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In many cases, downloading torrents and watching on a laptop/PC has a better UX than using streaming services. For example, it's impossible to watch 4k content

In many cases, downloading torrents and watching on a laptop/PC has a better UX than using streaming services. For example, it's impossible to watch 4k content on popular streaming services if you use Linux, and even with macOS/Windows you need a specific combination of hardware + OS + browser, if a service even offers it.

LegionMammal978 2y ago
To be fair, UX isn't only about the point of consumption. 4k torrents don't grow on trees (luckily, 1080p is good enough for my own tastes), and for old or less-popular movies, it's often tough to find seeders, or they all upload at 100 kbps or only have half the file or something dumb like that. (At least on the public trackers I'm aware of: I have no clue what goes on in the super-duper-exclusive private trackers that some love to boast about.) So I'd put accessibility and consistency as important parts of UX that torrenting can often miss out on. For the common person who is using Windows/Chrome, macOS/Safari, or a gaming console, those parts can easily be more important. Of course, these methods start to shine when legitimate methods are even less accessible. For instance, U.S. sports streaming is an absolute mess with multiple networks, regional blackouts, etc., on top of buggy apps, so that you sometimes can't watch a game legally for any price. People have widely picked up illegal streams as an alternative, usually preferring familiar platforms like YouTube if the streams aren't taken down quickly enough.
- charrondev 2y ago
  On private trackers you can sometimes even see 4k blurry remuxes up before the blueray is even available in your local area due to different release windows around the world. As far as I’ve seen, they pretty much grow on trees as far as films are concerned. TV shows are a very different story though and outside of hugely popular series are far more inconsistent.
thomastjeffery 2y ago
It has much better UX, but much worse accessibility. You have to learn how to navigate an ever-dwindling list of trackers and probably a VPN, which is already too tall a hurdle for the overwhelming majority of people. Time is often worth the price of a 4K Roku and a subscription, even though that's still a technically inferior experience at the end of the day. Piracy has two very hard problems: privacy and moderation. Moderation requires authority; authority requires trust; and trust relies on identification. I think we might be able to resolve this by replacing moderation with curation, but that's going to take a lot of ground-work that I'm too ADHD to do myself.
paxys 2y ago
Without giving them any further instructions, ask all your non-technical friends and family members to (1) watch a popular movie on Netflix/iTunes/Amazon/Google Play and (2) torrent the same movie. Report back on how many are able to successfully do 1 vs 2. That'll tell you how good the respective user experiences are.

LegionMammal978 2y ago

To be fair, UX isn't only about the point of consumption. 4k torrents don't grow on trees (luckily, 1080p is good enough for my own tastes), and for old or less-popular movies, it's often tough to find seeders, or they all upload at 100 kbps or only have half the file or something dumb like that. (At least on the public trackers I'm aware of: I have no clue what goes on in the super-duper-exclusive private trackers that some love to boast about.) So I'd put accessibility and consistency as important parts of UX that torrenting can often miss out on. For the common person who is using Windows/Chrome, macOS/Safari, or a gaming console, those parts can easily be more important. Of course, these methods start to shine when legitimate methods are even less accessible. For instance, U.S. sports streaming is an absolute mess with multiple networks, regional blackouts, etc., on top of buggy apps, so that you sometimes can't watch a game legally for any price. People have widely picked up illegal streams as an alternative, usually preferring familiar platforms like YouTube if the streams aren't taken down quickly enough.

charrondev 2y ago
On private trackers you can sometimes even see 4k blurry remuxes up before the blueray is even available in your local area due to different release windows around the world. As far as I’ve seen, they pretty much grow on trees as far as films are concerned. TV shows are a very different story though and outside of hugely popular series are far more inconsistent.

thomastjeffery 2y ago

It has much better UX, but much worse accessibility. You have to learn how to navigate an ever-dwindling list of trackers and probably a VPN, which is already too tall a hurdle for the overwhelming majority of people. Time is often worth the price of a 4K Roku and a subscription, even though that's still a technically inferior experience at the end of the day. Piracy has two very hard problems: privacy and moderation. Moderation requires authority; authority requires trust; and trust relies on identification. I think we might be able to resolve this by replacing moderation with curation, but that's going to take a lot of ground-work that I'm too ADHD to do myself.

paxys 2y ago

Without giving them any further instructions, ask all your non-technical friends and family members to (1) watch a popular movie on Netflix/iTunes/Amazon/Google Play and (2) torrent the same movie. Report back on how many are able to successfully do 1 vs 2. That'll tell you how good the respective user experiences are.