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Comment by yxhuvud | Hacker News Reader

It is not a zero sum game, because when there are enough of them I can't be assed anymore and I will simply torrent the content instead.

The same way you usually never paid for single networks when you bought cable stuff but just bought a bundle with a whole bunch of them.

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It might not be a zero sum game for them, but it definetely is a zero-sum game for me. When I want to watch something, I just want to click it and watch it. This is the API that my torrent tracker gives me for free (Airplay to Apple TV works great for this).

I'm willing to pay for a service that I use a lot and gives me an API that's at least as good as this. But it doesn't make any sense for me to pay for 5 services that combined give me a much worse API. Having to use 5 crappy apps typing in 5 crappy search boxes until I find what I want to watch is quite frustrating.

We started 2019 with Amazon Prime and Netflix, but when Netflix dropped support for streaming from iOS to Apple TV using Airplay, we dropped it (having to use the Netflix Apple TV App was worse than using torrents). Last month, we noticed that most of our torrent streaming is HBO content, and we subscribed to HBO instead. We've been torrenting The Mandalorian from Disney+ recently, but right now that's not remotely close to enough to make us actually want to subscribe to Disney+.

Who ever thinks that requiring people to subscribe to more services is going to actually make them do that, when there is a hassle free, simple, reliable, and cost-free alternative, is delusional.

I'm still baffled by the reasoning that leads to all the DRM theater. It does nothing. the moment a piece of content reaches streaming apps, it's on every torrent and free streaming platform.[1]

All it does is that it makes the user experience of paying customers worse. Can't use their preferred video player. Can't use a frontend that puts all the content together. Can't save it for later to watch online, unless the platform has that functionality built in, usually in a restrictive and clunky way.

[1] I'm, of course, talking about platforms that aren't as aggressive about getting rid of copyrighted content as youtube.

It really is just security theater so they can shrug & say "we did the thing" if (when) it gets pirated. Modern game DRM/anti-tamper like Denuvo (as horrible as it is) at least has a realistic goal of "delay piracy past the release week".

At least in Netflix's case, some of it makes sense because of how much work they put in to their website. Almost everything on their homepage is personalized based on what they think will get you to watch that movie/show. From the pictures, summary description, and video preview, that's all customized to get you to watch more.

Wouldn't they make more money by you watching less? Also, there is no reason they couldn't have a decent website, just because they also didn't have DRM.

Maybe the approach is the more people watch, the more they talk about the (Netflix exclusive) shows with others who don't have Netflix and they hopefully buy in?

They show you what they want you to watch, which is mostly netflix produced content that minimizes the per view overhead for them.

FWIW, the Google Play Movies (yes, the app on Android) provide an aggregated search based on the service you subscribed to. You can simply filter free TV/movie to see what's available to you, so you don't need to deal with 5 apps if you have 5 services.

Good to know. Sadly, Apple TV doesn't have this yet.

Yeah, I've got subscriptions to multiple services now (Amazon, Disney, Netflix, and I have a satellite TV subscription too). I used to run a very slick seedbox that would auto download all the stuff I wanted and then stream it with Plex, I had accounts with all the top private trackers.

It's getting to the point now where I'm sick of paying so much money and the idea of that seedbox is far more appealing. It's not just the money, it's having to dart about several different applications and remotes to try and find what you want to watch, drives me mad.

I wanted to stream The Force Awakens the other day, I couldn't find it any where.

The Force Awakens is on Disney+, for what it’s worth. All of Disney’s released content is either on D+ or running out a contract on Netflix.

Disney+ doesn't launch until next year in my market. We are stuck with Disney Life which is utter crap.

AppleTV (the device, not the service) does a decent job of searching across streaming services with a single remote.

Currently, I use Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and periodically subscribe to HBO Now for a month or two to catch up (then cancel for 10 months).

Edit: As noted below, The Force Awakens is on Disney+ now. You can rent it on iTunes.

If Apple (or anyone for that matter) could managed to search through a larger variety of subs, that would be incredible. That's what this streaming market needs.

Here's a list of services Apple TV's Universal Search knows about (pretty sure it also searches Amazon Video, which isn't listed here, and I haven't found an official list)...

https://www.lifewire.com/what-channels-support-universal-sea...

Disney+ isn't in the market where I live. It's called Disney Life and it's utter crap.

That's one problem I wish the content companies (production and distribution) would fix. I hate having most streaming options in the US, but having different options when I travel. Weird things like books I bought for Kindle won't download in the UK because they were purchased in the US store. So annoying.

We have lawyers and industry execs to thank for that. They want to squeeze every less penny out of their content across the globe forever. It's ridiculous.

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