6 ms·

I get some podcasts cost, and that's fine, but I just feel the big tech companies are in a rush to charge people for everything and make a subscription out of e

I get some podcasts cost, and that's fine, but I just feel the big tech companies are in a rush to charge people for everything and make a subscription out of everything good in our lives.

leoh 6y ago
Better than ads and tracking
- shanecleveland 6y ago
  I'm honestly not sure what sort of tracking occurs with podcasts or if tracking and podcast ads go hand-in-hand. There must be some degree of audience analytics, I guess. Generally, I am not sure that no-ads means no-tracking, either. Though, that could certainly be a selling point to paying for a service of any kind.
  - dhritzkiv 6y ago
    I run Pi-hole on my home network. Its default blocklists has prevented several podcasts in my partner's Podcasts app from playing. I've had to explicitly allow a couple of distinct third-party trackers/analytics services for them to play. It was news to me that what I thought was a simple audio file also came with a bunch of analytics/tracking. I previously thought analytics were limited to simple events (play, pause, subscribe, finish, etc.) collected on Apple's side, but apparently not.
    - shanecleveland 6y ago
      That's interesting. Perhaps using a trusted third party podcast app would be preferable? Again, not sure. I certainly understand having some analytics around non-identifiable data, such as downloads, listens, etc.
- legitster 6y ago
  This is highly subjective and definitely not a universal opinion.
- paxys 6y ago
  Do you really think paying for a subscription means there won't be tracking?
  - teeray 6y ago
    *Cable TV has entered the chat*
  - leoh 6y ago
    Yep, I think it's the first step to a world without it.
    - oehpr 6y ago
      I think betting on a central authority to choose not to make money, when making more money is on the table, is a losing bet long term. Even Netflix started showing pre-rolls when they were at the height of their power. If a company starts thinking of its users as captive, I expect them to do what almost every other company does in that situation. Things are pretty fractured in online streaming right now. So hey, maybe none of the providers get to the point where they feel like they have you.
- lmedinas 6y ago
  Listenting to Podcasts on Overcast how is that ads and tracking ? If you mean ads from the content creator, well sure they deserve to get money but Apple making money out of the content creator, well that's sad.
jonny_eh 6y ago
> big tech companies are in a rush to charge people It took Apple ~15 years to decide charging for podcasts.
- karmelapple 6y ago
  And it’s not required. It’s just optional for podcast authors to opt into, correct?
  - jonny_eh 6y ago
    Right.

I get some podcasts cost, and that's fine, but I just feel the big tech companies are in a rush to charge people for everything and make a subscription out of everything good in our lives.

leoh 6y ago

Better than ads and tracking

shanecleveland 6y ago
I'm honestly not sure what sort of tracking occurs with podcasts or if tracking and podcast ads go hand-in-hand. There must be some degree of audience analytics, I guess. Generally, I am not sure that no-ads means no-tracking, either. Though, that could certainly be a selling point to paying for a service of any kind.
- dhritzkiv 6y ago
  I run Pi-hole on my home network. Its default blocklists has prevented several podcasts in my partner's Podcasts app from playing. I've had to explicitly allow a couple of distinct third-party trackers/analytics services for them to play. It was news to me that what I thought was a simple audio file also came with a bunch of analytics/tracking. I previously thought analytics were limited to simple events (play, pause, subscribe, finish, etc.) collected on Apple's side, but apparently not.
  - shanecleveland 6y ago
    That's interesting. Perhaps using a trusted third party podcast app would be preferable? Again, not sure. I certainly understand having some analytics around non-identifiable data, such as downloads, listens, etc.
legitster 6y ago
This is highly subjective and definitely not a universal opinion.
paxys 6y ago
Do you really think paying for a subscription means there won't be tracking?
- teeray 6y ago
  *Cable TV has entered the chat*
- leoh 6y ago
  Yep, I think it's the first step to a world without it.
  - oehpr 6y ago
    I think betting on a central authority to choose not to make money, when making more money is on the table, is a losing bet long term. Even Netflix started showing pre-rolls when they were at the height of their power. If a company starts thinking of its users as captive, I expect them to do what almost every other company does in that situation. Things are pretty fractured in online streaming right now. So hey, maybe none of the providers get to the point where they feel like they have you.
lmedinas 6y ago
Listenting to Podcasts on Overcast how is that ads and tracking ? If you mean ads from the content creator, well sure they deserve to get money but Apple making money out of the content creator, well that's sad.

jonny_eh 6y ago

> big tech companies are in a rush to charge people It took Apple ~15 years to decide charging for podcasts.

karmelapple 6y ago
And it’s not required. It’s just optional for podcast authors to opt into, correct?
- jonny_eh 6y ago
  Right.