Netflix Discussion - failure and success

Discussion in 'Random Thoughts' started by purr1n, May 13, 2022.

  1. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    I stopped trying to watch series on Prime for this reason. I had it happen to me 2x in the past and I refuse to start a trial of anything with them.
     
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  2. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    That is some seriously underhanded bullshit. If that happened to me I’d pirate the rest of the series out of spite.
     
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  3. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    "pirate the rest of the series"? what does that mean?
     
  4. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    ^^^ Download local, encoded copies of it from the interwebs instead of watch through the paywall Amazon decided to impose.

    Amazon is the worst. I already hated them, but this is just one more reason to add to the list. It doesn't help their cause that their app sucks (AppleTV anyway) and their quality is definitely a step below that of Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max, which are all collectively a step below Apple's quality.
     
  5. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Torrents and the like.
     
  6. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    Unfortunately I don't know what that means. Or maybe fear that it would launch me into a file-sharing cauldron that not even the best anti-malware apps can guard me from.
     
  7. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    Your fears are well-founded. I speak from personal experience, as I found no legal ways to watch The Practice series a decade or so ago. Malwarebytes scans daily and immediately after watching, and got many real-time alerts while watching.
     
  8. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    Always keep all your software patched and up to date, look for trusted users on major torrent sites (kind of like friends here), and stick to media files only, no executables, and it is pretty safe. If this makes no sense to you, by all means avoid the whole idea.
     
  9. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    Avoiding risk becomes a habit, one that's hard to break. I never messed with file-sharing, even though I had a couple relatives (and clients) who pushed me to do it.

    I've run 2-3 computers in this home office for 25+ years. I've always been my own I.T. Dep't, despite knowing just a fraction of what real I.T. people know. So I figure stuff out & stay in my lane when I'm unsure of something. I did enough billing via this office over the years to be unwilling to risk dropping a system drop by malware or exploits.

    I'm pissed at Prime Video, but not pissed enough to put myself at risk just to avoid paying 2 months @$6.99/each (what Acorn will cost me for the time needed to finish this show).
     
  10. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    No argument here. Keeping work and play separate is good advice too.
     
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  11. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    It's not a conspiracy. Acorn is a newer streaming outfit for UK + random shows. Prime has this weird model were you can subscribe to other streaming outfits like HBO Max (don't know if this is still the case) through them. There was actually a little fight between HBO and Amazon on this (HBO Max was only available on Fire TV through Amazon, and not via it's own app - this of course resulted in me throwing away my Fire TV).

    Here is the current situation.
    • Acorn's parent company owns rights to a lot of UK content, so they are not a just distribution company, they are also a content owner.
    • Amazon has purchased MGM, so they own rights to a lot of content, so they are not just a distribution company. Remember, they also spent a billion or so on their latest LOTR fiasco. And don't forget shows like Jack Ryan, The Boys, The Terminal List, The Peripheral, Goliath, Man In the High Castle, and a zillion more.
    • Netflix also owns (produces content) as well as distribute content they do not own. Most of Netflix content is stuff they have licensed internationally. Netflix had no choice but to start producing their own content because Disney/ABC, Paramount/CBS, NBCU, Sony, Warner/HBO pulled everything that they contractually could.
    The business models have converged to the point where they are the same. A pure distribution model does not work because all of the content owners now want to control the distribution rights. This was not the case before streaming where content owners were not, could not, be the same as the movie theater owners. (Long story behind this).

    What happened in your experience Prime and Whitstable Pearl was likely the result of a special deal to preview Acorn content for free to get people to sign up on Acorn, with Prime getting a small cut when that happened. If you dislike Amazon Prime practices, cancel Prime and sign up for Acorn. But as we know, this isn't easy.
     
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2022
  12. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    If you torrent without a VPN, even for a few minutes before shutting down the connection, you will very likely still receive a nasty-gram. You won't be sued for $10M like the granma, but it's likely you may be asked to pay for what you stole. There are companies out there that monitor torrents and keep track of IP addresses. Thanks to lobbying on the part of the Motion Picture Association, there is legislation in place that allows these companies to call the cable companies and get your personal info (name and address).

    Yes, it's a big mess right now for the consumer because every content producer / owner wants to the rule the world. It's like what I said once ago, Netflix made it easy because no will cancel their Netflix that costs $12 a month to steal content. Netflix is now $20 per month, and we have to add Disney+, HBO Max, Acorn, Prime, whatever to the mix. People are going to start stealing content because of this.
     
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  13. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    Yeah, there is that too. I'm in Canada so they do send nasty-grams, but that is about as far as that goes, they can't get personal info without a court order. I also use a VPN - Private Internet Access - and am quite happy with it. Clients available for Windows, Linux, Android and iOS, or you can just use OpenVPN, and servers all over the world. The ironic thing is that I usually connect to servers in the US, as they are the fastest from where I am.

    Note that I am not encouraging copyright infringement. I have Amazon Prime for instance, but still download things I have available on Prime just for the convenience. Actual files are much more convenient than streaming for me. No Tidal or Qobuz on my DAP either, just my large collection of ripped (and paid for) CDs.
     
  14. Pharmaboy

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    Great information on this thread. I learn something new practically every time someone posts here.

    I forgot to mention the other factor that keeps me glued into the Prime Video ecosphere: Freevee (formerly IMDB). I find myself really giving a shit about the stuff Prime allocates to this commercially supported sub-channel. Currently I'm working through all the seasons of PERRY MASON and PERSON OF INTEREST (I love both shows). The commercials are annoying but usually tolerable. As far as I can tell, Freevee is available only on Prime Video.

    Of course it's annoying to find valued content available only on a commercially supported channel like this. It's also very annoying that some of the newer and more desirable Freevee content has truly epic and frequent commercial breaks, as bad or worse than network TV. I gave up watching a few newer things on Freevee for that reason. Still, I'd rather discover a show I care about has been slid into the Freevee cue than suddenly have to subscribe to a sub-channel to keep watching it.

    In the larger sense, I pay little for Prime Video. I found a way to ditch the Amazon shipping portion of Prime membership and pay just $8.99/month, for which I get a mix of standard high def & 4K content. Contrast that to Neflix, where I must pay for the highest tier of service to get access to 4K content @$21.99/month. I hear that any day Netflix will launch its commercially supported sub-channel, which I sincerely doubt any frequent user will be able to avoid for long.

    Net/net: it almost would make more sense to ditch Netflix (painful, as I like some of the content) and invest part of the $$ saved in another service (Criterion is a likely suspect) or another Prime Video sub-channel (HBO would be the one, though it seems to not be available there now).
     
  15. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    Further to this, I definitely consider it a rather sketchy business practice to let someone start watching a series without clearly stating up front that you will not be able to watch it all without paying more. (unless I just misunderstood @Pharmaboy 's complaint). It's not just the fragmentation of services. This is just the sort of unethical behavior that drives people to piracy.
     
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  16. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    It is becoming more and more common for people, including some I know, to sign up for a service, binge everything you want for a couple months, then cancel and sign up for a different service, rinse and repeat. Obviously they all try to make it difficult to do that, but economically this is the most cost effective way to see the most content.
     
  17. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    Exactly! I couldn't have expressed it better.

    I never streamed video until 3-4 years ago. Streaming has really altered my viewing patterns. Embarking on a streaming TV series is like starting a love affair: maybe it will click and maybe it won't. If it does click I just want to keep going. That drive to finish content makes me vulnerable to Prime Video's borderline/shady practice of porting the series over to a pay sub-channel midstream.

    If it's all pure coincdence, I'll shut up. But in my case, it's becoming a little too familiar and repetitive to be a coincidence...
     
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  18. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    I get the convenience of streaming. Clearly that is the direction the world is moving in. Unfortunately "owning" a music or movie or game collection that is only "in the cloud" in no way guarantees you will always have access to it. The stories are numerous of people who thought they bought permanent access to content, only to have the providers servers shut down after mere years.

    In the future you will own nothing, you will only rent. Myself I'm going to avoid that future as best I can.
     
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  19. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    Yup. Like the dot-com boom that eventually went bust, the streaming boom sees similarly short sighted naive power hunger individuals who don't understand the business model, making it up as they go and paying the consequences. Netflix made every studio think they could have the same spoils, but netflix started small and earned their growth and dominance by capturing the trust of a loyal customer base and in turn creating a cultural tipping point with "netflix and chill" becoming the defacto replacement for the drive-in and it's baby-making, makeout sessions. Just like there's only McDonalds, Burger King and Wendys ruling the fast food burger market, there can only be two or maybe three kings in steaming. Because the vast majority of the working public does not want to (or can afford to with the recession) pay for a bunch of streaming services... especially when they inevitably keep raising prices.

    This isn't even getting into the generic, assembly line, normalizing of mediocrity model the streaming services have adopted in order to streamline the insane amount of content they pump out. There are something like over 800 shows on streaming at this point... no one can possibly quality control that amount of content, let alone expect people to watch it all. This lack of wisdom also slowly and steadily decreases the value of studios and streaming services over time, since they have no catalog to monetize in the future. There's a reason why every few years you get Blu-Ray box sets of classic movies, endless sequels, etc., because those are QUALITY pieces of content studios have focused on making good in order to monetize in the future and keep their brand and valuation intact. Netflix is failing because most of their original content has been garbage, they cancel shows people like after two seasons (because it becomes increasingly expensive to produce) further eroding confidence in their brand and further devaluing the company.

    Some studios like Paramount still understand twitter isn't a real place, people hate woke and prefer good ol' fashioned storytelling, which is why Top Gun Maverick destroyed the box office recently... and why Disney (who's earnings are in the toilet) and Marvel continue to fall off a cliff with their increasingly woke, shitty, generic and ritualistic sodomizing of its own heroes. Seriously, how do you f**k up Star Wars THIS badly, to the point where you can't even release movies anymore and stick to god awful TV shows? Marvel's phase 4 was a complete artistic and financial disaster... almost all of them were financial losses. When you make movies for $250M and market them for almost the same amount, and they can't make a billion to break even (theaters take about half), you have a failing business model. Avatar 2 reportedly needs to make $2B just to break even! Likely not gonna happen.

    Prime will be fine, because the streaming service is nothing more than a gigantic advertisement for their delivery service. I still have Prime not for the content, but for the next day/same day delivery. I cancelled garbage netflix a while ago. HBO Max is the only other streaming service I have, because they have the occasional really good show (currently loving The White Lotus) and their movie catalog is one of the best on streaming currently.
     
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    Last edited: Dec 3, 2022
  20. Wilewarer

    Wilewarer Almost "Made"

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    In the future you will rent nothing, because there won't be any shows worth bothering with. Going by current trends, anyway.

    Maybe that's a little harsh, but I feel like the deathmatch for streaming dominance has in its way resulted in enough of a drop in show quality that most people would be better off just watching reruns of Columbo bookended by Tom Selleck reverse mortgage commercials.
     
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