations. On a DVD I'm pretty certain I could have gotten English subtitles. So now I'm paying, but I still get sub-par content? I ended up using a plugin to add the subtitles back in, but that plugin…

Go to a different country, and Netflix offers a different set of subtitles for a given title. Why can't I get Swedish subtitles in the US, for titles Neflix has the subtitles? I know this is to simplify the UI, but just offer it as an advances option, like they do for non-apathy mode (ie, stop playing at the end of one episode so I don't lose a day sitting on the couch).

> "I know this is to simplify the UI"

Why is that even necessary? Youtube offers you the full list to choose from and I don't see users writhing on the ground clutching their skulls in agonizing confusion. Users can handle a list of languages just fine.

This industry thinks too little of users.

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

#433

Post by aidenn0 »

on_and_off wrote: post #280
sbarre wrote: post #6

"May" drive them back? This has already happened in my circles.. People who had cut the cord but all but walked away from casual piracy and signed up for Netflix and HBO (and probably Prime Video because they had Amazon Prime already) are openly talking about the fact they're definitely not signing up for more streaming services, and are seeking out torrenting again for the stuff that's being pulled from Netflix (esp…

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…

My (arguably) legitimate way that gets me an ever-growing library:

1. BluRay

2. MakeMKV

3. Kodi

This is relatively future proof because unless I either get a bigger living room wall or sit uncomfortably closer to the screen 1080p is indistinguishable from 4k. I get whichever cut I want all the commentaries &c. I have all the discs in 3-ring binders with disc holders just in case there is a cut or featurette or whatever I'd like to watch at some point in the future.

Note that Disney has announced they are no longer going to re-release their back-catalog on physical media, so if you are a fan of their stuff, get the used BD now before it goes way up in price. I expect other studios will follow suit as well.

I chose not to get cable when I first moved in on my own in 2004 and allowed myself to buy TV shows and movies I wanted budgeted to the monthly cost of cable (I rarely actually ran up against that budget; at one point craigslist loaded with TV shows and movies for pennies on the dollar). I now have enough movies and TV shows to last me a very long time.

Only downside: I won't get to see GoT season 8 until December.

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

#434

Post by homonculus1 »

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…

There is considerable mental overhead involved in trying to remember where your choice is hosted, cycling through redundant apps and menu pages, waiting through load times, repeatedly entering the same search terms without a proper keyboard, getting blasted with different promotions from each service, etc.

It's a stupid and frustrating experience and every time it happens is a reminder that my interests as a customer rank dead last after all of these companies slice and dice their cultural fiefdoms into separate packages to squeeze a little extra revenue. Calling it a few finger budges is reductive, it's an insulting and tiresome rigmarole of hoops that I have to jump through just because they wanted to squeeze some more money.

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

#436

Post by tomc1985 »

partialrecall wrote: post #432
fragmede wrote: post #427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Go to a different country, and Netflix offers a different set of subtitles for a given title. Why can't I get Swedish subtitles in the US, for titles Neflix has the subtitles? I know this is to simplify the UI, but just offer it as an advances option, like they do for non-apathy mode (ie, stop playing at the end of one episode so I don't lose a day sitting on the couch).

> "I know this is to simplify the UI" Why is that even necessary? Youtube offers you the full list to choose from and I don't see users writhing on the ground clutching their skulls in agonizing confusion. Users can handle a list of languages just fine. This industry thinks too little of users.

And designers, kings/queens of the "you think you want this feature, but our user tests show that you actually don't"

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

#437

Post by redwall_hp »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #159

No shit. Valve worked out the key to combating piracy in the early 2000s. To quote Gaben himself: "We think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem. If a pirate offers a product anywhere in the world, 24 x 7, purchasable from the convenience of your personal computer, and the legal provider says the product is region-locked, will come to y…

This article's title/premise is being very generous to the media companies. It's not "too many choices" driving people to piracy, it's the bloody parasites balkanizing everything and forcing you to pay more subscriptions to more services just to watch a handful of shows.

People are happy to pay for Netflix and/or Amazon Prime, with a model of "you pay a streaming service provider and get shows from many media companies." But the new model is "media companies all want their own subscription service."

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

#438

Post by michaelmrose »

navigatesol wrote: post #202
throwaway2048 wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I somehow doubt that streaming platforms will finally be the ones to end piracy once and for all via lawsuits.

There's a difference between pirating something, and distributing pirated content, both ethically and legally.

Maybe you could argue that doing so for profit is different legally but its hard to argue that freely enabling others to do what you are doing is fundamentally ethically worse than doing so yourself.

I don't think there is a fundamental moral right to a particular pattern of bits in the first place to defend.

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

#439

Post by elif »

holy_city wrote: post #398
elif wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The inconvenient part is I have to labor for income to pay for all these services. That's really a bummer because I prefer to not labor. Additionally, I am in 6 countries for 9 months of this year. It is inconvenient that YouTube TV tells me the $35 I am paying them buys me absolutely nothing, despite the app saying "some content and local channels" will not be available, Netflix forces me to stop halfway through a s…

It's my understanding that the issues with international content distribution have to do with regulatory differences across borders, not the streaming services themselves.

Regulatory differences are a flaw unique to paid services, though. Piracy has no such flaw.

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

#440

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

sbarre wrote: post #6

"May" drive them back? This has already happened in my circles.. People who had cut the cord but all but walked away from casual piracy and signed up for Netflix and HBO (and probably Prime Video because they had Amazon Prime already) are openly talking about the fact they're definitely not signing up for more streaming services, and are seeking out torrenting again for the stuff that's being pulled from Netflix (esp…

I pirate based on principal. Most of these companies are actively trying to fuck me over as a user as much as corporately possible. I don't want to give them money. I can't help encourage this user hostile behavior.
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