this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2024
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Was no surprise that other platforms would follow Netflix with not allowing sharing passwords.
What does surprise me is that people actually pay their own subscription for these platforms. Netflix had a win in profit/revenue. I’m surprised that these people did not go for the Piracy method even though, they complain about:
There are millions of people who can afford $140/yr. They just don't complain on forums.
$140 a year, sure. That's just Netflix or Disney Plus though. If you want all of the services these days you're up to $140 a month.
While I've cut back because of the abundance of services, the always increasing prices, and the cutting of content, I still don't get this comparison. Most people don't get all the services the same way most people didn't get every cable package available. I've never had more than 5 at once and 1 was because it was included with my internet service and another because it was included in my Prime subscription. I really only ever consciously had 3 services and I'm down to two now because fuck Netflix.
That’s what we used to pay for cable/satellite TV before we switched to Netflix+YouTube a few years ago.
Most people don't even know how piracy works unless it gets as mainstream as Napster did. You tell them about torrenting, -arr programs, debrid services, and they'll have no clue what you're talking about.
I pirate with torrents and the rest still goes over my head.
Most people don't like change. Maybe they have a habit of switching on Netflix daily during dinner or something. There's also a big "Netflix" button on their remotes and their TV's homescreen, which serves as a constant reminder. They probably even have the app on their phones. All of this leads to mental conditioning and addiction, it's now a part of their daily lives. Humans are a creature of habit, and it's hard to break out of a routine ingrained over several years.
Piracy could be a option for some people, but it's still either too technical, or not as convenient, for the average Joe. Sure, there are even websites you could simply go to without installing any app, but most people won't bother with that - they just want to hit a single button on their remote/TV and watch something, without needing to go to some website, a website which may eventually stop working.
You'll find that most people would prefer to take the path of least resistance, even if it means paying (more) money. Don't forget that even pirates may sometimes pay money to make things easier - eg usenet/seedbox/debrid users - and that's simply because they too would prefer to take the path of least resistance, even if it means being in the ironic situation of paying to watch pirated content. So it's not too hard to imagine why normal people would just prefer to cough up the extra cash for Netflix and continue with their lives, routines unchanged.
My mother in law is like this. She has cable and she'll never, never get rid of it. She'll just browse for huge chuncks of time thru the long, long list of channels (including shipping, music, spanish, and many of which aren't even available or are pay per view). The act of browsing the crappy ui itself is soothing to her (fucking maddening to me but w\e).
I think she has fond memories of watching cable news and such as a family when she was a child. It's the only thing that makes sense because she's alwayscomplaining about the price but refuses to cut the cord. Nothing other than rose- colored glasses could account for her behavior that i can fathom.
Of it were up to me I'd drop it in a heart beat. I'm outvoted by kids grandkids and wife who watch random things throughout the day.
I barely watch TV these days and would happily hooky the odd things I do want to see
I totally get that the couple of bucks a month is worth saving any headache from doing tech support for family members.
However, if you want to try switching them to pirated sources, Stremio + Torrentio add-on and a Real-Debrid sub (which is paid but much cheaper than a streaming service) is great for giving you a Netflix-like interface for pirated content. It's easy enough that I coached my dad on how to set it up via text.
Cool ill give em a look
Also good piracy requires understanding torrenting and navagating the 7 seas with a vpn. And know what a good/bad torrent looks like.
My parents LOVE to tell all their friends and family how I can magically get any tv show or movie for them through the computer 5$ a month without all that subscription crap which gets everyones hopes up and I have to gently let them down that it requires a bit more computer knowhow than a regular non-tech person ]possesses.
If you think you can properly educate people on safely torrenting be my guest but for most people who have neither the time or desire to learn computer nerd stuff instead they choose the simple and convinent option of just coughing up dollars