Thinking about not using my free year

[levander]

When I bought my iPhone 8, I remember thinking it was a really nice little plus that it come with 3 free months of Apple Music. Then when I went to sign up for it, I found out it was only for people who hadn’t previously ever signed up for the service, and I had signed up and used a 1-month free trial previously, along with paying an extra 2/3 months.

There’s nothing really on the Apple TV+ service right now I want to see. I watched the first two episodes of See that you can watch for free, and thought it was good execution with an excellent premise, but kind of silly also. No interest in anything else Except maybe For All Mankind. I am excited about the upcoming Spielberg.series though. I watched the original Amazing Stories as a kid and thought it was excellent. And I’m still into that kind of entertainment.

So maybe I shouldn’t activate my trial in hopes of not being locked out next time I’m offered a trial?

But who knows how good the content coming will be?

The thing is, I‘m happy with my iPad Air 3 and iPhone 8 and probably won’t be upgrading them for a few years. I already have four Apple TV’s and don’t need another one. I’ll buy a MacBook if I can finally do this traveling I want to do in the next couple of years, But I don’t really know if that!s gonna happen or not. There’s no telling when I’ll be offered another trial.

i have to activate the trial by early March or lose it.

 

[nutmac]

Most good TV shows require more than previewing 2 free episodes.

TV shows, like any form of arts and entertainment, is subjective. But I really like these 3 shows, ranked from favorite:

1. The Morning Show: This is not a preachy #MeToo drama that I thought it would be. Instead, it is a high quality drama about the inner workings of a morning news show plagued by (1) #MeToo scandal, (2) true journalism vs. entertainment, and (3) work environment politics. Very high quality production and truly excellent cast, with breakthrough performances by Billy Crudup and Jennifer Aniston.
2. Mythic Quest: I had very low expectation for this series (poor imitation of Silicon Valley), and the first two episodes are sup bar at best. But then the series takes off and becomes an excellent ensemble comedy in the spirit of The Office.
3. For All Mankind: This show didn't quite live up to my admittedly all too high expectation (Battlestar Galactica is one of my favorite shows of all-time). Pacing and writing are often uneven. But when it works, it truly works -- amazing tension and great characters.

With many new potentially good shows coming, I am frankly optimistic. Between second seasons of these shows, and upcoming shows such as Central Park (animated musical from creators behind Bobs Burgers), Foundation (Isaac Asimov sci-fi), Masters of the Air (WWII drama by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks), and Pachinko (based on an excellent novel), it will be an easy decision to renew my free subscription at $49.99/year.

Just to compare, I also subscribe to Disney+ (mostly for kids, but also Star Wars and Marvel contents), Amazon Prime Video (mostly for Prime shipping), and Netflix. (And occasionally HBO.) While there are more to watch on Netflix, in reality, I only watch 1 or 2 series a month. My family certainly doesn't watch Netflix ($15.99/month) 3 times as much as Apple TV+ ($4.99/month).

That is not to say Apple TV+ is perfect. The contents is certainly limited and it's not a go to stop for "let's just browse and watch what I feel like" service. Certain genre is very limited or non existent. No cooking show, very little kid's contents, etc. And TV app certainly doesn't make it very easy to use the service.

P.S. I saw only bits of Servant and haven't watched Dickinson and Truth Be Told. I liked first few episodes of See but it quickly faltered into ordinary apocalyptic action thriller. The last episode was particularly disappointing.

 

[levander]

Well, I just started my free trial. More so just to watch the service evolve than because of any content they’ve got on there.

it is on my mind that I’m a stockholder with a larger percentage of my portfolio in Apple than I should have (because the stock has grown so damn much) and having a membership lets me keep tabs on Apple. But that’s not really a great reason I don’t think. It’s an okay reason, not a great one. Because TV+ isn’t a huge deal at Apple. It really seems more a distraction than anything else, with Apple executives in there butting heads with those famous Hollywood people telling them to make their shows more family friendly, etc..

Another thing that made me sign up is people in my family will probably get a new Apple device before me. And maybe I can join their Apple home sharing (or whatever Apple calls it) and get another year for free.

 

[levander]

I don’t wanna do a spoiler. But I’m watching For All Mankind now, and it is so annoying how much absolute whining NASA is doing.

I fear all the shows on TV+ are like food at an inexpensive restaurant. Bland and typical. Just food everyone is familiar with that’s not too spicy so it doesn’t offend anyone. Food you can eat, but really isn’t all that great.

maybe a non-entertainment company has no business lay8ng their reputation on the line to make television? They’re gonna play it too safe because they don’t want to risk their reoutation in other businesses...

And yes, other companies invest in television. But it’s usually where a culture has already grown up, and the parent company invests in it later. A set of values and beliefs get time to evolve before the blockhead accountants and computer executives move in...

 

[vandrv]

I received a free ear of Apple TV and signed up for it, but have seen nothing that interests me enough to actually watch it.

 

[levander]

Well, I’ve been delightfully surprised by my Apple TV+ subscription.

The series See picks up after a few episodes and I really enjoyed It. I’m looking forward to season 2.

Little America I had written off figuring it was more left wing propaganda that we are so inundated with in our culture these days. And Tim Cook’s explanation for why they decided to do the series makes it clear that the series was motivated by a desire to have pro-immigration messages in our media. But you watch the shows themselves, and there just cute little shows about people who happen to be from other countries. I watch these shows when I’m sitting at my kitchen table eating lunch. They’re not exciting enough to watch unless I’m half distracted. I would like the show better without being aware of Tim Cook’s left wing pandering has done about the show.

Also, all the media coverage I’d seen of the The Morning Show series has been highly critical, mostly calling it oddly disjointed despite an all-star cast. So I had written it off. But I watched it and loved it. It’s not quite good enough to be considered one of my all time favorite shows, but it’s close. I consider the poor media reviews I’ve seen of that show another example of Apple’s knack for garnering negative press coverage. Sometimes Apple deserves negative press coverage, like with all the quality problems they’ve had lately With their technologies. But in the last few years, Apple also seems to get a lot of negative coverage they don’t deserve.

That said, this service isn’t worth $6/month yet. Not enough content yet. I’d wait. The only reason I got it was because it was a free year and I’m half thinking in the future I’ll be able to get on a family member’s family sharing and get another free year.