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This is equivalent to shrinkflation: pay the same, get less. Streaming platforms want to retain most users, but also extract more value from them. Slowly a new
by yffi_bit 3y ago
This is equivalent to shrinkflation: pay the same, get less. Streaming platforms want to retain most users, but also extract more value from them. Slowly a new threshold for what's "normal" is set, and perhaps then -more- adds can be added. There's no need to speculate where things go from there. Just look at where cable TV is.
- brunoqc 3y agoenshittification?
- dudefeliciano 3y agothis was also my first thought after watching the DEF CON talk: An Audacious Plan to Halt the Internet's Ensh*ttification[1] 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rimtaSgGz_4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rimtaSgGz_4
- IshKebab 3y agoSuch a cringeworthy word though.
- jfghi 3y agoI like the term because it strikes the appropriate nerve for the behaviors it accurately describes.
- fidotron 3y agoMaybe it's me, but this word seems overused to the point that it ends up destroying discussion. That said, in this case it's relevant.
- pradn 3y agoLet's coin a new term for this, "adflation".
- hef19898 3y agoStreaming just came full cycle to traditional TV broadcasting. An impressive feat of disrupting an industry right there.
- sarchertech 3y agoYou need a streaming aggregator for the cycle to be complete.
- reaperman 3y agoIt splintered enough at the end with cable vs. DishNetwork vs. DirectTV. i remember specific local sports games only being on one and then another.
- 34679 3y agoThe Pirate Bay
- nobody9999 3y agoI'd add that I actually pay for Amazon Prime (mostly for the free shipping -- heavy stuff costs a fortune otherwise), but use other means to access Prime Video content because of the ads (there are a raft of Prime Video offerings that already have ads) and the spying.
- 34679 3y agoI had a similar experience when I recently purchased Need for Speed: Heat on sale from Steam. The mandatory EA launcher that was installed along with game had separate spyware that launched at boot and couldn't (easily) be disabled. The "alternative version" didn't have that, so that's what I ended up playing.
- bombcar 3y agoI’ve noticed that the Apple TV app on Apple TV drags in content from other apps somehow.
- manishsharan 3y agoArrr, 'tis a right letdown! Shiver my timbers! Raise that black flag!
- gdulli 3y ago> Just look at where cable TV is. With a cable DVR you can arbitrarily control the video stream. You never have to watch an ad if you don't want to. Amazon won't let you conveniently skip these ads. Streaming was always going to be about losing that freedom. Cable companies weren't bold enough to take that away, or it never occurred to them. The last time I had Spotify installed, it wouldn't even credit me with having heard an ad if I muted my speakers.
- ToucanLoucan 3y agoEven putting aside the ubiquity of tech like this: we had a particularly busy year and I ended up traveling a lot more often for work than I usually do, and it was insane to me how many fucking ads are in television now. Mind you I was a from the go cord cutter, when I left my parents and spread my wings, I never once wanted cable. I had it through them and it was... fine. Certainly not worth the absurd prices it goes for and as such, I have never, ever had it. In general my interests are niche too so even OTA TV is just not interesting to me. I watch YouTube, my iTunes library, and a plex box for... other stuff. That's it. And it just blew my mind, I'm doing some work in the hotel room and I want some background noise, so I flip on the TV and... ads. Ads ads ads ads ads. For every 30 minute block I would say it's 55/45 between content and ads. And endless parade of medications, medical devices, lawyers promising to get you more medicare money, shitty fast food, how to lose all the weight you gained from eating the shitty fast food. And the repetition. Oh. My. Lord. Like I genuinely can't tell if this is just because I haven't watched TV to any extent since I was living with my parents during schooling, but I do not remember the mix of ads being so lean. Or maybe it's because they're running more of them, I don't know. But I swore over the course of a week long hotel stay I saw a particular ad for Wendy's at least a hundred fucking times.
- gdulli 3y agoAds aren't going away, the war is lost, no service will leave that money on the table anymore past its temporary startup customer-friendly phase. It's not worth complaining about. What does still matter is whether the video stream tech gives you the freedom to seek/skip or not. Then the ads become more or less moot. Plex for local media gives you freedom, sure. My cable box does. Streaming will not.
- notyourwork 3y agoAnyone who thought streaming and cutting the cord was a solution to the cable tv was ignorant of businesses desire to make money and reduce cost.