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Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B

reuters.com

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Re: Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B

#721

Post by wallacoloo »

d0gbread wrote: post #656
saltyfamiliar wrote: post #651

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I truly cannot relate. All one needs is a VPN, a torrent client, a browser and an internet connection. Most tv's nowadays are smart enough to either connect to a simple Windows share or at least be able to play movie files. My SO and I watch a new movie almost every single night with a very simple setup and rarely encounter problems. It reads to me like you've over engineered movie night and are now complaining about…

Three comments so far that highlight the exact point the parent was making, a true lack of empathy. VPN alone is enough complexity for most... it's hard to find one that doesn't have comments calling it potentially insecure, questioning the owner, nevermind keeping tabs on if it sells to another owner.

Maybe. It is still more complex than just using Netflix. OTOH, there’s enough stable software for this out there that’s it can be a “set it up and forget about it” experience if you want it to be. The right client will search N sources for you with the click of a button, instead of you having to search Netflix, then Hulu, then HBO, then Disney+, then Funimation, Crunchyroll, and so on until you find (or don’t find) the thing you’re looking for.

At what point does the daily time savings from having a unified view into all the world’s media outweigh the initial time cost of setting it up? It surely varies by person. Personally, spending one day setting up a media server is a far better experience than spending 5 minutes every #%$!ng night searching for some show on all these platforms and still not finding it.

Re: Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B

#722

Post by rileymat2 »

tmp231 wrote: post #694
bogwog wrote: post #634

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is such a cowardly view. > or are you just shifting the balance of power from US companies to Chinese companies? That's not going to happen. The biggest Chinese companies only exist because of stolen technology. This is a well documented fact. Tencent for example has this business model: 1) Identify trending games from competitors outside of China 2) Clone those games and release them internationally 3) Petition…

This is such a cowardly view. > If anything, breaking up these monopolies will lead to more innovation Yes, let’s violate a company’s right to exist and conduct business just because we don’t like ads, or have preferences for how the run things. If you’re so concerned that they are not doing the right thing, then you go out and do it.

I am not sure the right for a company to exist, is a real thing. These are artificial entities created by the government that give groups of people liability protection and the ability to act as one entity legally.

It is not really a right, so much as a practical privilege we have set up. As such they should be open to whatever democratic will of the people. If the people arbitrarily decide they can only have so much power or size, then so be it.

Re: Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B

#723

Post by gcmrtc »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #612
caeril wrote: post #512

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No it isn't. It's a workaround. Sure, but it's a trivially easy workaround. Our focus of attention on matters of regulation ought to be in those areas where working around the problem is not nearly as dead simple as a torrent client, a NAS, and a Plex server.

It's really not. I'm a computer geek, and I'm LONG past the point where setting up safe VMs and signing up to half a dozen services like newsgroup server and directories and search engines and what nots, download software with impossible names like sabnzbd (I'm waiting up for somebody to scream how nobody uses sabnzbd anymore, it's been replaced by jidwiaj and iqerqip, which are super easy, and that just proves my po…

Take a look at seedboxes.

Re: Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B

#724

Post by 908B64B197 »

fshbbdssbbgdd wrote: post #496
echelon wrote: post #447

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The solution is to break up big tech. Amazon shouldn't be ten companies in one. Google shouldn't be able to set web and mobile standards, then reap ad monies by forcing everyone to accept their anticompetitive changes. Apple shouldn't be the sole guardian of iPlatform. You can't have a protection racket on 50% of all commerce (phones >> gaming consoles) and enforce what gets put on the device. These companies don't h…

> Microsoft is literally the only tech giant behaving correctly, and it's probably because they got slapped with antitrust in the 2000s. Ask Slack if they agree. Microsoft used the dominance of Office to take over that market by bundling Teams.

I would have agreed had Microsoft not owned several chat platforms over the years (MSN Messenger, Skype, Lync and Skype for Business).

Re: Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B

#725

Post by 908B64B197 »

bogwog wrote: post #628
edgyquant wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sure I can agree about Microsoft. I’ve come to not hate them in the last decade but they definitely have been buying up the developer scene too. They aren’t as brazen as Google I’ll agree (likely because of the antitrust issues) but they are still setting themselves up as a monopoly over the long term.

The other day I was helping my brother setup Python on his Windows 10 computer. So I went to python.org and installed it as usual, then why I typed "python" in the console, it launched the Microsoft Store app and took me to the download page for their distribution of Python. Apparently, it's some kind of alias "feature" they added to Windows at some point. What legitimate reason is there for that if not to try and tr…

> Apparently, it's some kind of alias "feature" they added to Windows at some point. What legitimate reason is there for that

It's a loophole so they don't have to ship Windows with a version of Python and then have to support it for how long that version of Windows will be supported. So instead the user gets it from the store (and it's upgraded via the store).

Same thing they did for years "Add or Remove features" where, to enable certain things they wouldn't bloat the base OS and made them optional download.

Re: Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B

#726

Post by listenallyall »

mavhc wrote: post #599
laurent92 wrote: post #585

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No customer wants to spend X on Shudder, Y on Netflix, and Z on Prime, plus Hulu, HBO, and your cable/satellite fee either. Paying 200 GBP/USD a month is utterly absurd. When we’re done talking about the quantity of movies, let’s talk about quality. If an awesome movie goes to the cinema, like Twilight, you’ll be able to watch Werewolf on Netflix. With abysmal plot and acting. If you type Mission Impossible, you’ll…

Imagine, people making art because they have something to say. The horror. The horror.

... this comment reminds me of something about the smell of napalm, and victory ...

Re: Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B

#727

Post by d110af5ccf »

jbay808 wrote: post #622
rhino369 wrote: post #582

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not possible to lend digital media out without making a copy(remotely streaming it still copying), which isn't protected by the first sale doctrine. Redbox isn't making a copy. That's the big difference.

Is it possible to play a DVD without making a copy in the DVD player's RAM? What if I extend an HDMI cable from my DVD player to your TV? My library manages to lend ebooks; they even have wait lists for them.

> My library manages to lend ebooks; they even have wait lists for them.

Those are made available in that format by the publisher. No equivalent for movies is available (as far as I am aware).

Also my understanding is that it was never entirely clear if lending ebooks like that in the US was legal or not. The publishers and lenders both carefully avoided the issue going to court IIUC. (Prior to the Internet Archive's actions, that is.)

Re: Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B

#728

Post by patmorgan23 »

cabalamat wrote: post #684
saltyfamiliar wrote: post #651

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I truly cannot relate. All one needs is a VPN, a torrent client, a browser and an internet connection. Most tv's nowadays are smart enough to either connect to a simple Windows share or at least be able to play movie files. My SO and I watch a new movie almost every single night with a very simple setup and rarely encounter problems. It reads to me like you've over engineered movie night and are now complaining about…

> All one needs is a VPN You don't need that. At least, I don't. > a torrent client All good operating systems (i.e. Linux) come with one. Though obviously most non-technical people don't use Linux. > a browser Pretty much standard on everything. > an internet connection Which they would be using anyway for streaming services. > Most tv's nowadays are smart enough Aaagh! Don't use "smart" TVs!

You do need a VPN to mask your IP. Especially if you're going to be using public trackers. Otherwise you'll get copyright notices and you're ISP could terminate your service.

Re: Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B

#730

Post by listenallyall »

ctdonath wrote: post #558
thayne wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. I don't understand why streaming a movie is so much more expensive than renting a physical DVD or VHS from a brick-and-morter store. If I want to watch a new movie, it is generally much cheaper to rent a DVD from redbox than watching it from any of the streaming services that allow you to rent it online.

Depends on your cost priorities. If you're basically just walking by the box anyway while doing something you'd be doing otherwise, sure it's cheaper to drop $2 for a disc. If you have to make a deliberate trip, you've transportation & opportunity costs. 2 round trips to the box, just to get/return the disc, is 6 miles total (1.5 miles one-way by road & parking lot) for me; at >$3/gal gas (wear/maintenance not includ…

...which is why Redbox puts its boxes in places where people already have to go anyway. It's funny that you think this all needed to be explained in such excruciating detail. It's not rocket science.
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