7 ms·

Indeed it is. Legit avenues like Netflix and iTunes are showing people are willing to pay for content, so long as it's available. There's dwindling tolerance fo

Indeed it is. Legit avenues like Netflix and iTunes are showing people are willing to pay for content, so long as it's available. There's dwindling tolerance for manufactured scarcity. Make it available, and we'll buy it. Don't, and it'll be pirated. That's just how things work.

Numberwang 11y ago
And if I need Netflix for some tv, HBO for some, Hulu for some, iPlayer for some, Canal+ for some and torrent sites to access Korean thrillers.... I'm going to go 100% torrent sites.
- sixothree 11y ago
  I have Netflix, Amazon Prime, and one of the most expensive DirecTV packages. Yet I still torrent most of my television. Yes the very same television I can get from satellite I download via internet. For some reason I just find the (watching) experience so much cleaner and easier.
  - pavel_lishin 11y ago
    Rewinding/fast forwarding is easier; so are subtitles. It works on the subway, and on airplanes. It works when my neighbors are saturating the local bandwidth.
  - Vexs 11y ago
    It's because it's so damn convenient. No dicking about with ads, settings, codes, authentication, drm, whatever. Just look, download, and go. Usually higher res too.
  - ionised 11y ago
    I've got UK Netflix and have found myself torrenting some movies because the Netflix version was not HD due to some stupid licensing arrangement. This has happened on maybe 6 or 7 movies in the last year and I'm starting to get annoyed enough to consider cancelling my subscription. The pickings are not very good anymore and new stuff seems so sparse and infrequent. I'm spending money each month on something i use maybe one or two nights a month.
- loganu 11y ago
  When your legal avenues of getting content become fragmented enough, and you're paying for so much extraneous and/or overlapping content, torrenting becomes the most attractive option. (If you can look past the legal/ethical issues)
- ethbro 11y ago
  There is that point too. I think it can be summarized into the "consumers are only willing to jump through so many hoops" tenet.
  - Splines 11y ago
    Unfortunately we'll never see this solved - there are too many parties with conflicting interests to make everybody happy.
    - Spivak 11y ago
      The fact that "We need to get in on the streaming thing" is probably said in the boardroom of every media company is exactly what's going to kill it. I am willing to pay for exactly one streaming service. The idea that streaming services will become the "pay only for the channels you watch" is second to the fact that all but a few streaming sites will wind up being complete shit. So far only YouTube and Netflix have passable interfaces, cross platform support, and a half-decent discovery algorithm.
- s73v3r 11y ago
  Why? Because you're an entitled little brat?
  - dang 11y ago
    Personal attacks are not allowed on HN. We ban accounts that do this repeatedly.
    - s73v3r 11y ago
      I don't see how pointing out how someone is acting in an entitled manner is a personal attack.
      - dang 11y ago
        If you don't see how calling someone an "entitled little brat" is a personal attack, you probably shouldn't be posting comments to HN. At a minimum, please err on the side of civility from now on.
        s73v3r 11y ago
        I called a spade a spade. Their comment was nothing but how they were entitled to stuff.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
- rhino369 11y ago
  So unless they give you everything you want for 8 bucks you are just going to pirate? Why even pretend you are willing to pay, you clearly aren't.
  - icebraining 11y ago
    Who said anything about the money? Having multiple services is a pain in the ass, even if they're free. Non-overlapping device support, DRM, having to waste time searching for a particular work on each one, etc.
    - logfromblammo 11y ago
      Just yesterday, I overheard a conversation in my very own living room that went something like this: SPOUSE: We have this movie on DVD. SPOUSE: You could watch it without commercials. KID: Okay. Where is it? SPOUSE: Somewhere in the DVD cabinet. KID: Ummmm.... that's okay. KID: I'll just watch it on TV. These are the same people that trampled all over my "genre, then alphabetical by title" filing system every time they retrieved a disc, until I finally gave up and stopped doing it. Before, I could say "second shelf, third row, on the left," and now I say, "find it yourself, you bogosorting heathens." The lack of searchable indexes is a huge obstacle in every form of media. Imagine if you went to the library, and rather than a central index, you had to check each floor in the stacks separately to see if a book was available.
      - collyw 11y ago
        I am not big into videos, but muscially I really miss being able to choose cd, stick it in a player and play. Now I have to boot the computer up , open up the music player, find the tracks, and play. 10 seconds versus a few minutes. Likewise I used to grab a cd or tape for my walkman before leaving the house. Now it takes at least 5 minutes (probably more) to transfer files to an mp3 player though admitedly they can hold way more. The only place I see this as a win is with the kindle where book sizes are so small, I can store way more than I am likely to read.
      - icc97 11y ago
caskance 11y ago
Speak for yourself. I'll use whatever service is better. The money itself is not enough to really notice for things like this, but services you don't have to pay for consequently don't require any account management, so it's a tough advantage to overcome. And of course there are many people for whom the money does matter, which makes the gap even wider.
- soft_dev_person 11y ago
  Then again, there are people who prefer a legal solution when it's available and offers sufficient quality and ease of access. I am subscribed to several services, but often, usually for the newest and coolest, it is simply not possible for me to stream a movie legally. If they would only focus on solving that instead of raging against their customers, they could maybe _then_ start to complain about piracy.
  - caskance 11y ago
    As you yourself agree, the laws here are asinine. So unless you're actually going to get into legal trouble over it (spoiler alert: you're not) why does it matter whether your preferred solution follows them?
    - soft_dev_person 11y ago
      Because I'm an adult, now. With morals and a conscience. Seriously, I would like to support the creation of the content I like to consume. If nobody supports it, nothing will be made. I, too, understand that we're still far from such a situation, but I would rather not get there before someone make changes to this idiocy.
      - icebraining 11y ago
        If people stopped paying for broken services, they'd be forced to reevaluate and adapt. Paying customers, not pirates, are the problem.
      - 11y ago
voltagex_ 11y ago
Netflix haven't renewed one of their contracts, I think it mostly affects content from Lionsgate. I wonder how much can disappear before consumers get sick of it.
- dublinben 11y ago
  They actually lost access to a lot of movies, with the expiration of their Epix deal.[0] Between that and Starz, I don't know how anyone can actually rely on Netflix for movies anymore. They've bet the company on their original programming and the ability to binge-watch back catalog shows. [0] http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/netflix-epix-deal-expiring-1201581520/ http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/netflix-epix-deal-expir...
- Vespasian 11y ago
  Interesting question. I for example use netflix mainly to view series that have not been available in my country before (or only packed with lots of useless stuff in some expensive cable subscription) or for their own content (House of Cards, Orange is the new black etc). I vaguely recall having heard that movies are actually not the main interest of their viewers but that might have been some PR ;)

Numberwang 11y ago

And if I need Netflix for some tv, HBO for some, Hulu for some, iPlayer for some, Canal+ for some and torrent sites to access Korean thrillers.... I'm going to go 100% torrent sites.

sixothree 11y ago
I have Netflix, Amazon Prime, and one of the most expensive DirecTV packages. Yet I still torrent most of my television. Yes the very same television I can get from satellite I download via internet. For some reason I just find the (watching) experience so much cleaner and easier.
- pavel_lishin 11y ago
  Rewinding/fast forwarding is easier; so are subtitles. It works on the subway, and on airplanes. It works when my neighbors are saturating the local bandwidth.
- Vexs 11y ago
  It's because it's so damn convenient. No dicking about with ads, settings, codes, authentication, drm, whatever. Just look, download, and go. Usually higher res too.
- ionised 11y ago
  I've got UK Netflix and have found myself torrenting some movies because the Netflix version was not HD due to some stupid licensing arrangement. This has happened on maybe 6 or 7 movies in the last year and I'm starting to get annoyed enough to consider cancelling my subscription. The pickings are not very good anymore and new stuff seems so sparse and infrequent. I'm spending money each month on something i use maybe one or two nights a month.
loganu 11y ago
When your legal avenues of getting content become fragmented enough, and you're paying for so much extraneous and/or overlapping content, torrenting becomes the most attractive option. (If you can look past the legal/ethical issues)
ethbro 11y ago
There is that point too. I think it can be summarized into the "consumers are only willing to jump through so many hoops" tenet.
- Splines 11y ago
  Unfortunately we'll never see this solved - there are too many parties with conflicting interests to make everybody happy.
  - Spivak 11y ago
    The fact that "We need to get in on the streaming thing" is probably said in the boardroom of every media company is exactly what's going to kill it. I am willing to pay for exactly one streaming service. The idea that streaming services will become the "pay only for the channels you watch" is second to the fact that all but a few streaming sites will wind up being complete shit. So far only YouTube and Netflix have passable interfaces, cross platform support, and a half-decent discovery algorithm.
s73v3r 11y ago
Why? Because you're an entitled little brat?
- dang 11y ago
  Personal attacks are not allowed on HN. We ban accounts that do this repeatedly.
  - s73v3r 11y ago
    I don't see how pointing out how someone is acting in an entitled manner is a personal attack.
    - dang 11y ago
      If you don't see how calling someone an "entitled little brat" is a personal attack, you probably shouldn't be posting comments to HN. At a minimum, please err on the side of civility from now on.
      - s73v3r 11y ago
        I called a spade a spade. Their comment was nothing but how they were entitled to stuff.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
rhino369 11y ago
So unless they give you everything you want for 8 bucks you are just going to pirate? Why even pretend you are willing to pay, you clearly aren't.
- icebraining 11y ago
  Who said anything about the money? Having multiple services is a pain in the ass, even if they're free. Non-overlapping device support, DRM, having to waste time searching for a particular work on each one, etc.
  - logfromblammo 11y ago
    Just yesterday, I overheard a conversation in my very own living room that went something like this: SPOUSE: We have this movie on DVD. SPOUSE: You could watch it without commercials. KID: Okay. Where is it? SPOUSE: Somewhere in the DVD cabinet. KID: Ummmm.... that's okay. KID: I'll just watch it on TV. These are the same people that trampled all over my "genre, then alphabetical by title" filing system every time they retrieved a disc, until I finally gave up and stopped doing it. Before, I could say "second shelf, third row, on the left," and now I say, "find it yourself, you bogosorting heathens." The lack of searchable indexes is a huge obstacle in every form of media. Imagine if you went to the library, and rather than a central index, you had to check each floor in the stacks separately to see if a book was available.
    - collyw 11y ago
      I am not big into videos, but muscially I really miss being able to choose cd, stick it in a player and play. Now I have to boot the computer up , open up the music player, find the tracks, and play. 10 seconds versus a few minutes. Likewise I used to grab a cd or tape for my walkman before leaving the house. Now it takes at least 5 minutes (probably more) to transfer files to an mp3 player though admitedly they can hold way more. The only place I see this as a win is with the kindle where book sizes are so small, I can store way more than I am likely to read.
    - icc97 11y ago

caskance 11y ago

Speak for yourself. I'll use whatever service is better. The money itself is not enough to really notice for things like this, but services you don't have to pay for consequently don't require any account management, so it's a tough advantage to overcome. And of course there are many people for whom the money does matter, which makes the gap even wider.

soft_dev_person 11y ago
Then again, there are people who prefer a legal solution when it's available and offers sufficient quality and ease of access. I am subscribed to several services, but often, usually for the newest and coolest, it is simply not possible for me to stream a movie legally. If they would only focus on solving that instead of raging against their customers, they could maybe _then_ start to complain about piracy.
- caskance 11y ago
  As you yourself agree, the laws here are asinine. So unless you're actually going to get into legal trouble over it (spoiler alert: you're not) why does it matter whether your preferred solution follows them?
  - soft_dev_person 11y ago
    Because I'm an adult, now. With morals and a conscience. Seriously, I would like to support the creation of the content I like to consume. If nobody supports it, nothing will be made. I, too, understand that we're still far from such a situation, but I would rather not get there before someone make changes to this idiocy.
    - icebraining 11y ago
      If people stopped paying for broken services, they'd be forced to reevaluate and adapt. Paying customers, not pirates, are the problem.
    - 11y ago

voltagex_ 11y ago

Netflix haven't renewed one of their contracts, I think it mostly affects content from Lionsgate. I wonder how much can disappear before consumers get sick of it.

dublinben 11y ago
They actually lost access to a lot of movies, with the expiration of their Epix deal.[0] Between that and Starz, I don't know how anyone can actually rely on Netflix for movies anymore. They've bet the company on their original programming and the ability to binge-watch back catalog shows. [0] http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/netflix-epix-deal-expiring-1201581520/ http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/netflix-epix-deal-expir...
Vespasian 11y ago
Interesting question. I for example use netflix mainly to view series that have not been available in my country before (or only packed with lots of useless stuff in some expensive cable subscription) or for their own content (House of Cards, Orange is the new black etc). I vaguely recall having heard that movies are actually not the main interest of their viewers but that might have been some PR ;)