The enshittification will continue until morale improves
this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2023
140 points (97.9% liked)
Quark's
1092 readers
2 users here now
Come to Quark’s, Quark’s is Fun!
General off-topic chat for the crew of startrek.website. Trek-adjacent discussions, other sci-fi television, navigating the Fediverse, server meta (within reason), selling expired cases of Yamok sauce, it’s all fair game.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free.
I got Prime for the shipping, so I won't cancel. If there is anything I really want to watch...🏴☠️
Yeah it's a weird position to be in. I'll be paying for the service but pirating the few shows I watch.
Probably more common than you might think
Yeah, same here, though I think I'll be reevaluating the true utility of Prime next time the subscription is up for renewal since Prime delivery tends to mean "sometimes in the next week" now rather than the original two days.
I know I for one only have ever taken advantage of the shipping benefits. That alone makes the 120$/year worth it for me. Anything else is just cherries on top lmao
Exactly
In one sense it's like getting a streaming service for $3 a month.
In another sense, it's like the prime value proposition is starting to crumble. I got it for the shipping but the video was nice and music was discounted and pretty good.
It def feels like these companies are turning the screws because they know they can get away with it. And on principle that bothers me, but I'm also torn because I want to pay for content I like (and don't want ad supported media).
I got an eye patch laying around here somewhere. I might have to dust it off. It's been 15 years since I wore it.
I'm planning to do the same thing with Paramount+ (got it free with Walmart+)
They’re getting your money anyway and you aren’t putting any load on their servers. I don’t think they mind.
Yeah, that was the point. The service I signed up for remains unchanged and I am still pleased with it. Prime Video was originally a quirky perk full of awful low budget content. If there is anything I like, I will pirate anyway because streaming services cannot be trusted to keep content available. So ultimately nothing has changed for myself or Amazon.
Other than The Boys and Wheel of Time, is there anything else worth watching on Prime?
PS: Never "buy" digital content with DRM. Buy physical media of the stuff you love. It supports the creators and it safeguards your purchase.
The Expanse is a great series.
I forgot about Expanse. Amazing series. Amos Burton is one of the best SciFi characters of all time.
Grand Tour, Expanse, Clarkson Farm
Believe it or not, straight to cancellation
this story inspired me to create my own home server for yohoho as my nye resolution
It's pretty straightforward after you wrap your head around how it works!
For video, Jellyfin is a fantastic FOS sotware: very user friendly, simple, and does what you need. Downside is it's not available natively on all OSs (Samsung's Tizen stands out..). Plex is free and works well too, but you'll need to navigate some bloatware. It's available almost everywhere though.
Have already canceled last month
I assume these will be as carefully and expertly placed as YouTube ads.
More people need to cancel their subscription. (They most likely won't though) I am tired of corporations getting away with charging for ads. Not a trend that should ever have been allowed, imo.
Literally no one has prime for the streaming service
I might cancel. The main reason we got it in the first place was for Amazon Fresh during the worst of covid.
I chose to cancel a while back. I stopped using prime video, (really didn't like prime original ads at the start of everything), and usually didnt order enough to warrant the cost for free shipping. Especially since it would take a week or more before delivery.
The race to the bottom continues
They must want people to cancel, because this is how you get people to cancel. I’m using Amazon less for shipping, there’s so many knockoffs these days, I’m not interested in returns.
Time to find a good seed for The Expanse.
Or pay the $2.99 extra for commercial free.
No.
Yeah, your call. I'm very willing to pay a monthly fee to not have commercials. Whether Prime video is worth it in general is another question...
I’m at the end of my rope with the degradation of value. I want to pay for quality content and lack of ads, I was happy to pay Netflix for this.
Then I fine with paying Hulu.
Then I was less happy to pay HBO.
Then I was even less happy to pay Disney.
When HBO started adding previews to shows I felt like I was at the end of my patience. Then Amazon did it too.
Now Amazon wants me to pay for ad removal… but makes sure to note that even if I pay, “some channels” will show ads anyways.
I’m all out of good will now.
I'm getting there. I don't mind paying for good content. Though I am starting to mind paying so much across the board and I'm getting tired of everyone having their own platform with its own quirks. Still can't bring myself to go for Paramount+.
Now Amazon wants me to pay for ad removal… but makes sure to note that even if I pay, “some channels” will show ads anyways.
Haven't seen that yet. What does that mean, "some channels?" Like for AMC content and shit like that?
Forced ads is my personal red line.
The pre-order page for ad removal (a sentence which makes me feel irrationally angry) notes: “Live TV, Freevee, and channel subscriptions may continue to have ads.”
The email I got seems to define channels as “…like Max, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, BET+, MGM+, ViX+, Crunchyroll, PBS KIDS, NBA League Pass, MLB.TV, and STARZ…”
Cable used to have no commercials. Then they had some commercials, but less than OTA. Now there's no difference. Streaming services started out with no commercials, then it was commercials, but you can pay for no commercials. Soon it'll be pay more, for less commercials, I think there's a service already doing that? Don't reward them for this shitty behavior by throwing more money at them.
TV used to be free over the air. Commercials were in-show. Often done buy the hosts themselves talking up a product. Pretty much exactly like YouTube and podcasts do now.
Then cable was invented and they charged for it. But commercials never went away.
TV is still free over the air
Oh, it's a one-time fee?
Doubt it. I assume it's a monthly premium.
It is, I just got the e-mail. Gonna see what I'm not missing when I cancel my Prime membership after it expires.
How much are decent VPNs these days?
Mullivad is cheap and actually works. Nord sucks, PIA was bought out by an Israeli "ex" spyware company years ago, the rest idk about.
ProtonVPN and iVPN is some goooood shit
+1 for proton
I thought Nord was supposed to be a good service. What happened?