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Comment by tapoxi | Hacker News Reader

This is ultimately why I stopped watching television. I want to experience the whole story, and I want to be know it ties everything up and has a satisfying ending.

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That is what made netflix popular in the beginning before their "orginals" phase

You could watch an entire TV Show, Back to back with no interuptions, or waiting a week.

A Already made show would drop on nextflix, 5 seasons worth all at once, and "binging content" was born...

Sad they do not know their own market anymore. Who ever running netflix these days is terrible

"Binge watching" is also weapon of Netflix demise: they drop the whole season at once, you watch it in a day or two, and then you forget it, and you never log in to Netflix again for several weeks. HBO dropping one episode at time creates a feeling of anticipation, and gives you a reason to keep your subscription always active, because every couple days there will be something new for you to watch..

Not me, I do not watch any streaming show until the entire season at a minimum has dropped

I also do not subscribe to HBO Max in part because of that

I wonder if they would ever experiment with a lower cost membership that only has X hours of streaming per month. My favorite part of Netflix (and other streaming services that drop entire seasons at once) is that I can fit my viewing into my schedule. I may watch two episodes in one week because I have time that week, and then not watch anymore for two weeks as I'm busy with other things, only to return and watch 3 episodes at the start of the next month. A lower cost plan with a cap on hours would actually work well for me.

then you forget it, and you never log in to Netflix again for several weeks.

But unless you actually cancel your subscription, that's not a bad thing for Netflix. All the time you're not in there watching content is time you're not consuming bandwidth or CPU cycles, etc. It's kinda like a gym: the perfect customer is somebody who signs up for a membership, and never shows up again, while keeping their membership active.

Now I know some people do the whole "binge for a while, cancel my subscription and come back in a couple of months thing." A good friend of mine actually does that. But I suspect most people are too lazy to bother, and keep their account active even when they aren't actively watching something. But maybe that's just me projecting? Hmmm...

Actually, I know many people who do this: create a temporary email address, register for a Netflix trial, and cancel it after you watched your favorite show. It's not really that much of the hassle, other than having to type in your credit card details when you register.

So Netflix allows for a new free trial per email address rather than per credit card?

Netflix doesn't actually validate the email address you give them, so a limit per-email would do nothing. (I've had my email address be used by strangers signing up for a Netflix subscriptions on four separate occasions, each time by a different person).

I'm largely the same. I've recentered my life in a way where I rarely encounter groups where the main topic is "are you watching the latest thing," and the consequence is being free from show FOMO.

Now I judge shows based on how they end. I don't care if I'm years late to watching it. If it's good it will age well, and if it's not then it won't. I've been duped too many times with Lost and GoT standing out in particular.

If I kept watching the new stuff, I'd be a sucker.

I'm the opposite. I prefer to wait until a whole series has finished and then watch the seasons that were decent, and screw the rest. I watched 2.5 seasons of ~Tits And Dragons~ Game Of Thrones, and honestly, that was 1.5 seasons too many. I'm also perfectly happy to rewatch Firefly knowing that they never finished it of with some bullshit final series or movie* that tried to tie it up with a bow, and ultimately fail.

*I know

Edit: awww, hn doesn't have strike through markdown support :(

I agree. Honestly if I’m browsing for something new and it has several seasons it puts me off even starting. I don’t want to invest that much time into something when the quality is pretty much guaranteed to drop as time goes on.

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