4 ms·

Commercials on cable are fully skippable, since the first DVR in 1999. It's streaming that takes that freedom away.

by add-sub-mul-div 2y ago

thaumasiotes 2y ago
Cable is an example of streaming; that particular freedom hasn't gone anywhere.
- kmeisthax 2y ago
  On the other hand, streaming (usually) isn't actually streaming, it's progressive download. The thing that stops you skipping the ads is just the fact that they turn off the fast-forward button and enforce that with DRM. Otherwise skipping ads would be trivial. Cable DVRs have to actually capture and record the signal into a ring buffer, and if it isn't integrated into a cable box[0], it has to come out of one, with a complicated setup of IR blasters to have your DVR tune the cable box to a specific channel. And of course you have to actually pause the video or record it in advance in order to get commercial-skipping capability. Cable ad skipping is entirely a technical problem, streaming ad skipping is entirely a legal one. [0] You were supposed to be able to just get a CableCARD, but the cable companies fought tooth and nail to force you to
- dambi0 2y ago
  While I suppose you could describe cable as streaming it doesn’t really refute the point about the ability to skip adverts
  - thaumasiotes 2y ago
    What do you mean? What can you do to a cable broadcast that you can't do to an internet broadcast? The comment I responded to suggested that it's impossible to record video delivered over the internet, which is obviously insane. Were you thinking of something different?
    - dambi0 2y ago
      If something appears completely insane isn’t that often a good sign that we might not have understood. The comment you replied to was pointing out that it was possible to record from cable TV with DVRs and that they had a feature to detect commercials and either skip recording them or allow you skip them en masse during playback.
      - thaumasiotes 2y ago
        You left out the freedom that's supposedly missing from streaming now.
        deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
    - Dylan16807 2y ago
      > The comment I responded to suggested that it's impossible to record video delivered over the internet, which is obviously insane. It is quite difficult to record video from many services. Harder still to do it in an automated way like a DVR.
- BriggyDwiggs42 2y ago
  You’re being deliberately obtuse
altacc 2y ago
Definitely not "fully" as required an additional purchase and planning of what to record. Normal usage of sitting down and turning on the TV to what something being shown at the time does not have skippable advertising. Whenever I'm in the US and turn on a TV I'm always amazed at the amount of advertising and the effect it has on the media itself. One of the effects of streaming services was that it allowed script writers and producers total freedom from having to structure a story around the ad breaks.
- oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
  > having to structure a story around the ad breaks Whenever I try to watch syndicated US tv here in the UK — e.g. The Simpsons — it's incredibly painful because the ad breaks don't line up, so you often get a 'false positive' and/or a 'false negative' that really affects the experience.

Commercials on cable are fully skippable, since the first DVR in 1999. It's streaming that takes that freedom away.

thaumasiotes 2y ago

Cable is an example of streaming; that particular freedom hasn't gone anywhere.

kmeisthax 2y ago
On the other hand, streaming (usually) isn't actually streaming, it's progressive download. The thing that stops you skipping the ads is just the fact that they turn off the fast-forward button and enforce that with DRM. Otherwise skipping ads would be trivial. Cable DVRs have to actually capture and record the signal into a ring buffer, and if it isn't integrated into a cable box[0], it has to come out of one, with a complicated setup of IR blasters to have your DVR tune the cable box to a specific channel. And of course you have to actually pause the video or record it in advance in order to get commercial-skipping capability. Cable ad skipping is entirely a technical problem, streaming ad skipping is entirely a legal one. [0] You were supposed to be able to just get a CableCARD, but the cable companies fought tooth and nail to force you to
dambi0 2y ago
While I suppose you could describe cable as streaming it doesn’t really refute the point about the ability to skip adverts
- thaumasiotes 2y ago
  What do you mean? What can you do to a cable broadcast that you can't do to an internet broadcast? The comment I responded to suggested that it's impossible to record video delivered over the internet, which is obviously insane. Were you thinking of something different?
  - dambi0 2y ago
    If something appears completely insane isn’t that often a good sign that we might not have understood. The comment you replied to was pointing out that it was possible to record from cable TV with DVRs and that they had a feature to detect commercials and either skip recording them or allow you skip them en masse during playback.
    - thaumasiotes 2y ago
      You left out the freedom that's supposedly missing from streaming now.
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
  - Dylan16807 2y ago
    > The comment I responded to suggested that it's impossible to record video delivered over the internet, which is obviously insane. It is quite difficult to record video from many services. Harder still to do it in an automated way like a DVR.
BriggyDwiggs42 2y ago
You’re being deliberately obtuse

altacc 2y ago

Definitely not "fully" as required an additional purchase and planning of what to record. Normal usage of sitting down and turning on the TV to what something being shown at the time does not have skippable advertising. Whenever I'm in the US and turn on a TV I'm always amazed at the amount of advertising and the effect it has on the media itself. One of the effects of streaming services was that it allowed script writers and producers total freedom from having to structure a story around the ad breaks.

oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
> having to structure a story around the ad breaks Whenever I try to watch syndicated US tv here in the UK — e.g. The Simpsons — it's incredibly painful because the ad breaks don't line up, so you often get a 'false positive' and/or a 'false negative' that really affects the experience.