And if you weren't already convinced, those streaming services will kneecap the service you paid for by only giving lower bitrates, max quality 1080p, etc., unless you use their app. Why would anyone want to avoid using their apps? Because they have malware baked into them that spies on you.
For how shitty cable TV was, at least they couldn't use that service to eavesdrop on your private conversations, track what you watch, etc. If they find your personal data so profitable and worth taking from you, they should at least offer their service for free and get real consent from you before you use it. Big, bold letters next to the download button that say this service is monetarily free but we will spy on you very hard in exchange for its use.
Until their services stop being shitty, expensive, and crammed full of malware, it's the 7 seas for me, baby 🏴☠️⛵🏴☠️
The current model tries to fight back against this by having a release or "broadcast" schedule so the latest season of a show isn't binge-able. I also think the whole mess relies pretty heavily on FOMO with the current fandom and the desire for a spoiler-free experience. Otherwise, it's much cheaper to permanently stay a year or two behind everyone else well after full seasons are released (and the reviews are in).
If I'm right, we'll eventually see more draconian policies to "lock in" subscribers somehow. (I'll leave it at that - please don't give them ideas)
As long as there's no ads I don't really care about the price. I'll never watch ad TV as long as I live. Even though I have prime I pirate those shows now.
The difference is that it is now much easier for people to capture video from streaming services, which means torrents are always available a few hours after the film/show goes online.
I’ve been pirating media for the last 2 decades or more, and shows have always been available within minutes of when they were released. Copying a stream might be easier than setting up a capture card and recording a broadcast, but the wait time hasn’t really changed all that much.
Maybe not for shows, but for film, I think it has. More films are released simultaneously to theaters and a streaming service, or available for streaming shortly after the theater release. I don't watch nearly asany cam rips as I used to.
Yeah but you can at least choose exactly which episode you'd like rather than flipping channels or watching the guide channel to figure out what's on and even then it may be something you're not in the mood for. Not that I don't agree it's expensive again if you pay for them all but we do have better options even when subscribing to only one or two.
I got Disney plus through some bundle somewhere, and when I try to cancel it, it just says "this is being paid by the Disney+ bundle, you have to cancel it there." I don't know where there is!