AT&T and Comcast are waking up to a whole new world, in which they don't have much control and since HBO Max and Peacock don't exactly have must-see content, consumers can just shrug and move on if they don't see them on Roku or Amazon Fire devices. By the time the power struggle is sorted out, people will have forgotten HBO Max and Peacock even exist.
Abhorrent views aren't being punished for being abhorrent. Dig down in each of the cases and you'll see that abhorrent viewers are being punished for causing a PR problem for some corporation that is worried about the share price and bottom line.
So the offending movie or show gets censored and the offending employee gets canned. This has NOTHING to do with actual morality. It's about corporate profits and ass-covering. What a nauseating spectacle. Are people really getting suckered in by this? Think about it a little harder.
"... a teacher says something questionable on social media about a student..."
Stop right there. This is a perfect reason why everyone should stop using social media right now. It's a minefield that will follow you to your grave.
I dumped Facebook years ago, really before I ever started using it much, when I realized their business model was to see me as a product. Then I started to see the real reason to dump it. You say something stupid when you're a stupid kid and people hold it against you a decade later when you're a different person, namely a grownup.
I am perpetually amazed that anyone uses social media, at least under their true name. If you want to keep in touch with your friends, pick up the phone or meet them at a restaurant on the sidewalk wearing your masks or something. You don't need Facebook and TikTok and BipBop or whatever other baby named thing is out there. Drop them all.
This gets to the heart of the matter: "...who are fired entirely because an employer doesn’t want the PR headache."
"Cancel culture" induces corporations to go right for their worst instincts, namely cowardice. That's why Gone with the Wind got a silly intro commentary that everyone will just skip right past. Not because AT&T, which owns GwtW, has a moral bone in its body (hah! how about supporting net neutrality if you're so moral, AT&T?) but because they don't want a whiff of controversy impacting their bottom line and share price.
The real problem isn't so much about cancel culture, it's about corporate ownership of our cultural heritage. GwtW was a product of its time. It's far from the worst movie ever (I guess everyone has just forgotten about Birth of a Nation, nevermind Triumph of the Will). Corporations are designed to be cowardly and conservative, and inclined towards censorship.
The notion that a corporation like AT&T is giving us morality lessons now is enough to make me lose my lunch.
Why are people paying so much? I have: Netflix streaming and DVD, $17/month. Amazon Prime, if you count that since I'd get it anyway, about $10/month.
That's $27/month for pretty much anything I can think of to want to watch, and far more content than I can ever watch. Occasionally I think about sampling Hulu, Disney+ or CBS All Access but I never do. Their stuff comes out on DVD too eventually.
Hey there's my ISP at #3...hmm personally I don't get very fast speeds from them but they support net neutrality and the options aren't all that hot, so I guess I'll stick with them. I can always switch to my hotspot when Sonic is having another tummyache.
Yeah that's it exactly. The employees are paying for one bad executive decision after another. DirectTV, great. Invest in a dying business. Buy TimeWarner, well maybe that's smart but it's a lot of money and can you monetize it? The HBO Max disaster rollout says no. Not on Roku? Were they drunk?
I didn't mind the article so much as that the comments section had not been turned on. Cowards. All articles, no matter how innocuous, should have comments sections just to demonstrate that the writer has the courage to take the heat. I mean it's not like the guy even needs to read the comments! Seems like a very low bar to me.
I don't mind if NYTimes wants to publish some fascist moron's screed but I noticed they didn't have the balls to turn on the comments section. From now on, comments sections should be mandatory on all NYTimes stories (like they are here!) If you can't handle what people are going to say about you, just don't speak at all.
Nope. Look at this list. Netflix's Extraction is the most pirated movie. Anyone in the world can get access to that movie by subscribing for a very reasonable fee.
The only countries that don't have Netflix are China (because of the Chinese government, not Netflix) and a few other basket cases like Syria and North Korea. I doubt access to the latest movies for cheap is their most pressing concern.
So that ends all arguments that piracy is caused by lack of access or prices being too high. Piracy is caused by people who want something for nothing.
But the question of whether piracy matters is different. Piracy clearly doesn't matter because it's not stopping Netflix from making Extraction 2.
Piracy is not caused by lack of access to content, price or any of the other excuses. Piracy is caused by successful marketing, which creates demand, which generates revenue and also generates piracy, which simply follows along in the wake of success, because there will always be someone who wants something for nothing as long as they don't expect to be caught and punished.
Case in point: the most torrented movies list includes Netflix's Extraction at #1, which is widely available all over the world and the subscription is a pittance. My Netflix is $9/month, if you can't afford that measly sum, how do you afford the internet or electricity for that matter?
So all the blather about piracy is utterly and completely pointless. Corporations are not going to stop attempting to successfully market their products and make money from them. So piracy will continue. It also will not have any material impact on the finances of the entertainment industry.
Piracy is not stopping content form being made, quite the opposite, content is proliferating beyond all sanity or ability for people to even keep up with it. If Covid-19 shuts off production for a while, it's a blessing in disguise, to give us all a breather.
Here's the thing about business: there are no Jedi, only Sith.
But there are smart Sith (Netflix, Disney, Amazon) and dumb ones (Comcast, probably AT&T, definitely Quibi). The smart ones will survive and the dumb ones eventually stab themselves with their lightsabers and stop bothering us.
A la carte cable will never exist. Cable will simply collapse before that happens and be replaced by streaming (which also isn't a la carte, but you can get that by ignoring streaming and just opting for iTunes or Google Play to pay for only exactly what you want; it's just pricier that way).
Yup. And when I figured that out, it gave me an incentive to bail on cable entirely. That and the ever increasing prices and the ever increasing ad glut...
Oh my lord why are there still cable customers at all? I bailed on it, what, 9 years ago or something, just watch Netflix and Amazon now. Add in DVDs (seriously; I never cancelled my Netflix DVD service) and that basically gives me access to every flipping thing, far more than I can hope to ever watch, even being super picky. It helps that I don't give a flip about sports and as for news, it's available for free all over the internet so who's gonna pay for that. People should not be paying more than, say $25/month for entertainment subscriptions.
On the post: On Appeal, 'Star Trek Discovery' Still Doesn't Infringe On Video Game's Copyright
Re:
Ah, the space amoeba. One of the classics.
On the post: On Appeal, 'Star Trek Discovery' Still Doesn't Infringe On Video Game's Copyright
TARDigrade indeed...
The tardigrade plotline in Disco was terrible. They should sue the game makers for leading them astray.
On the post: After 100 Years As A Bullying Gatekeeper, AT&T Pivots To Whining Unironically About Bullying Gatekeepers
what goes around....
AT&T and Comcast are waking up to a whole new world, in which they don't have much control and since HBO Max and Peacock don't exactly have must-see content, consumers can just shrug and move on if they don't see them on Roku or Amazon Fire devices. By the time the power struggle is sorted out, people will have forgotten HBO Max and Peacock even exist.
On the post: What That Harper's Letter About Cancel Culture Could Have Said
Re: Re:
Abhorrent views aren't being punished for being abhorrent. Dig down in each of the cases and you'll see that abhorrent viewers are being punished for causing a PR problem for some corporation that is worried about the share price and bottom line.
So the offending movie or show gets censored and the offending employee gets canned. This has NOTHING to do with actual morality. It's about corporate profits and ass-covering. What a nauseating spectacle. Are people really getting suckered in by this? Think about it a little harder.
On the post: What That Harper's Letter About Cancel Culture Could Have Said
Re: Learning and growth
"... a teacher says something questionable on social media about a student..."
Stop right there. This is a perfect reason why everyone should stop using social media right now. It's a minefield that will follow you to your grave.
I dumped Facebook years ago, really before I ever started using it much, when I realized their business model was to see me as a product. Then I started to see the real reason to dump it. You say something stupid when you're a stupid kid and people hold it against you a decade later when you're a different person, namely a grownup.
I am perpetually amazed that anyone uses social media, at least under their true name. If you want to keep in touch with your friends, pick up the phone or meet them at a restaurant on the sidewalk wearing your masks or something. You don't need Facebook and TikTok and BipBop or whatever other baby named thing is out there. Drop them all.
On the post: What That Harper's Letter About Cancel Culture Could Have Said
it's all about corporate image, not free speech
This gets to the heart of the matter: "...who are fired entirely because an employer doesn’t want the PR headache."
"Cancel culture" induces corporations to go right for their worst instincts, namely cowardice. That's why Gone with the Wind got a silly intro commentary that everyone will just skip right past. Not because AT&T, which owns GwtW, has a moral bone in its body (hah! how about supporting net neutrality if you're so moral, AT&T?) but because they don't want a whiff of controversy impacting their bottom line and share price.
The real problem isn't so much about cancel culture, it's about corporate ownership of our cultural heritage. GwtW was a product of its time. It's far from the worst movie ever (I guess everyone has just forgotten about Birth of a Nation, nevermind Triumph of the Will). Corporations are designed to be cowardly and conservative, and inclined towards censorship.
The notion that a corporation like AT&T is giving us morality lessons now is enough to make me lose my lunch.
On the post: YouTube Jacks Live TV Streaming Prices 30%, As Streaming Sector Starts To Resemble Good Old Cable
no reason for this to be expensive.
Why are people paying so much? I have: Netflix streaming and DVD, $17/month. Amazon Prime, if you count that since I'd get it anyway, about $10/month.
That's $27/month for pretty much anything I can think of to want to watch, and far more content than I can ever watch. Occasionally I think about sampling Hulu, Disney+ or CBS All Access but I never do. Their stuff comes out on DVD too eventually.
On the post: The Fastest ISP In America Is Community Owned And Operated
YAY SONIC!
Hey there's my ISP at #3...hmm personally I don't get very fast speeds from them but they support net neutrality and the options aren't all that hot, so I guess I'll stick with them. I can always switch to my hotspot when Sonic is having another tummyache.
On the post: AT&T Has Now Eliminated 41,000 Jobs Since Its $42 Billion Trump Tax Cut
Re: Deficits
Yeah that's it exactly. The employees are paying for one bad executive decision after another. DirectTV, great. Invest in a dying business. Buy TimeWarner, well maybe that's smart but it's a lot of money and can you monetize it? The HBO Max disaster rollout says no. Not on Roku? Were they drunk?
On the post: If The NY Times Doesn't Publish My OpEd On Why James Bennet Is An Incompetent Dweeb, It Must Hate Free Speech
Re: Reputation Crumbles
I didn't mind the article so much as that the comments section had not been turned on. Cowards. All articles, no matter how innocuous, should have comments sections just to demonstrate that the writer has the courage to take the heat. I mean it's not like the guy even needs to read the comments! Seems like a very low bar to me.
On the post: If The NY Times Doesn't Publish My OpEd On Why James Bennet Is An Incompetent Dweeb, It Must Hate Free Speech
turn on the comments sections for all stories
I don't mind if NYTimes wants to publish some fascist moron's screed but I noticed they didn't have the balls to turn on the comments section. From now on, comments sections should be mandatory on all NYTimes stories (like they are here!) If you can't handle what people are going to say about you, just don't speak at all.
On the post: The Oscars Ends DVD Screeners For Reasons Other Than Piracy, Which Will Of Course Continue
nope
Nope. Look at this list. Netflix's Extraction is the most pirated movie. Anyone in the world can get access to that movie by subscribing for a very reasonable fee.
https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-on-bittorrent-05-04-20/
The only countries that don't have Netflix are China (because of the Chinese government, not Netflix) and a few other basket cases like Syria and North Korea. I doubt access to the latest movies for cheap is their most pressing concern.
So that ends all arguments that piracy is caused by lack of access or prices being too high. Piracy is caused by people who want something for nothing.
But the question of whether piracy matters is different. Piracy clearly doesn't matter because it's not stopping Netflix from making Extraction 2.
On the post: The Oscars Ends DVD Screeners For Reasons Other Than Piracy, Which Will Of Course Continue
piracy doesn't matter
Piracy is not caused by lack of access to content, price or any of the other excuses. Piracy is caused by successful marketing, which creates demand, which generates revenue and also generates piracy, which simply follows along in the wake of success, because there will always be someone who wants something for nothing as long as they don't expect to be caught and punished.
Case in point: the most torrented movies list includes Netflix's Extraction at #1, which is widely available all over the world and the subscription is a pittance. My Netflix is $9/month, if you can't afford that measly sum, how do you afford the internet or electricity for that matter?
https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-on-bittorrent-05-04-20/
So all the blather about piracy is utterly and completely pointless. Corporations are not going to stop attempting to successfully market their products and make money from them. So piracy will continue. It also will not have any material impact on the finances of the entertainment industry.
Piracy is not stopping content form being made, quite the opposite, content is proliferating beyond all sanity or ability for people to even keep up with it. If Covid-19 shuts off production for a while, it's a blessing in disguise, to give us all a breather.
On the post: Quibi Is What Happens When Hollywood Overvalues Content And Undervalues Community
Re:
Here's the thing about business: there are no Jedi, only Sith.
But there are smart Sith (Netflix, Disney, Amazon) and dumb ones (Comcast, probably AT&T, definitely Quibi). The smart ones will survive and the dumb ones eventually stab themselves with their lightsabers and stop bothering us.
On the post: Cable TV Customers Are Rightfully Pissed They're Still Paying For Cancelled Sports Programming
Re: If Only
A la carte cable will never exist. Cable will simply collapse before that happens and be replaced by streaming (which also isn't a la carte, but you can get that by ignoring streaming and just opting for iTunes or Google Play to pay for only exactly what you want; it's just pricier that way).
On the post: Cable TV Customers Are Rightfully Pissed They're Still Paying For Cancelled Sports Programming
Re: Re:
Where did he say he was spending more? He said he was watching more. I spend little on streaming and watch a ton of stuff. That's kind of the point.
On the post: Cable TV Customers Are Rightfully Pissed They're Still Paying For Cancelled Sports Programming
Re: figured that out years ago
Yup. And when I figured that out, it gave me an incentive to bail on cable entirely. That and the ever increasing prices and the ever increasing ad glut...
On the post: Cable TV Customers Are Rightfully Pissed They're Still Paying For Cancelled Sports Programming
cable is done
Oh my lord why are there still cable customers at all? I bailed on it, what, 9 years ago or something, just watch Netflix and Amazon now. Add in DVDs (seriously; I never cancelled my Netflix DVD service) and that basically gives me access to every flipping thing, far more than I can hope to ever watch, even being super picky. It helps that I don't give a flip about sports and as for news, it's available for free all over the internet so who's gonna pay for that. People should not be paying more than, say $25/month for entertainment subscriptions.
On the post: Quibi Is What Happens When Hollywood Overvalues Content And Undervalues Community
Re:
Dnasierts Effect? Hey that's no more strained than "Quibi."
On the post: Quibi Is What Happens When Hollywood Overvalues Content And Undervalues Community
Re:
The ultimate quick-bite streaming service is YouTube. Can Quibi produce videos as cheap as a cat video? The bottom in this field is very low indeed.
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