Huge internet outage live blog: Amazon, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max and more experiencing issues
Huge internet outage live blog: Amazon, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max and more experiencing issues
I think they were just pointing out that this is the problem with subscription services. You own nothing and you’re screwed when the service goes down.
It really doesn’t take “ludicrous amounts of time and money” to build a private library. It’s interesting how the subscription giants have managed to change people’s perceptions - when you buy content to keep, you keep some of the value, but when you subscribe you’re just getting a time pass to use someone else’s library and won’t see that money again.
They sold the proposition on convenience when everything was in one place, but not it’s all fragmented it’s a waste of money.
And of course plenty of people are building media libraries for free by sailing the seas.
Interestingly enough, cheaper on bluray at about ~$70 than on DVD at around $120.
Though cheaper still would be a yard sale, the library, or the high seas.
a time pass to use someone else’s library and won’t see that money again
like renting in the old days, I’m fine with that
streaming service: 15-20€ per month per service me: vpn 5€ and a cheap hard drive
i’d be poorer with subscribing
i don’t really understand your point. even buying used dvd’s or blu-rays is marginally cheaper than subscription services. people just became too comfortable.
users pay for convenience and when the service stops their money is gone and they have nothing in return.
even buying used dvd’s or blu-rays is marginally cheaper than subscription services.
that’s what i meant.
people just became too comfortable.
most people don’t like being uncomfortable for such a minor thing like soft entertainment.
Buying used movies at a garage sale fuels the retail market? If that were the case then why can’t you buy used movies at any retail store? Another falsehood.
I’ve spent thousands on hardware and software for my media server, so it seems that piracy does fuel the retail market in ways that buying second hand doesn’t. Perhaps you’re right and they’re not the same. I think piracy generates more revenue than buying second hand, elevating it well above buying used copies, which is now the most harmful way to consume media.
piracy does not
Piracy is actually a huge driver in both legally purchasing content and secondary purchases (art, toys, statues/models, etc).
The overwhelming majority of pirates also point to the extreme increases in streaming costs as well as the constantly changing landscape of streaming services needed, sometimes to even watch a single show you’d need 3-4 services.
I’d also point out that many out there just want their stuff to be seen. Freddie Wong and Matt Arnold recently made We’re All Gonna Die, which was made available in theaters and then a ton of streaming options.
They then pointed to the availability of a 720p torrent (I’m not going to say that they released it) so everyone could see it. Why? Well maybe people will want to check out their other content, buy merch, or subscribe to their patreon where they make other content.
But to say piracy is not a driver is incorrect.
It IS a scam since a lot of subscription services do not make it clear that the buyer is only granted limited access, and not ownership of the product.
Just last year, due to legal reasons, Steam placed a notice on their cart page stating that purchases only grant a license—much to the surprise of some Steam users. Steam has been around for 20+ years, and it took a piece of legislation to force the company to inform their buyers of this very important fact. It is clear that they would rather have misinformed customers, much like in a scam.
Steam is not a subscription service
Steam provides a cloud service. Not dissimilar to other subscription-based services. Had they been using AWS, they would also have been affected by the outage, resulting in Steam also being mentioned in the headline. So it’s just as relevant as the others.
you’ll never own a piece of software by buying it in a video game store.
Sure, I’m both granted a license on both Steam or GOG, but the crucial difference is still about offline access. If GOG stopped existing tomorrow, I’d still be able to install, and play, all my GOG games. The same cannot be said for Steam. Which one, then, grants the most ownership? License or no license.
All true, one small caveat. If GoG went down, you would still have all your games as long as you downloaded the installer.
But then again, you could just copy the installed files around. That works for most games. So it’s close to the same.
I did it in a few weeks. I basically swapped discs while playing games, before going to work, before bed, etc. It was tedious, but I got them all.
Now when I buy one, I’ll rip it first before watching.
Ludicrous amounts of time and money? What do you think is involved with media piracy?
those tall ships are not cheap, and have you seen the price of parrots?
yeah, you certainly can spend more and get better, but most media consumers don’t actually care about long term storage like that.
i only now the pricing on those drives because i just had to replace one in a nas device. i only spent money on a nas device because i work in media and need to keep large files for clients. i follow a 3-2-1 backup system because my job depends on it, but it’s not at all necessary to enjoy media.
Just let us be excited
This is our version when there’s a big storm and your neighbourhood dads start going around with chainsaws offering to cut up downed trees.
You know you can setup a stack for piracy in less than 10min on a $40 microcomputer or even on an old android phone. And with the right setup you can automate the downloads meaning you just search for stuff and it downloads it without effort.
Time and money, not so much.
Checkout YAMS
conceited
1981 wants it’s term back.
So, in the US, a standalone, bare-minimum with ads included Disney+ subscription costs $9.99. Oops, actually we’re raising it to $11.99 TOMORROW! So after a paying for a year of Dinsey’s cheapest plan, you’d have paid $144.
But maybe Disney isn’t your thing? Well. Netflix costs $7.99 for the ad plan, and $17.99 for the no ads plan. But do note, even on the ad supported plan, you STILL can’t watch everything.
Ad-supported, all mobile games and most movies and TV shows are available. A lock icon will appear on unavailable titles.
Ranges $96-216 per year for ads or no ads.
Like anime? Crunchyroll offers a $7.99 plan, but it might not have all the content, so then there’s the $11.99 plan. So $96-144 per year. But their catalog doesn’t even have every fucking anime, and they’ve let dubbing go to the wayside after buying out their main competitor, Funimation (in which we lost several anime due to licensing).
Listen to music on top of that? Spotify for non-students ($5.99) costs $11.99, so $144 in a year. YT music is $10.99 for non-students, so $132
So say you listen to Spotify, like anime, and watch Netflix, you’re paying at minimum $336 per year, on the cheapest plans available, which usually have ads or missing features.
I’ve been looking at Optiplex and Lenovo ThinkCentres on ebay recently, and for my bare minimum standards of 1. Can support virtualization, 2. Can do Intel quick sync video and encode HEVC 10-bit (So about 10 year old devices) the prices range around $90-$150. Some 2TB HDDs would be about $100. You’d probably be pirating since most of the new shows on streaming services have no physical media to buy/no way of just owning a movie or TV box set. Even then, outright buying music and movies is cheaper in the long run. Anything you already own can be added to your library. You’ll never be told that “oops we didn’t pay to re-up our access to that movie, so it’s gone!” You’ll never have new ads, paywalled features, limited devices, or other bullshit. The server is up whenever you want it to be, provided you can handle being tech support.
So in the end, a home server + drives costs less than paying for several services where you own shit, and they can cut features or raise the price any day. But yes, we’re just being conceited assholes.