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One tip I use is to not waste money is never be subscribed to any streaming platform. So sign up for 1 month, cancel immediately and then watch what you wish f
by joshe 3y ago
One tip I use is to not waste money is never be subscribed to any streaming platform.
So sign up for 1 month, cancel immediately and then watch what you wish for the month. Netflix used to be a pretty good deal because they had a depth of great old content from the major studios. But now it's scattered all over the other services, and we've all seen most of their decent original content.
Doing it this way I'm subscribed to Netflix 2 months a year. Apple for 1 month. Disney for 1 month. That's a difference of ~$40 a year vs ~$500 a year.
Don't stress that you'll want to watch it and can't. You can just sign up again. Even if you do it 5 months a year, you'll be way ahead. Just use the psychology that if you sign up you cancel immediately. Now the default is to save money.
Don't get drawn into the idea that this is a luxury that you can afford. Wasting money is not luxury.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- hahajk 3y agoI think this strategy will only work a little longer. The crackdown on sharing is only start. As the pressure increases on streaming services to turn more profits I'd expect longer contract lengths. I wouldn't be surprised to see Adobe-style "reduced price monthly payment" contracts from the more corporate services.
- pdimitar 3y agoThey're free to try that and much more. However it's not like the customers have a gun at their head. You don't need a PhD to conclude you're being squeezed. At one point people just turn their backs and make do without the service. Squeezing the customers has soft limits and it's always hilarious to watch corporations being oblivious to them.
- bombcar 3y ago"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." As it is right now it's cheaper for me to hit up Disney+ for a month rather than rent or buy a new release elsewhere, but as that gets harder the less I'll consume.
- esafak 3y agoAdobe gets squat from me -- a potential customer -- so such dark patterns can only explode in their face. Adobe and Netflix are not the only game in town.
- cfiggers 3y agoIt's literally cable all over again. How did we let this happen?
- ocdtrekkie 3y agoBecause people were dumb enough to believe that television companies were going to provide an endless library for $10 a month? Like for years I'd point this out and people were absolutely unwilling to recognize that giving away all their content near free was not a thing that would be around long term.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- blitzar 3y agoLike all the disruptors and reimagineers in tech before, all they really offered was the same thing we already had (but with a few billion lining their pocket).
- lotsofpulp 3y agoI did not have the ability to access pretty much any media I wanted at almost anytime on almost any device, almost anywhere, until streaming.
- baq 3y agoIt's not us, it's them. They want our money but can't figure out how to share between them to get it, so they don't and they reap what they sow. I predict a renaissance in torrents.
- lotsofpulp 3y agoIt is literally not cable all over again. Cable (or satellite TV) was all media creators and watchers having to deal with a small number of middlemen. Having to have someone come to your house, install hardware, run wiring, have set top boxes, only being able to watch at home at a certain time without a separate recording device…does not sound anything at all like watching media over the internet.
- Farbklex 3y agoI like this approach as well. I already cancelled Amazon Prime and I don't miss it. The Video service wasn't interesting anymore and shipping with Prime isn't what it used to be. I also do this with the Xbox Game Pass. Subscribe for a month, play some shorter indie games for which I wouldn't pay 15€ each and then cancel.