The Queen’s Gambit was and still is the best series they’ve ever produced.
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Netflix to Raise Ad-Free Subscription Prices Soon
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Maybe I’m old, but I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned Napster and music piracy as it relates to this discussion. I can’t count the number of cassettes, LPs, and CDs I bought at full retail price during the 1970s-1990s for one or two songs, only to discover that the rest of the albums were crap, or at least not to my taste. There was no way to purchase just the songs I wanted — and, from what I understood, most of the money was going to the record companies rather than the artists. So when Napster came out, I didn’t feel guilty about downloading individual songs — some of which weren’t available anywhere else, anyway. Justification? Yes — but it forced the music industry to change: Apple iTunes offered amnesty to people with previously downloaded music collections if they started subscribing. I did so from the beginning. As a music lover, I think Apple Music is one of the greatest bargains out there. I do occasionally buy CDs from indie artists I like to support them, regardless of whether their music is on Apple Music.
As for video content, my wife and I subscribe to Amazon Prime (because we buy lots of stuff from Amazon), Apple TV+ (as part of Apple Premiere), and Netflix. We also do one-month-only subscriptions to other services when we want to watch a particular series. It’s cheaper than what we used to pay for cable packages. Yes, I know taste is subjective, but I don’t understand the “there’s nothing good on Netflix” complaint. I watch video content for an hour or so every morning when I’m on my treadmill. I have more potentially interesting content in my Netflix queue than I’ll ever hope to watch. I suppose there would be a price point beyond which I wouldn’t pay for Netflix, but I can’t tell you what that is.
Is downloading pirated content stealing? Technically, yes, but it’s a gray area to me. Stealing a digital copy of something isn’t the same as stealing a physical object, because there’s no additional cost or labor involved in creating another digital copy of something. The question is, who is deprived of the income from that theft: the content creator, or the corporation that arguably gave the content creator an unfair deal? If you view the world in black-and-white terms, it doesn’t matter: you know what the rules of the system are, so you either abide by them or use legal means to change the system. What bothers me are the people on this forum who have made it clear (gleefully!) that they would pirate content no matter how inexpensive it is because, well, “corporate greed.” Individual greed and entitlement are fine, but corporate greed isn’t.
I hate the Balkanization of the streaming-content industry, where every copyright holder starts its own streaming service in the hope of recreating the success of early-days Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV. I hope they start merging with one another so that, once again, we have a small number of services from which to choose. I wish there were something like Apple Movies+, where, for maybe $50 per month, you’d have access to almost every movie and TV show ever made. But entertainment content is a luxury, not a survival need. If you believe that “everything on Netflix is garbage,” then why would you subscribe at any price? If you believe that “90% of what’s on Netflix is garbage,” then how much are you willing to pay for that considerable 10% that isn’t garbage? And if you think it’s too much, are you okay with pirating it elsewhere, versus finding alternative entertainment? Yet another First World problem…
As for video content, my wife and I subscribe to Amazon Prime (because we buy lots of stuff from Amazon), Apple TV+ (as part of Apple Premiere), and Netflix. We also do one-month-only subscriptions to other services when we want to watch a particular series. It’s cheaper than what we used to pay for cable packages. Yes, I know taste is subjective, but I don’t understand the “there’s nothing good on Netflix” complaint. I watch video content for an hour or so every morning when I’m on my treadmill. I have more potentially interesting content in my Netflix queue than I’ll ever hope to watch. I suppose there would be a price point beyond which I wouldn’t pay for Netflix, but I can’t tell you what that is.
Is downloading pirated content stealing? Technically, yes, but it’s a gray area to me. Stealing a digital copy of something isn’t the same as stealing a physical object, because there’s no additional cost or labor involved in creating another digital copy of something. The question is, who is deprived of the income from that theft: the content creator, or the corporation that arguably gave the content creator an unfair deal? If you view the world in black-and-white terms, it doesn’t matter: you know what the rules of the system are, so you either abide by them or use legal means to change the system. What bothers me are the people on this forum who have made it clear (gleefully!) that they would pirate content no matter how inexpensive it is because, well, “corporate greed.” Individual greed and entitlement are fine, but corporate greed isn’t.
I hate the Balkanization of the streaming-content industry, where every copyright holder starts its own streaming service in the hope of recreating the success of early-days Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV. I hope they start merging with one another so that, once again, we have a small number of services from which to choose. I wish there were something like Apple Movies+, where, for maybe $50 per month, you’d have access to almost every movie and TV show ever made. But entertainment content is a luxury, not a survival need. If you believe that “everything on Netflix is garbage,” then why would you subscribe at any price? If you believe that “90% of what’s on Netflix is garbage,” then how much are you willing to pay for that considerable 10% that isn’t garbage? And if you think it’s too much, are you okay with pirating it elsewhere, versus finding alternative entertainment? Yet another First World problem…
Don't always have to have new content, New content is good but also needs to have some old good content as well.
I'm watching old Star Treks at the moment on P+
However the focus seems to more be on new content currently instead of looking and seeing if they can get the rights to older content that isn't anywhere else.
I'm watching old Star Treks at the moment on P+
However the focus seems to more be on new content currently instead of looking and seeing if they can get the rights to older content that isn't anywhere else.
When they take away ad-free options just like cable.
You must think nothing of the creatives who made that product you enjoy. Royalties are still a thing, and important.
Kind of crazy how many people think it can’t be theft if there’s no physical object involved.
Yeah, this is the other shoe that’s going to drop.
“Hey! We settled with the writers and actors. Now we HAVE TO charge you twice as much for movies, TV, streaming… you understand.”
My question then is - why do people feel entitled to stuff that they didn't pay for?
Say I were no longer subscribed to Disney+, and the 4th season of Mandolorian dropped next year. I would simply not watch it, or maybe wait till the entire season was out before paying for a month's subscription to binge it. Maybe I am not giving Disney the ROI they projected, but I am still a paying customer (for that 1 month at least), and consuming their original content legitimately. Or if I am not paying any more, I am essentially saying "I don't think their content is worth the money anymore" and am making a conscious choice to not consume it again. It's not really the end of the world if I elect to not follow the expanded Star Wars universe any more.
I suppose an argument could be made for torrenting content that is otherwise not available in your region (like say, the weekly episode of Kamen Rider which is screened only in Japan). It's not that I don't want to pay, but I can't. It's a free-to-air show. But otherwise, the show is there, subscribing is as easy as toggling a setting in the app, you don't want to pay, and you still feel like the company owes you cheap / free content nevertheless.
It's just this sentiment that I find boggling.
It isn’t a difficult question to answer… unless you’re trying to justify theft. The example I used earlier is still accurate: it’s like sneaking into a movie. By doing that you rob the exhibitors, the distributor, the producers, directors, writers and actors of the money they’re owed for their work. It doesn’t matter if the company involved is a giant multi-national or a mom and pop. It isn’t okay to steal.
But evidently this is far too abstract a concept for some people to grasp.
Not defending anything, but how bad does the content have to get before they’re stealing from us when we actually pay for it. 99% of the people who actually worked on a production get nothing when it’s sold or resold and thus are losing nothing when someone downloads a show, most normal people get that, and they don’t have a problem picking the pocket of the corporation.
You think all these people sharing Netflix passwords for a single monthly consider themselves thieves?
There's also the normal employees of Netflix, and they get effected anytime corporate does.
As for the password sharers, they should understand that they're stealing. Most probably don't think about it, so don't know.
I don’t go around asking for a ticket refund if I didn’t enjoy a movie. It also raises the question - if the content is that bad, why do people bother pirating it?
I have always felt that the key value proposition of streaming services (be it music or video) has always been convenience, not so much the quality of the shows inside. I pay for the ease of being able to say, watch an episode of flash or arrow from any of my devices, anytime, any place. I can tailor my content bundle by choosing which streaming services I want to subscribe to at any one time, and discontinuing or resuming a service is straightforward thanks to the subscription tab in the App Store app.
You don’t get that utility with cable, which requires additional hardware and confines you to your television. There was also a lack of perceived value because people often paid a lump sum for dozens of channels with little to watch. It was also famously difficult to cancel your cable subscription.
A good argument can be made that the greater satisfaction and enjoyment found with streaming warrants higher pricing than cable. The problem is that early movers like Netflix went with an artificially low pricing in a big to garner subscribers, even though we all now know in hindsight that it was never sustainable in the first place (and still we expect the companies to stick with a strategy we know is not working simply because we don’t want to deal with the alternative of higher prices). This had the unfortunate consequence of conditioning consumers to expect a steady buffet of endless content for $10 a month. Other companies followed suit, and the rest and we know is history.
I am not against the idea of higher streaming prices for the same reason that I am an apple product user - I believe that this is necessary if streaming services are to stay financially viable (and stay around in the long run). It also gives studios more budget to focus on higher quality video content.
As for the argument that there are too many streaming services around, no one said that you had to subscribe to all 12 of them at one go, and then complain that you are paying more than cable. Mix and match the services which are host to content that you like to watch (and have the time to watch) and we will let the market work itself out.
In a future where video streaming subscription pricing is sustainable, there is no need for a service to appeal to every customer.
If the content is bad, why are you subscribed to the service and/or pirating it in the first place? (Rhetorical you)
If someone feels the content is that bad, they can simply cancel their subscription. I don't think Netflix has a specific "satisfaction guarantee" policy so as long as they are delivering content/service as promised in the subscription agreement or TOS, there is no "stealing" on their part.
It doesn't really matter what they think. If someone is pirating content or violating a subscription agreement or TOS, they are very likely (exact laws may vary by country) committing an illegal act.
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I think publicly traded corporations was a mistake. We don't benefit as a society from it or Wallstreet. Time to end it
I can’t disagree. It makes the whole thing a lottery or a roulette table.