The Netflix issue.

[Danioover9000]

   What are the main takeaways, in your view, about this situation:

 

[Danioover9000]

   Do you guys think it's just business as usual, or karmic? What I mean by karmic, that Netflix might get the blockbuster treatment.

[Yarco]

I don't think Blockbuster vs Netflix is a fair comparison. Blockbuster is more like Kodak film refusing to get into digital cameras, it's all about the medium.

Netflix is still in the right medium. They just have to offer enough value for people to go back.

I cancelled my Netflix subscription in February (I like to think I'm a bit of a trendsetter ). Here's my reasons for cancelling in order:

• Price increase. At least in Canada it's pretty much doubled.
• Other services. Amazon Prime has most things I want to watch so it's redundant. And we have a shared Disney+ account for free.
• Lack of stuff I want to watch. I really only liked Stranger Things and Black Mirror. Wife watched Friends on it 80% of the time and they removed it
• I didn't want to financially support an increasing amount of social justice (Don't underestimate how many nerds got mad at black elves in LOTR and cancelled their subscription.)

Netflix is rolling out a cheaper ad-subsidized plan but it'll be a year or two before it comes out, and by then I think it'll be too late. Amazon Prime has too much value to compete with and I could see them getting a monopoly. IMO Netflix would be better off going completely free with 5x as many ads (comparable to cable television). They could create an entire new paradigm for streaming services - free / ad supported. Nobody wants to watch ads in exchange for a slightly cheaper subscription.

[Roy]

No clue. I haven't paid for media since like 2006 when I used to collect CD's lol. I've pirated probably $20,000 worth of material since then. Internet is a glorious thing.

[Bobby_2021]

4 hours ago, Roy said:

No clue. I haven't paid for media since like 2006 when I used to collect CD's lol. I've pirated probably $20,000 worth of material since then. Internet is a glorious thing.

Exactly. Never understood people paying for Netflix when you can download any show you want for free from the internet.

If this was not the case only a few people would own the software and services, from the beginning of the internet. I do cherish the old days of the internet. 

[Pure Imagination]

On 5/14/2022 at 8:13 PM, Yarco said:

I didn't want to financially support an increasing amount of social justice (Don't underestimate how many nerds got mad at black elves in LOTR and cancelled their subscription.)

For me, this would be a great reason TO support Netflix. Social justice is society becoming more accepting of marginalized communities. Why would you say that supporting society moving forward is a bad thing?

[Danioover9000]

@Pure Imagination

4 hours ago, Pure Imagination said:

For me, this would be a great reason TO support Netflix. Social justice is society becoming more accepting of marginalized communities. Why would you say that supporting society moving forward is a bad thing?

   Probably for many different reasons and factors, like differences in what you value, cognitive and moral development, personality traits and life experiences so far and other lines of development. I think it's probably the volume of woke stuff in ads that is annoying to watch through, combined with ad annoyance in general. However, that's just one of many soft forms of programming and grooming on the societal level, and in this case I don't mind as the minority groups in those ads need to be a bit more normalized in mainstream culture.

Edited May 16, 2022 by Danioover9000

[Danioover9000]

@Yarco

On 15/05/2022 at 1:13 AM, Yarco said:

I don't think Blockbuster vs Netflix is a fair comparison. Blockbuster is more like Kodak film refusing to get into digital cameras, it's all about the medium.

Netflix is still in the right medium. They just have to offer enough value for people to go back.

I cancelled my Netflix subscription in February (I like to think I'm a bit of a trendsetter ). Here's my reasons for cancelling in order:

• Price increase. At least in Canada it's pretty much doubled.
• Other services. Amazon Prime has most things I want to watch so it's redundant. And we have a shared Disney+ account for free.
• Lack of stuff I want to watch. I really only liked Stranger Things and Black Mirror. Wife watched Friends on it 80% of the time and they removed it
• I didn't want to financially support an increasing amount of social justice (Don't underestimate how many nerds got mad at black elves in LOTR and cancelled their subscription.)

Netflix is rolling out a cheaper ad-subsidized plan but it'll be a year or two before it comes out, and by then I think it'll be too late. Amazon Prime has too much value to compete with and I could see them getting a monopoly. IMO Netflix would be better off going completely free with 5x as many ads (comparable to cable television). They could create an entire new paradigm for streaming services - free / ad supported. Nobody wants to watch ads in exchange for a slightly cheaper subscription.

   Ok, a better example would be a temporary bubble burst in the market.

   I agree that Netflix is in the right medium and direction, and that it just needs to adjust it's path and either niche down further or niche up. I don't know, maybe more documentaries versus tv shows would be a start.

   I still watch Netflix for the occasional drama and tv show stuff, but more for the documentaries. For me the documentaries is where Netflix's value shines the most, at least to me, so I don't think I'm canceling it anytime soon. I also don't know exactly why they are increasing subscription fees, maybe it's related to the increase in competition from big businesses like Amazon and Disney, typical predatory behaviour with their decision to add online streaming, just because they have the extra funds to try and outperform Netflix, and other online small businesses like shudder or other streaming services.

   I don't know what you mean about Netflix being like the cable tv services. When you said that Netflix would be better offering a free subscription and ad support, and then you said that nobody would watch ads for a cheaper subscription, how would Netflix support itself then, when it's free, and ad supported, but everybody avoids watching the ads? Unless you mean Netflix uses ad banners?

[Danioover9000]

@Roy @Bobby_2021  pirating online content? Isn't that illegal to do?

[Yarco]

18 minutes ago, Danioover9000 said:

When you said that Netflix would be better offering a free subscription and ad support, and then you said that nobody would watch ads for a cheaper subscription, how would Netflix support itself then, when it's free, and ad supported, but everybody avoids watching the ads? Unless you mean Netflix uses ad banners?

I guess it was confusing when I said nobody would watch ads on the hybrid model. What I really mean is they would be forced to and not be happy about it or think it's a worthwhile tradeoff.

Option 1 - Pay $19.99/month
Option 2 (Coming soon) - Pay $9.99/month but watch a 30 second ad before each episode

I propose an option 3 that's entirely free, but with 12 minutes of unskippable ads per hour. It's within the Netflix app so you wouldn't be able to use AdBlock or similar to avoid them. They can use ad banners as well.

People are bad at evaluating time/money tradeoffs so if Netflix is gonna go with ads I think they should go all the way. 

On 5/15/2022 at 1:18 AM, Bobby_2021 said:

Exactly. Never understood people paying for Netflix when you can download any show you want for free from the internet.

I pirated stuff a lot as a teen and in college. But now it's not worth it. I'd rather pay $10/month for the convenience of instant streaming in HD. No need to wait for 2 GB downloads, no risk of malware ruining my computer, or getting a low-quality recording or in another language or with subtitles I can't turn off. No need to bring my laptop downstairs and plug in an HDMI cable.

So for me the convenience is enough of a value proposition to pay instead of pirate for shows. I would still probably pirate software, especially something outrageously expensive like Photoshop.

Edited May 16, 2022 by Yarco

[Danioover9000]

@Yarco

1 hour ago, Yarco said:

I guess it was confusing when I said nobody would watch ads on the hybrid model. What I really mean is they would be forced to and not be happy about it or think it's a worthwhile tradeoff.

Option 1 - Pay $19.99/month
Option 2 (Coming soon) - Pay $9.99/month but watch a 30 second ad before each episode

I propose an option 3 that's entirely free, but with 12 minutes of unskippable ads per hour. It's within the Netflix app so you wouldn't be able to use AdBlock or similar to avoid them. They can use ad banners as well.

People are bad at evaluating time/money tradeoffs so if Netflix is gonna go with ads I think they should go all the way. 

I pirated stuff a lot as a teen and in college. But now it's not worth it. I'd rather pay $10/month for the convenience of instant streaming in HD. No need to wait for 2 GB downloads, no risk of malware ruining my computer, or getting a low-quality recording or in another language or with subtitles I can't turn off. No need to bring my laptop downstairs and plug in an HDMI cable.

So for me the convenience is enough of a value proposition to pay instead of pirate for shows. I would still probably pirate software, especially something outrageously expensive like Photoshop.

   12 minutes of ads that are not skippable, per hour? I don't know, that also sounds risky to do, when a larger portion of their audiences are millenials than boomers or zoomers or the elderly, which some have shorter attention spans. If you meant for the movies that're 1 hour plus, ok, but then what about the episodic shows? Or documentaries that are less than an hour per episode? Good solution for the apps, but what about when Netflix is on tv, or the computer? I'm leaning more to ad banners especially for shorter than an hour episodes or movies because, if I'm not mistaken, even if those ad banners are skippable, a person can include multiple ad banners or even pop ups around the beginning, middle and end of an episode.

   There are plenty enough lessons from this Netflix situation, like what to do when, if in your role and given field of interest, that when your small business is growing, and the more successful businesses in your niche start trying to copy you, what do you do to manage or even counter that? I felt like if the founder of Netflix could've done, they could've patented their streaming services to be trade marked to them exclusively. I could be wrong in saying that, but I saw an opportunity for the owner of Netflix to patent his streaming service when almost nobody or no other business at that time seriously considered streaming services, so he could protect his online property. Am I right in saying that it's possible to trade mark streaming?

   

[Roy]

2 hours ago, Danioover9000 said:

@Roy @Bobby_2021  pirating online content? Isn't that illegal to do?

If so many people are doing it, should it really be illegal? Most media content is stolen or copied to some degree. More than half of Youtube is just people redistributing content they didn't make.

[Carl-Richard]

@Roy

[r0ckyreed]

1 hour ago, Roy said:

If so many people are doing it, should it really be illegal? Most media content is stolen or copied to some degree. More than half of Youtube is just people redistributing content they didn't make.

Just because everyone does it doesn't mean it is right.

You could say the same thing about human trafficking, DUIs, substance use, rioting, slavery, racism, or anything else.

The morality of it seems more convincing when others are doing it with you.  The ego-mind uses other to rationalize its selfish positions.  Without a sense of other, it is harder for you to rationalize stealing online art.

Edited May 16, 2022 by r0ckyreed

[mojsterr]

55 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

@Roy

 

They underestimate me

[Razard86]

24 minutes ago, r0ckyreed said:

Just because everyone does it doesn't mean it is right.

You could say the same thing about human trafficking, DUIs, substance use, rioting, slavery, racism, or anything else.

The morality of it seems more convincing when others are doing it with you.  The ego-mind uses other to rationalize its selfish positions.  Without a sense of other, it is harder for you to rationalize stealing online art.

In truth theft doesn't even exist as everything is just consciousness. So in the grand scheme of things....he isn't really doing anything. Also....there is nothing new under the sun....meaning every single thing in existence is just a remix of something that already exists. Originality no longer exists.

[Roy]

1 hour ago, r0ckyreed said:

Just because everyone does it doesn't mean it is right.

You could say the same thing about human trafficking, DUIs, substance use, rioting, slavery, racism, or anything else.

The morality of it seems more convincing when others are doing it with you.  The ego-mind uses other to rationalize its selfish positions.  Without a sense of other, it is harder for you to rationalize stealing online art.

I understand the point you are making, but it's hard to digest it seriously when you're conflating listening to music or watching a movie "illegally" to slavery and human trafficking.

Everything has a moral grey area or relativity to it, and sometimes our laws don't reflect them all accurately.

I know it's a rationalization but I'm not perfect. I have mostly been poor/lower class my entire life, so I'm not losing sleep over listening to music I haven't paid for.

[Carl-Richard]

1 hour ago, Razard86 said:

In truth theft doesn't even exist as everything is just consciousness. So in the grand scheme of things....he isn't really doing anything. Also....there is nothing new under the sun....meaning every single thing in existence is just a remix of something that already exists. Originality no longer exists.

You don't need to zoom out to the Absolute to justify piracy. It's generally pretty harmless stuff. It's a bit like using AdBlock. 

If anything, zooming out to the Absolute to justify human actions is potentially much more harmful than piracy  

[Bobby_2021]

16 hours ago, Danioover9000 said:

@Roy @Bobby_2021  pirating online content? Isn't that illegal to do?

Yes. But Amazon is also exploiting workers and I am ripping off of their content, because I don't want to contribute to their system of oppression.

[Bobby_2021]

I think you all have missed the main point.

Netflix Content is shit. That's the bottom line. That's the main reason why people are not paying for it.

The movies are nothing more than "let's throw monaaaay and get all the best actors and use scenes that's nothing new".

It's merely use and throw, but for  series and movie. The movies do not have anything worth remembering. There is no creativity in the actual story or writing. Predictable content is boring.

And now add some wokesim onto it. 

They use female characters to represent prominent male figures in history, women beating men in fights, etc..

You may not see the problem with them, but no one is going to pay to watch an inaccurate picture of biology and reality. 

I can watch any show I want for free if I want, but I still don't because it's a waste of time.