this post was submitted on 02 May 2024
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Below is a look at the most exasperating news from streaming services from this week. The scale of this article demonstrates how fast and frequently disappointing streaming news arises. Coincidentally, as we wrote this article, another price hike was announced.

We'll also examine each streaming platform's financial status to get an idea of what these companies are thinking (spoiler: They're thinking about money).

Netflix starts killing its cheapest ad-free plan in June

Sony bumps Crunchyroll prices weeks after shuttering Funimation

Peacock is raising prices

Fubo cuts 19 channels

In a seemingly desperate push, many streaming services prioritize revenue and profits ahead of building the best streaming service for customers.

We could go on about how this might force people to reconsider their subscriptions, but we should publish before another service makes yet another policy change.

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[–] [email protected] 117 points 6 months ago

🏴‍☠️

[–] [email protected] 94 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I’ve cancelled Netflix. Just wasn’t using it enough for the price. Instead I will entertain myself by downloading Linux distributions on BitTorrent.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I had to upgrade the 4x8TB drives in my Synology NAS box to 4x12TB to hold all of the extra Linux ISO's I was downloading.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 6 months ago

There are just so many distributions.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Got a recommendation for a Nas? My 12tb is getting so full of Linux distros, I have to expand faster than I thought

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Synology’s smaller units are great and with a few docker configs you are ready to go.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Awesome! But I hope you aren't using the actual program "bitTorrent" cause that shit had a litany of privacy and security issues that I don't even know where to start describing. A good one nowadays is qBitTorrent

[–] [email protected] 27 points 6 months ago (5 children)

I exclusively use qbittorrent to download Linux distros.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

Don't forget to upload some ISOs as well! Keep the network healthy and happy :)

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[–] [email protected] 74 points 6 months ago (6 children)

Why does it feel like lately more and more articles fit Not The Onion or A Boring Distopia?

[–] [email protected] 70 points 6 months ago (1 children)

We've been completely reduced to revenue streams for those that already have unimaginable wealth and it's killing us. The transparent abuse and exploitation is so beyond parody it wraps around to sounding like a joke. Then you realize it isn't a joke and get more depressed

[–] [email protected] 22 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Best part is how we went down the exact same path 100 years ago and learned absolutely nothing from it.

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Because we're shoulders deep in late stage capitalism. It won't be long before we start seeing consumer scarcity. People are living paycheck to paycheck and can't afford much beyond basic needs. There are only so many hours in a day that people can work, so that's not stretching much further. We're rapidly approaching the breaking point. In a world with finite resources, a system seeking infinite growth will eventually collapse.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

In a world with finite resources, a system seeking infinite growth will eventually collapse.

That's why some of the most powerful capitalists are starting to look up. Our great-great-grandchildren are going to be indentured servants on an asteroid mine. They know what's coming. They'll pack each SpaceX Starship with 100s of them just like they did 200 years ago. That thing ain't no exploration vessel. It's a future slave ship. Private companies don't do "exploration" unless it's to find more things to make a profit on.

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[–] [email protected] 45 points 6 months ago

Late-stage capitalism going full steam ahead.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 6 months ago (1 children)

And yet they'll be scratching their heads trying to figure out why more people are returning to piracy.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 6 months ago

No, they know why, what they're trying to figure out is how to easier detect and punish those who pirate for "stealing" their hard purchased profits.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I canceled my Hulu+Disney+whatever package this week, as well as my Netflix. Piracy all the way.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago (9 children)

What do you use?

I’m not a cop btw

[–] [email protected] 36 points 6 months ago (8 children)

I haven’t done this myself because it’s obviously very illegal, but I’ve been told you set up a server with docker and set up the following containers:

  • gluetun for VPN (exit in Switzerland with a fallback to Spain) as these countries have the laxest regulation re downloading licensed media.
  • radarr for film
  • sonarr for tv
  • other *arr instances for subtitles, music, ebooks etc
  • qbittorrent piped through the Gluetun container
  • jellyfish, plex or XBMC in front as a player.

But what do I know? I haven’t done it myself and only download large Linux distributions because I love distro-hopping.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

USENET, Sonarr and Radarr. It's a godsend

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (5 children)

Stremio & Real Debrid is soooo much easier than the self hosted approach, and is a piece of piss to set up

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago

Plex server on a purpose built Linux box with about 34tb. I mostly use Usenet for sourcing stuff, because it's so quick and comparatively private, but I also use torrents for some harder to find stuff. I also buy a lot of the more obscure music I want from Bandcamp and just download the highest quality version.

I ran in parralel with my streaming services for a month, just in case I ever had trouble finding current shows we're watching, but I've never had trouble finding good quality rips of shows the same day they are released.

I just can't tell you how good it feels to look at my TV, movies, and music collection and know that it's mine. Every episode and song and film is mine to store and protect, and not subject someone else's license agreements.

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 6 months ago (3 children)

I honestly think they offered good deals for a couple of years to lure the new generations into a false sense of security and make them forget how to pirate :D

[–] [email protected] 43 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

They absolutely did. I used to pirate all my media 20 years ago, but then streaming became so convenient and relatively cheap that I just didn't bother with it anymore.

Now, they've pretty much pushed me back out to sea with their ever increasing prices and decreasing content that's worth watching. I'm not paying $15-20 per service, when they insist on fragmenting it to hell so I'd need 3-4 subscriptions to watch the things I want.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The joke is on them, piracy was motivated by the extreme convenience of streaming to make it as convenient as ever.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 6 months ago

One thing that we have learned is that piracy is not a pricing issue. It’s a service issue. The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It’s by giving those people a service that’s better than what they’re receiving from the pirates.

  • Gabe Newell

https://www.gamesradar.com/gabe-newell-piracy-issue-service-not-price/

Still as relevant today as it was 13 years (dear god) ago. Sure, not every pirate would pay for media, just like not every pirate pays for games, but charging increasingly more money for a worse product is going to push people towards a solution that basically allows you to search for and watch anything you want, ad-free.

There's people practically begging to spend money for certain shows and movies to be available, but they're just not available on any streaming service. What else are they going to do?

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 6 months ago (1 children)

So, who wants to help a landlubber learn to sail the high seas?

[–] [email protected] 22 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (6 children)

Best place to start if you're serious. https://trash-guides.info/

Frugal Usenet is a good cheap and reliable option for Usenet downloading or search out some torrent trackers of your preference. If you go the Usenet route, let me know, I can send you some indexer invites.

I've run most of the arr apps on windows but Linux with docker is less upkeep and easier to perform updates.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (3 children)

I am serious because fuck this streaming shit.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago (2 children)

That's the spirit! If you know your way around Linux admin, docker and such, don't hesitate to dive into jellyseerr + *arr + Jellyfin, it was much simpler to set up than I expected. Once everything's up and running, the experience is far superior to any commercial streaming service.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 6 months ago (5 children)

Where the fuck is this all heading? There isn't any new medium to deliver media to people that will revolutionize content delivery. It's already delivered directly to the device its viewed on. Back to $20 per individual movie like DVDs were before streaming took off? Except 10 more steps away from actual ownership of what you buy?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (3 children)

I just started using the public library apps this week. Piracy has gotten too difficult for me recently.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Unironically, yes. Everything we had 20 years ago, but worse.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago

It has lead me back to having a media tower and using Jellyfin to keep track of where I was.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 6 months ago
[–] [email protected] 19 points 6 months ago

Stop giving these clown your hard earned money... They don't respect the paying customer.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 6 months ago (3 children)

My over-the-air tv antenna saves me $60/mo.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago
[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Management justifies their employment to the board of directors and investors by increasing shareholder value. That's it. That's the whole toot.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago

And that's how it's been for every company in any industry.

Fucking. Shareholders.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

And this was exactly how they had it designed.

We all thought we were free from the burden of cable television.

But we should've known that while Netflix was doing it's song and dance having been the cheapest subscription for years, everything was gearing up to be exactly like cable television.

I would enjoy PlutoTV and Tubi while you can, if I were you if you're not already. You never know when they'll start having to unroll tier systems or just drop out completely.

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