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Re:The User Always Loses by chongli on Saturday September 05, 2020 @11:31AM (#24384285)
No, the problem is centralization and consolidation. The same sad story of the Internet was mirrored in the film industry, without the VC model at all. Disney owns basically everything and they've largely killed off the broad spectrum of film genres in favour of Marvel / Star Wars tent-pole spectacle.

Centralization of economic (as well as political) power is the true killer of consumer freedom. It occurs so regularly that it's difficult to imagine any possibility of escape.

Re:The User Always Loses by topkai22 on Saturday September 05, 2020 @12:37PM (#24384855)
I was going to say this seems factually untrue, because the number of films released each year has been going up for a long time, but there are some interesting parallels on how films are distributed. Looking at https://stephenfollows.com/how-many-films-are-released-each-..., the number of films released has gone way up over time, but the number of films in wide-release has gone done.

The internet has more content then ever, but the long tail of content there is consumed at a smaller rate relative to the big 3/5/100 web properties.

The problem isn't that consumer freedom has been killed- after all, all those films and content exist and likely more accessible than ever, its that the large centralized firms have managed to largely satisfy the majority of consumer demand without it. If I have the time to see a movie (a rare occurrence sadly) and Disney has a Marvel or Star Wars movie out, I'll just go see that, even if there might be a limited showing of a comedy-western-crime genre film out that I'd enjoy even more.

Note, I am concerned about media consolidation, but its more about distribution and IP ownership at this point than consumer choice.

Re:The User Always Loses by benjaminjosephw on Saturday September 05, 2020 @11:39AM (#24384336)
Centralization and consolidation are problems created by a culture of building companies that need to have an exit.
Re:The User Always Loses by wongarsu on Saturday September 05, 2020 @12:37PM (#24384853)
Facebook (IPO 2012), Google(IPO 2004), Microsoft (IPO 1986) or Disney (IPO 1946) don't need an exit, yet they are prime examples of centralization and consolidation.