Netflix has managed to annoy a good number of its users with an announcement about an upcoming update to its Windows 11 (and Windows 10) app: support for adverts and live events will be added, but the ability to download content is being taken away.
Netflix must realize that it’s a huge frustration for people who relied on offline downloads to watch content without internet access: on planes, trains, and campsites, and anywhere else where Wi-Fi is unavailable or unreliable.
There’s a small chance that Netflix will change its mind if it gets enough complaints, but the streaming service seems determined to add as many money-making features as possible, while taking away genuinely useful ones.
Meanwhile with piracy, you have none of these issues… Good job, convenience wins.
It’s literally the thing that keeps me coming back (to the seas). I have paid for the services, and the service they provide has been steadily degraded. I still have Prime because they haven’t fucked up delivery to my home (yet), but I don’t even open the app on Roku anymore, I just download whatever it is, because I have no interest in dealing with their shit interface and then having to watch ads after.
If a service can give me a simple, easy to use interface, good search feature, good quality, and decent enough content, you’ve got my money. That’s just too much to ask these days, so I’ll just donate to the site(s) that provide alternative services.
There is just that teeny tiny ethical problem of not paying the creators and distributors for something we enjoy. This becomes a practical problem as well. If they make less money, it’s likely that even more movies or series get killed or never even started.
Idk what to do.
The golden age of streaming is already over. Peoples wallets are getting tighter these days, but the value of what we are paying for is also declining. There is a lot less on Netflix now then there was 5 years ago and the cost has gone way up. They produce their own shows but then cancel them constantly, even if they have a decent following. Netflix has been putting in effort to make their service shittier and more expensive, removing features that people originally switched from cable to get.
Netflix IS the content creator and yet giving them more money doesn’t seem to be making their content better or stop them from cancelling shows.
Not to mention, some of these streaming sites allow you to “purchase” a movie, but then when they lose licensing to those shows it gets removed from your library. So there’s no value in purchasing digital content anymore because it can get taken from you at any time. Digital ownership has become a myth.
If you want to support your favorite shows, purchase them on DVD or go see it in theater. Paying for a streaming service is only encouraging these companies to continue raising prices and reduce the value of the product you pay for.
I’m not really thrilled about almost all the money in show business being funneled to a couple of actors and actresses and giant studios/big money.
Over and over again the majority of writers, actors, actresses and supporting teams strike for a real share and they never seem to get one.
Meanwhile big companies get billions in tax credits every year for shooting movies. The public subsidizes the costs and then pays again once a show releases. It’s insanely big bucks going to the ownership class.