It's just like cable but for the internet. The only way these guys could compete with the ease of piracy would be to bundle all of the content in one app. Until that happens none of the services individually provide enough value for me.
this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2023
30 points (94.1% liked)
Technology
1374 readers
158 users here now
Which posts fit here?
Anything that is at least tangentially connected to the technology, social media platforms, informational technologies and tech policy.
Rules
1. English only
Title and associated content has to be in English.
2. Use original link
Post URL should be the original link to the article (even if paywalled) and archived copies left in the body. It allows avoiding duplicate posts when cross-posting.
3. Respectful communication
All communication has to be respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences.
4. Inclusivity
Everyone is welcome here regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.
5. Ad hominem attacks
Any kind of personal attacks are expressly forbidden. If you can't argue your position without attacking a person's character, you already lost the argument.
6. Off-topic tangents
Stay on topic. Keep it relevant.
7. Instance rules may apply
If something is not covered by community rules, but are against lemmy.zip instance rules, they will be enforced.
Companion communities
!globalnews@lemmy.zip
!interestingshare@lemmy.zip
Icon attribution | Banner attribution
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
"Yeah we're charging more, but in exchange we're also giving you this thing you never wanted".
I noticed bundles starting to happen a couple of years ago. Shudder was a horror film streaming service that I had subscribed to, which ended up getting bundled with a couple of other services (showtime? Paramount? Who knows anymore?). I’m fine with that. I think it’s a value add, and I think that the entire concept of streaming services falls apart when you end up subscribing to 15 of them and then having to search individual apps for a movie you want to see.
On the other hand, I think that bundling with an ISP goes against the idea of net neutrality and, if it’s going to be permitted by regulators (which it obviously is), it needs to be done in a content-neutral way (eg no prioritizing or enacting special benefits for using something Verizon is sponsoring, other than the discounts).
I am also never, ever going back to watching ads. I absolutely refuse. Not only did I always hate ads, the idiotic way algorithms pick which ads to serve - sometimes showing you the exact same ad multiple times in a row - is far, far worse than when a person would work to schedule them in old school broadcast tv. And it’s randomized for when the ad starts and the ad duration for all practical purposes, so if you’re doing a watch party it makes it difficult to impossible to stay in sync.
I’m also noticing a steep price increase on purchased media - some current releases are going for $30. I had ended up subscribed to maybe ten different services (sign up to watch a specific film then watching it just enough or simply forgetting to cancel), plus purchases for non-streaming films. I’m just cutting that all back.
What a load of crap. I knew Netflix was expensive, but ten bucks a month per person with ads? That’s unreal! Even bundling only gets that down to ~$7, which is still BS.