Frank McPartlandMay 5, 2023
Dan Gillmor

I declined to renew a subscription (an annual payment, originally with a no-longer-offered big discount) to Disney Plus a few weeks ago, and realized today I haven't noticed its absence.

At some point there will be a bunch of films/shows I want to watch there, so I'll buy a month, watch them, and cancel again.

This will be my template for pretty much all streaming services going forward.

May 4, 2023 at 11:14pmWeb
Show threadDogzillaMay 4, 2023
@dangillmor I occasionally subscribe to Acorn, watch everything, then cancel it for several months while they restock. Netflix is the only service that adds enough new content to keep my subscription active on an ongoing basis.
Show threadLotographiaMay 4, 2023

@dangillmor I always felt like this should have always been the norm and couldn't understand why people complained about having to subscribe to multiple platforms.

Like, subscribe to Netflix one month, cancel this subscription and subscribe to Disney+ the next month, cancel this subscription the following month and subscribe to something else and so on.

Unless people feel the need to watch every show as soon as it is released there's no reason to subscribe to more than one platform at a time.

Show threaddr 🛠️🛰️📡🎧May 4, 2023

@lotographia @dangillmor Flitting from service to service sounds like a LOT of work. Plus the hassle of "quick, watch these shows before the end of the month". Borrowing DVDs at the library would be both simpler and cheaper than this.

(I don't do any of the three ideas so far mentioned.)

Show threadSkyler ReedMay 5, 2023
@davidr @lotographia @dangillmor I have an essay in my head as to why DVDs (yes, specifically +DVDs+ ) are going to make a comeback and it's going to piss off every anal retentive white guy comic bookstore AV Club guy in the world that it's not 'hi def'
Show threadKen LedbetterMay 5, 2023
@dangillmor I think it is the right approach. I’m a Star Wars and Marvel junkie so they can string me along, but I do the same with other services.
Show threadDan Morgan May 5, 2023
@dangillmor It is only a matter of time before streamers make us subscribe for a minimum period 3, 6, 12 months.
Show threadMichael RichardsonMay 5, 2023
@dangillmor WIth britbox, I am now subscribed through Prime, and the delivery is much better. I intend to do the same with D+.
Show threadL EllisMay 7, 2023
@dangillmor this is what we do, with the additional tweak that we go ahead and cancel right after signing up. That way we don’t have to remember to go back and cancel later, but we still get the full month we paid for. If we don’t finish everything in that month, we can just repeat the process, but we never end up paying for a month we didn’t intend to.