this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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Why do you subscribe then?
Probably for the convenience of partners/children.
Lots of people who aren't super deep into computer nerdy shit get outright confused when faced with options they've never heard of like "Plex." Sometimes it's just more convenient to respect your partner and keep Netflix because it makes sense to them.
Plex doesn't have easy-to-use parental control options and a lot of parents who might have the time to set up a Plex server for themselves may not have the time to muddle through the parental control options than just accepting that most streaming services have a kid-friendly section already set up and easy to access. Plex's matching algorithm isn't perfect, and opening it to your kids means you've got to make sure the matching is perfect. I've definitely had adult shows be recognized by the matching algorithm as children's shows. If you don't catch that, your kid can end up watching something you'd rather them not. It's just a lot more work to manage your Plex parental controls than just using the off the shelf setup from the streaming services.
Neither of these apply to me, but I know folks who have Plex plus subscribed services for these reasons.
Plex actually has better parental controls than Netflix. You can even limit people to specific libraries so just put all the kid stuff in one and you’re good to go.
Really it’s that having everything in one place is more convenient.
I agree, but better /= easier to use for a lot of folks. For folks like us its a piece of piss, sure, but not everyone sadly.
Plus, like I pointed out, it means you have to be a lot more vigilant about making sure matches are correct. Plex makes mistakes.
Agreed. Sometimes I’ll get a text saying ‘the plex thing wont load’ and it doesn’t really make sense to them when I say ‘yeah, I took my computer today’
Kinda a dick move, eh?
I’m sorry I needed it for school?
I did warn anyone who had access that it wasn’t a 24/7 guarantee.
This is why you gotta pay your server admin.
They came free with a bunch of other things so I subscribe until they start charging me, and then they're like "oh no don't go here's a free year" and I'm like "okay." I'd steal it anyway but at least this way it's a little ethical.
It’s an unpopular take here I would guess, but because they have the money to do it, and it’s the right thing to do.
The unfortunate thing is the actual actors/writers/producers aren’t getting paid because they’re paid per stream that Disney or whatever won’t count because it’s pirated.