4 ms·

> Why would adding a middleman make anything better? Because market competition is what makes capitalism a liveable social order for most people. Adding market

by izacus 4y ago

> Why would adding a middleman make anything better? Because market competition is what makes capitalism a liveable social order for most people. Adding market competition makes everything better. Command economies (corporate or socialist) don't.

lotsofpulp 4y ago
Adding middlemen increases the supply of middlemen, and hence puts pressure on the price of middlemen. Disney can charge $15 to an individual, or $15 to a middleman, it makes no difference to them. It is just a waste of society’s resources. Reducing copyright length so old Disney stuff enters the public domain quicker would increase supply and drive down price for the media.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  This isn't middlemen providing no value. If any streaming service can pay Disney to serve Disney content, that means two might start doing it, and then people who want Disney can go with the one that manages lower prices and/or better service—more reliable, fewer compression artifacts, apps on more platforms, plays nicer with aggregators, et c, lots of ways one might be better than another. Lots more room for competition on business models and service quality. Right now, if you want Disney content through a streaming service, you have one option. If it sucks, well, that's too bad for you, take it or leave it. And same for HBO, for Paramount, for all of them. Splitting up distribution and production creates a better competitive environment, given the existence of copyright.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    I guess I never saw any difference between streaming service quality, at least using Apple TV. Though I’m not a TV aficionado either, all I is I press play and things usually start playing in sufficiently high quality.
    - jen20 4y ago
      The video quality is generally fine, but the quality of the apps is vast. Anything that doesn't use system-provided UI elements is simply constitutionally bad. It's incredible that things that can't scroll smoothly pass basic QC.

by izacus 4y ago

lotsofpulp 4y ago

Adding middlemen increases the supply of middlemen, and hence puts pressure on the price of middlemen. Disney can charge $15 to an individual, or $15 to a middleman, it makes no difference to them. It is just a waste of society’s resources. Reducing copyright length so old Disney stuff enters the public domain quicker would increase supply and drive down price for the media.

yamtaddle 4y ago
This isn't middlemen providing no value. If any streaming service can pay Disney to serve Disney content, that means two might start doing it, and then people who want Disney can go with the one that manages lower prices and/or better service—more reliable, fewer compression artifacts, apps on more platforms, plays nicer with aggregators, et c, lots of ways one might be better than another. Lots more room for competition on business models and service quality. Right now, if you want Disney content through a streaming service, you have one option. If it sucks, well, that's too bad for you, take it or leave it. And same for HBO, for Paramount, for all of them. Splitting up distribution and production creates a better competitive environment, given the existence of copyright.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  I guess I never saw any difference between streaming service quality, at least using Apple TV. Though I’m not a TV aficionado either, all I is I press play and things usually start playing in sufficiently high quality.
  - jen20 4y ago
    The video quality is generally fine, but the quality of the apps is vast. Anything that doesn't use system-provided UI elements is simply constitutionally bad. It's incredible that things that can't scroll smoothly pass basic QC.