News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growing rapidly.

Re:Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growi... by aljgz on Monday February 05, 2024 @06:36AM (#39260090)
As someone who rarely watch movies/series, I was paying ~100$/month worth of subscriptions until I cancelled most recently. Why? Content fragmentation is mentioned by everyone, but to me, the main problem was that I could never get a proper watching experience even after finding what I wanted:

1- English subtitles only available with CC: I want subtitles because as a non-native English speaker I cannot understand some of the accents. I hate it when the subtitle says: "glooming musinca playing"

2- Quality issues: I'm watching on a 4k OLED TV. Watching the matrix reloaded for the 10th time, and seeing the actors appear in two places because of some weird compression artifact pulled the plug for me.

3- Quality issues: I used to buy Crave's 4k subscription. It limits content to 720p on my Linux machine. Let's imagine a world in which I'm OK with it, IT DOES NOT GET PROPERLY FULL SCREEN ON ANY OF MY MONITORS/TV. I paid for a 65" TV, I want to see a video fill at least one of the dimensions.

4- UX issues: Sometimes I pause because I want to check something in this scene. Do not dim the scene, I'm not interested in all the details you are spitting to the screen.

5- UX issues: I'm not OK with you showing me ads before I start watching my show

6- UX issues: Sluggish apps on some TVS/streaming devices

7- On my Chromecast, made by Google, I want my guest to use a guest session on YouTube premium, to not mess up my recommendations, ads start playing. This is the same device, I've not even signed out, just using a guest session.

8- I can keep going on

I understand that license holders play content availability, but the problems above could easily be solved if any of the streaming services cared about their customer satisfaction. I canceled because even when I found something to watch, I never enjoyed the experience. Now I'm an inch away from canceling YouTube premium, and then Spotify.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growi... by ta1243 on Monday February 05, 2024 @08:18AM (#39260919)
> Watching the matrix reloaded for the 10th time

You deserve everything you get

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growi... by magicalhippo on Monday February 05, 2024 @07:58AM (#39260780)
> English subtitles only available with CC

The worst part of the subs for the hard of hearing is that the contain so many spoilers. They'll write "JOHN:" an hour before our protagonist learns who exactly this mysterious character is, completely ruining any surprise.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growi... by aljgz on Monday February 05, 2024 @12:18PM (#39263691)
This. There are just too many ways to spoil a carefully planned experience.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growi... by abdusco on Monday February 05, 2024 @06:53AM (#39260239)
> I hate it when the subtitle says: "glooming musinca playing"

Different strokes for different folks. As another non-native speaker, I personally like those descriptions, because they help me label a kind of music, or an emotional outburst.

It's like knowing how to describe a pain you have. You can't just say "it hurts" to a doctor, you need to be more specific ("it's a throbbing sensation with occasional sharp piercing pain")

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growi... by aljgz on Monday February 05, 2024 @12:17PM (#39263675)
That's why having a choice matters. To me, In a rare movie/show that's well produced, I want to feel what the authors wanted, not to read it from the screen. A lot of the times, the experience has more layers than just being "gloomy music", there are hidden feelings in the scene, in the character's body language, in a purposefully vague conversation. My only problem is not understanding weird accents. I don't need to read thunders/music feelings, woman screams, etc.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growi... by albrewer on Monday February 05, 2024 @12:23PM (#39263754)
On the other hand, as someone who knows a smattering of words in other languages, I love when I know what a character is shouting in a foreign language. But I don't get that when the subtitles just say "[shouting in foreign language]"
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growi... by spamtarget on Tuesday February 06, 2024 @08:08AM (#39273799)
>Watching the matrix reloaded for the 10th time, and seeing the actors appear in two places

Nope, it's not a compression artifact, those white braid guys are actually twins!

(jk)

[ Parent | on HN ]