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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

#471

Post by TeMPOraL »

scarface74 wrote: post #467
TeMPOraL wrote: post #464

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. What I call "working similarly" is the following: - I type "fili.cc" in my Firefox on Android - I don't like anything currently in suggestions, so I tap on the search box, type in "Avengers", and press Search - I tap the first result, as it is the movie I'm looking for - On the move page, I tap on one of the players listed - A video box loads, I press its Play button, then Full Screen button, and watch the movie…

And I get a blank screen on ios -- you know the platform that close to half the US mobile phone population in the US use and way more than half of middle and upper income households use. So do none of the "people you know" use iOS devices?

Perhaps one or two of the people I know personally have an iPhone; I'm in Europe, and here Android is the dominant hardware. I do sometimes see people with iPhones as I take the bus, recently increasingly often, but it's still far from dominant platform here. As I said, there are many similar sites - this one is primarily targeted to Polish audience, where Android is dominant. Maybe a different site works better on Safari. Maybe US equivalents care about iOS users more.

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

#472

Post by fucking_tragedy »

scarface74 wrote: post #379
fucking_tragedy wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suggest you step outside of your circle. When I did, I found that many lower and middle class parents were using pirating setups that I didn't even know existed . For example, I learned about PopcornTime from a single parent who ran it on a laptop connected to their TV. The guy is bus dispatcher. When I need a recommendation for a streaming site or tracker, I ask my old neighbor who works as a lab tech. I've found…

Well, which should I give more weight to -- your anecdotal experience or the published number of subscribers for Netflix, Hulu, etc?

They overlap and aren't mutually exclusive.

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

#473

Post by partialrecall »

scarface74 wrote: post #469
partialrecall wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't have to implement every possible solution all at once; you pick one that works for you. If you prefer Plex, use Plex. If you prefer keeping everything on a thumb drive or your phone's SD card, do that instead. With non-DRM media you have the option to implement whatever solution you find preferable, not the obligation to implement those that you don't prefer. And if my family can do it, I am quite sure your…

If you prefer Plex, use Plex. Running your own server, finding good torrents, risk getting emails from your ISP or paying for a VPN service, dealing with networking and making sure the correct port is open and then dealing with the crappy upload bandwidth that most Americans have.... If you prefer keeping everything on a thumb drive or your phone's SD card, do that instead. Most people don't have phones with SD cards…

If you don't want to use SD cards, there are plenty of other methods available; at this point you're being deliberately obtuse. But I do find it amusing that you appeal to the requirements of "the majority of middle class to upper middle class" not long after accusing me of being out of touch.

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

#474

Post by scarface74 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #471
scarface74 wrote: post #467

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I get a blank screen on ios -- you know the platform that close to half the US mobile phone population in the US use and way more than half of middle and upper income households use. So do none of the "people you know" use iOS devices?

Perhaps one or two of the people I know personally have an iPhone; I'm in Europe, and here Android is the dominant hardware. I do sometimes see people with iPhones as I take the bus, recently increasingly often, but it's still far from dominant platform here. As I said, there are many similar sites - this one is primarily targeted to Polish audience, where Android is dominant. Maybe a different site works better on S…

According to the stats -- iOS has a 25% market share in Europe. (https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/europe). If it is the same trend as in the US, iOS is more heavily represented by the more affluent population.

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

#475

Post by jazzyjackson »

fragmede wrote: post #447
switch007 wrote: post #397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh Come on, it’s the second result on google for “Plex reddit”.

Sure, but unless you use Reddit on a regular basis, why would you even consider adding "reddit" to the search query? To be fair, just searching for "plex" does return Reddit results, though not on the first page (for me anyway, Google personalizes search results). It's no longer the Wild West of Internet, and it turns out information doesn't want to be free, it wants to live in invite-only areas who's members are vet…

subreddits can be made private & invite only if they wish not to be found on the open web

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

#476

Post by zzzcpan »

CivilianZero wrote: post #461
zzzcpan wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It seems like everyone here thinks torrenting is as easy and simple as using streaming services actually is, and that streaming is as complicated as torrenting actually is. Would be weird if people here didn't find torrenting easy and simple. And depending where you get your torrents from, it could be significantly easier than streaming.

I don't think that follows. I'm technically savvy and am fully capable of torrenting files, but the amount of effort I have to exert to get it done problem free (and the amount I have in the past) means it is not easy or simple. Just because you have the ability to perform an action, even if you find it easy to do, does not mean it is intrinsically easy or simple. And it definitely is never easier than opening an app…

> And it definitely is never easier than opening an app on your smart tv/console/etc and clicking play.

It is. For everyone who cares about privacy, security implications of using an app on a smart tv, for everyone who doesn't want to own a smart tv or a console, for everyone who already knows how to do it with torrents. And so on.

Easiness is subjective. Simplicity isn't, but streaming apps are not simpler in any way.

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

#477

Post by fragmede »

an_opabinia wrote: post #211
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…

> 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…

Only one techhead person has to setup the system, and then share access to it with all of their friends. And then given everyone's total inability to keep a secret, logins get shared far and wide. Those friends just open the app, find a show, and hit play. On the backend, there's an RSS feed hooked up to an auto-downloader, because DevOps is all about automating toil, and finding, downloading, and then futzing with VLC to find and play the file, is the definition of toil.

I have no idea how many people know someone who's dedicated enough to setup such as system, but there are many such systems, so I don't think it's moot. Nor is this a prediction of the future, this exists, with many users already.

Who's going to pay for it? Netflix. Despite not needing to pay them to watch their shows, Netflix still gets my money. Netflix pays producers for shows that are on Netflix, so those producers still get my money. It's going to be a hard sell to pay for additional services, as the post we're commenting point out.

The non-Netflix services that will survive, regardless, is anything that must be watched in real-time, aka sports. Those add up quick! NFL, NBA, MLB, and UFC all charge a pretty penny to watch their events live. There are pirate streams though, but for dedicated fans, on the real thing is good enough.

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

#478

Post by on_and_off »

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?

What about my case isn't about convenience exactly ?

All of it is about convenience to access content. Netflix had it at first when its library was "fresh". But since it is a rolling library instead of an ever growing one, it almost never has the movie I want to watch.

Blade Runner is the first example that came to mind and I believe that it is a good one. it is an acclaimed movie that should be very easy to find online.

I would be ready to pay more for a Netflix like service with "everything". Actually I used to pay for multiple services at once.

Would I pay 10 times ? I don't think so, personally I don't value such a service that highly but that's a subjective opinion (just like somebody could rightfully say that for them Netflix or Spotify are too costly) and a bit of a straw-man IMO.

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

#479

Post by scarface74 »

partialrecall wrote: post #473
scarface74 wrote: post #469

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you prefer Plex, use Plex. Running your own server, finding good torrents, risk getting emails from your ISP or paying for a VPN service, dealing with networking and making sure the correct port is open and then dealing with the crappy upload bandwidth that most Americans have.... If you prefer keeping everything on a thumb drive or your phone's SD card, do that instead. Most people don't have phones with SD cards…

If you don't want to use SD cards, there are plenty of other methods available; at this point you're being deliberately obtuse. But I do find it amusing that you appeal to the requirements of "the majority of middle class to upper middle class" not long after accusing me of being out of touch.

All of your methods are obtuse.

And if you define the “middle class to upper class”, by definition you get 50% to 60% (3-5 quintile) of the US - the exact population that streaming products are targeting.

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

#480

Post by scarface74 »

fucking_tragedy wrote: post #472
scarface74 wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, which should I give more weight to -- your anecdotal experience or the published number of subscribers for Netflix, Hulu, etc?

They overlap and aren't mutually exclusive.

One is better to build a business off of.
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