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We have come a full circle https://twitter.com/kuizinas/status/1519496895852339200
The 9.99$ Netflix plan's content was subsidized by cable subscriptions. It was never sustainable, that's why Netflix has never decreased prices with decreased content, but has raised prices instead. And once cable subscriptions started dropping cable networks had to look elsewhere for income.
Also current streaming is the closest thing we have to a la carte, which has always been a complaint about cable: I don't want to pay a single subscription for everything, I want to pay a cheaper subscription for what I want to watch.
I don't think the 'a la carte' comparison really applies to streaming. Cable had sport-, documentary, kid-channels etc. Streaming has studios with a variety of content where selecting 'a la carte' is not really possible. There are niche streaming services, but compared to the big ones they aren't really noteworthy.
> The result is that we now would need to subscribe to about a dozen VOD platforms to access the same content we once did through Netflix,
> and since each subscription is separate, it is no longer USD 9.99, but closer to USD 60, which is outside of reach for many.
A $9.99 Netflix plan back in the days did not provide the same level of service that a $60 streaming budget can provide today.
I'd argue that a Netflix plan today provides much more content and a much better experience than the old Netflix.
The new Netflix of course provides more content - the key here is content people want to consume. I would argue that the Netflix today provides less of that than the old Netflix (I am referring to “old Netflix” as the Netflix that existed before licenses started to get yanked and the massive flood of Netflix funded content on the platform).
I don’t recall the old Netflix being worse in terms of UX than the new Netflix, except perhaps more buffering in the early days. I would argue that the new UX is worse because it promotes more shovelware than the old UX did.
Content recommendation seems to be improved though over the old Netflix. That is one area that they have gotten really good at over the years.
>The new Netflix of course provides more content - the key here is content people want to consume.
Which people? People in the U.S. only?
I'm not sure what shape it would be if not a circle, but I wonder how far off we are from the piracy-as-a-service mentioned in that tweet offering lower rates for showing ads (assuming this is not already the case).
Piracy’s looking pretty affordable right now.
I've seen people with 6 figure salaries say this, without realizing that they're voting with their wallets, causing the slow demise of all the entertainment content that they love.
> causing the slow demise of all the entertainment content that they love
No. Piracy is not a cause, it is an effect. If people can’t get what they want easily, they resort to piracy. Piracy went way down with the advent of Netflix. Now it’s going back up, not just because movies and TV are no longer available at a single place, but also because of the insane restrictions placed on that media. Want to watch offline? Can’t do that with a lot of shows. Paying but there are still ads? Common. It’s bordering on ridiculous, the hoops people have to jump through just to watch content “legally.”
6 figure salary? That's not enough to watch that damn second season!
It's fun when your spending hundreds of USD each month and still can't watch the second season even if you're willing to spend millions, just because there is no legal way to watch the thing in your location.
The whole "this can be watched at this location, during this time period, in this specific way" - thing is absurd.
A 6 figure salary in a high cost of living area is nothing. People in this category still have to budget... all of those $20/mo costs add up
Yeah damn, what a tragedy, they won't be able to make Star Wars Jar Jar Binks' Revenge 2 The Search For More Money.
No no no. The best part would be killing these garbage media companies that have been pumping out content so terrible it has literally damaged the intelligence our society.
That makes it sound like the only right thing to do is to signal to these companies that fragmentation is good, which I would disagree with.
It's not like the mainstream entertainment content of recent years is particularly compelling.
Gabe Newell said "piracy is a service problem" over a decade ago now.
Give stuff away for free or cheap
Gain majority market share
Raise prices
Still cheaper than the days of paying €50 for a ONE SEASON DVD box set.
And you had to buy these in an actual record store. As in meat space.
Young people don't know how utterly bleak the past was. It's up to old folks to keep these stories alive.
except you owned it....and could lend it to your friend to check out, etc.
resell it....pick it up and dust it off from a box that was forgotten and get a hot of nostalgia.
or you can look for that movie you put in your list but has now cycled out ...sorry not available anymore....but how about this new low quality thing....
People leave for piracy
Surprised Pikachu
So let's start counting all the streaming services that are now available:
( In no particular order)
Disney+ HBO max Peacock Discovery plus Amazon Prime Netflix Hulu
What else is out there?