4 ms·

There were a few years were I literally stopped all torrenting. Netflix and Amazon had everything I wanted. Sure, there were a few things that didn't exist, b

by e40 5y ago

There were a few years were I literally stopped all torrenting. Netflix and Amazon had everything I wanted. Sure, there were a few things that didn't exist, but I was too lazy to go after that minor amount of content. I was fully legal and paying for everything. I was fine with it. Then, the great splintering happened. I currently pay for 5 services, but that doesn't cover even 1/2 of what I want to watch. All the content owners said to themselves "we can be Netflix or Amazon Prime, too" and they pulled their content into their own services. But the biggest problem: the user experience absolutely sucks now. It's so hard to find stuff and remember where things are, there's no universal search. I have to use justwatch.com on my phone when I want to sit down to watch something new, which might mean a trip to the computer to download it if one of the many services I already pay for don't have it.

rajup 5y ago
Google search does a pretty decent job of surfacing where something is streaming
- sharperguy 5y ago
  Most results would just be buried somewhere in the middle of a four page article filled with ads and popups about cookies and newsletters and the like.
  - rajup 5y ago
    I'm not sure where you're located but for me, I prominently get a panel with the streaming options. Something like this https://searchengineland.com/google-search-tests-new-interface-for-movie-tv-show-streaming-options-309946 https://searchengineland.com/google-search-tests-new-interfa...
Damogran6 5y ago
In my case, it's where they wrapped up the long-tail movies. Want to watch Airplane!....$3 rental. Spaceballs? $3 rental Cannonball Run? $3 I am not going to pay to rent stuff I used to be able to encounter for free by surfing channels...well, on top of my dish/cable bill
- spookybones 5y ago
  Amazon and Youtube (and maybe other streaming services) also offer some of the movies for free with advertising. So the model hasn’t changed much from going to rent a movie at the store for a few bucks or watching it on cable tv, except you’re not paying for cable now.
- CabSauce 5y ago
  And the cost of ads? Seems like a deal to me.
- jl6 5y ago
  Does “encounter for free” also include instant access? I seem to recall that movies like Spaceballs would be shown for free, but probably next week. The $3 is for fast-forwarding Mr Video to next week.
- derekdahmer 5y ago
  Maybe I’m crazy but $3 to have a HD movie instant play without ads on any device I want seems like an insane deal to me.
  - axus 5y ago
    It's really about the repeat plays. The game service Steam is successful because you "own" something after spending, without paying a recurring fee.
    - ghaff 5y ago
      Movies are different than games (and music) however. While I have rewatched movies--multiple times in a (relatively small) number of cases, movies are mostly one and done for me--and I imagine most adults. That said, I don't know why the 48 hour limit on rentals got normalized. I've fallen asleep, gotten distracted, etc. while watching a movie and I don't like now being forced to watch it soon.
      - brewdad 5y ago
sharkster711 5y ago
I have a TCL TV (with Roku) and searching for a show using the voice remote generally gets me the result and also which app is streaming it. I use it all the time these days.
dQw4w9WgXcQ 5y ago
>> the user experience absolutely sucks now Understandable, I just cut back on all the TV engorging and rotate the streaming services every quarter. IMO it's a net win. Save money on the streaming services and life is better for having not watched so much television. Not going to the grave wishing I binged Season 2 of some random show one more time.
aaronax 5y ago
Why don't you just not partake in the content? You really don't need to spend all that time watching shows. If you don't like the terms under which it is offered, just find something else to do.
- delusional 5y ago
  Who cares. What difference does it make to you if he pirates it or doesn't watch it?
Kye 5y ago
JustWatch is good for this, but it mostly reveals how sparse most of their catalogs are. It confirmed for me, at long last, that the reason I couldn't find anything to watch is because there wasn't anything to watch. Paramount+ at least has all the Star Treks after pulling it from every other service, but it seems like all they have other than that is 30 seasons of 5 cop shows.

by e40 5y ago

rajup 5y ago

Google search does a pretty decent job of surfacing where something is streaming

sharperguy 5y ago
Most results would just be buried somewhere in the middle of a four page article filled with ads and popups about cookies and newsletters and the like.
- rajup 5y ago
  I'm not sure where you're located but for me, I prominently get a panel with the streaming options. Something like this https://searchengineland.com/google-search-tests-new-interface-for-movie-tv-show-streaming-options-309946 https://searchengineland.com/google-search-tests-new-interfa...

Damogran6 5y ago

In my case, it's where they wrapped up the long-tail movies. Want to watch Airplane!....$3 rental. Spaceballs? $3 rental Cannonball Run? $3 I am not going to pay to rent stuff I used to be able to encounter for free by surfing channels...well, on top of my dish/cable bill

spookybones 5y ago
Amazon and Youtube (and maybe other streaming services) also offer some of the movies for free with advertising. So the model hasn’t changed much from going to rent a movie at the store for a few bucks or watching it on cable tv, except you’re not paying for cable now.
CabSauce 5y ago
And the cost of ads? Seems like a deal to me.
jl6 5y ago
Does “encounter for free” also include instant access? I seem to recall that movies like Spaceballs would be shown for free, but probably next week. The $3 is for fast-forwarding Mr Video to next week.
derekdahmer 5y ago
Maybe I’m crazy but $3 to have a HD movie instant play without ads on any device I want seems like an insane deal to me.
- axus 5y ago
  It's really about the repeat plays. The game service Steam is successful because you "own" something after spending, without paying a recurring fee.
  - ghaff 5y ago
    Movies are different than games (and music) however. While I have rewatched movies--multiple times in a (relatively small) number of cases, movies are mostly one and done for me--and I imagine most adults. That said, I don't know why the 48 hour limit on rentals got normalized. I've fallen asleep, gotten distracted, etc. while watching a movie and I don't like now being forced to watch it soon.
    - brewdad 5y ago

sharkster711 5y ago

I have a TCL TV (with Roku) and searching for a show using the voice remote generally gets me the result and also which app is streaming it. I use it all the time these days.

dQw4w9WgXcQ 5y ago

>> the user experience absolutely sucks now Understandable, I just cut back on all the TV engorging and rotate the streaming services every quarter. IMO it's a net win. Save money on the streaming services and life is better for having not watched so much television. Not going to the grave wishing I binged Season 2 of some random show one more time.

aaronax 5y ago

Why don't you just not partake in the content? You really don't need to spend all that time watching shows. If you don't like the terms under which it is offered, just find something else to do.

delusional 5y ago
Who cares. What difference does it make to you if he pirates it or doesn't watch it?

Kye 5y ago

JustWatch is good for this, but it mostly reveals how sparse most of their catalogs are. It confirmed for me, at long last, that the reason I couldn't find anything to watch is because there wasn't anything to watch. Paramount+ at least has all the Star Treks after pulling it from every other service, but it seems like all they have other than that is 30 seasons of 5 cop shows.