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How do you spend the extra time? Have you taken on new hobbies or invest in yourself in other ways? I am asking because I have been thinking series taste so much time too. And they stall and get worse with each episode.
Well, I’m a full blooded geek, so i never get bored and always find something technical to tweak, or simply do 2D/3D stuff, or i just flame against Apple on Macrumors 😜.

At spring and summer i also work in the garden, plant and watch boring vegetables grow.

20 Years ago i used to play guitar but somehow i stopped because my software development work took over. Sometimes i think about starting with real sculpting or wood work as a hobby, dunno yet.

Anyway Netflix & Co. is a pure waste of precious life time. Investing your time any other kind of hobby is better than Netflix.

They fight for your spare time and try to make you vicious, it’s like series watching bulimia. E.g. my wife used to read(eat) books, but since Netflix, i can’t remember the last time i saw her holding a book in her hands.
 
Even with this price jump, I'm still saving money.

Before I cut the cord over 10 years ago, I was paying $70-$80/mo just for cable tv (no internet). With internet and Netflix and Hulu, I'm paying under $60/mo.

And I get to subscribe to Disney+, Amazon Prime, etc. for a month, binge, and cancel if I wanted to... and which I have. You can't do that with cable tv.


. . . . so I just checked Spectrum for current rates to compare . . . .

$44.99 for internet (discounted by $24/mo for 12 months for new subscribers)
$44.99 for tv (discounted by $32/mo for 12 months for new subscribers)
$17.99 for broadcast fee
$8.99 for HD box
$5.09 for taxes/misc fees

That's $122.05/mo, then it would jump to $178/mo after 12 month promo... unless I can get them to extend promo price by threatening to cancel.

Ridiculous!
Netflix gives you internet? Wow. That is a deal for $20 a month. I assume since you are comparing that in your cost :)

But, yes, even if you remove Internet in your package, it's still more expensive for Spectrum TV package. I agree. But, then again, Netflix programing is pretty sub par these days. And, most of the networks are now using their own service to release their good stuff.

Netflix still has some original stuff that might be worth it for some. But, it's not the save value it used to be with the amount of good content.
 
Still dirt cheap. It's less than the price of a movie at a theater. If I want to watch something on Netflix, like Squid Games or Stranger Things, I'll subscribe for a month, binge watch, then cancel. This also keeps me from wasting too much time watching TV.
 
I wish their original content wasn't so crap most of the time, otherwise it would be worth it. There are definitely Netflix original shows and movies I enjoy though.
 
Just another reason to use the binge, cancel, reactivate, binge, cancel technique. Or just cancel in general.
 
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Problems for Netflix. It's bleeding shows to other streaming platforms, as all the major studios are preparing their own streaming service.
Apart from Amazon, which offers a bundled service with the Prime Subscription, all the other streaming services soon will need to bundle if they want to stay competitive.
 
The classic “so that we can continue to offer a wide variety of quality entertainment options.”

Who’s next to raise prices? Hulu, Disney, hbo? Place your bets.
 
The worst part for us is that up to now Netflix got away with all the price increases for low-quality broadcast and tons of old movies and I bet they'll get away with this one too, because even if they lose subscribers the number of people going to the $20/month plan from the $8.99/m plan just to have 4K will compensate for the loss. I also think they're still riding the "Squid Game" success but that will not last.
Disney+, AppleTV+, Hulu, etc... look very attractive now. Add a few live sports (Disney has it with Hulu+ and ESPN+, Peacock has it, Paramount+ has it, Apple is working on it) and Netflix is in serious trouble! My two cents...
 
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I'm newly single again after a decade with the wrong person.

One of the things I am going through is the services we shared together.

Netflix, in particular, is one I have chosen NOT to subscribe to myself. Just too expensive for crap I either own or can get through.....other means. Perhaps I'll hope on for stranger things 4.

Now......I do control the spotify family plan.....hah hah.....

Here here! You and me both. ? A toast to you, my fellow comrade! Congrats and godspeed on your new journey. May you always find fortune.
 
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I didn’t even know my basic plan subscription is not HD ?
That's because DVD 480p quality is actually good enough for most people and most screens. Really big screen TV's don't look great with 480p, but laptops, tablets and smartphones are absolutely fine with 480p. When people complain about not getting 4K on a device that is 16 inches or smaller (laptops, tablets and smartphones) then they are just upset because they know its available -- not because they are really going to notice much difference in video playback.

I'm sure there are a few who can really see the difference in video playback, but they are not the majority of people and are definitely less than the number that claim to be able to tell the difference.

We still playback our old DVD's on our 60-inch TV and nobody notices. I often purchase animated content on iTunes for my teenagers in SD (480p) and they don't notice and we save a ton of money since the SD version is usually much cheaper.

4K and HD are great for some content and some screens, but its not necessary for so much of the content out there and definitely not needed for small screens.
 
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