Plex

[MrDawn]

Oh same, I haven't had a TV service in about 13 years at this point, possibly longer. Never, ever want that mess again! No streaming services, either, just Plex and my own media 🙂

I pay for Internet so I can update, download games, and get mods on my Xbox.

My wife and her brother are the ones who pay for and share streaming accounts.

 

[PGen98]

I pay for Internet so I can update, download games, and get mods on my Xbox.

My wife and her brother are the ones who pay for and share streaming accounts.

Yep, same here, internet is all I have and all I need!

 

[MrDawn]

Yep, same here, internet is all I have and all I need!

The bad thing is that a lot of streaming services like Netflix will be raising prices again this year.

Another price increase could be coming for Netflix subscribers.

In its quarterly letter to shareholders this week, the streaming platform hinted at the potential for subscriber price hikes.


"Over the last few years we've increased sophistication on our pricing and plans strategy so that we can more effectively capture the value created by our service," the letter to shareholders, dated Jan. 23, reads.

"We seek to provide a range of prices and plans to meet a wide range of needs, including highly competitive starting prices," the letter continued. "As we invest in and improve Netflix, we'll occasionally ask our members to pay a little extra to reflect those improvements, which in turn helps drive the positive flywheel of additional investment to further improve and grow our service."

Netflix hints more price hikes coming in 2024, phasing out its cheapest, ad-free plan

Netflix signaled to investors this week that subscribers will likely continue to "pay a little extra." It’s also phasing out its basic, ad-free plan in more countries.

www.livenowfox.com

 

[PGen98]

The bad thing is that a lot of streaming services like Netflix will be raising prices again this year.

Netflix hints more price hikes coming in 2024, phasing out its cheapest, ad-free plan

Netflix signaled to investors this week that subscribers will likely continue to "pay a little extra." It’s also phasing out its basic, ad-free plan in more countries.

www.livenowfox.com

Oh absolutely, and the fact that every single company has a streaming service now, so if you want to watch a couple of new shows, you've got to pay for multiple streaming services to get them. It's more expensive these days than cable was when all of this started.

 

[MrDawn]

Oh absolutely, and the fact that every single company has a streaming service now, so if you want to watch a couple of new shows, you've got to pay for multiple streaming services to get them. It's more expensive these days than cable was when all of this started.

Some streaming services just have one show I want to see, so I mostly just go and buy it on disc to avoid paying that streaming service monthly fees. Netflix rarely has anything come out on disc though and I think they do that to keeping luring people back into their services.

 

[PGen98]

Some streaming services just have one show I want to see, so I mostly just go and buy it on disc to avoid paying that streaming service monthly fees. Netflix rarely has anything come out on disc though and I think they do that to keeping luring people back into their services.

Yep, and it's happening with more and more streaming platforms, too. Series I would like to watch that just never get released. Such a shame!

 

[MrDawn]

Yep, and it's happening with more and more streaming platforms, too. Series I would like to watch that just never get released. Such a shame!

I hope people start migrating back to buying physical media again. I like to watch my shows when I want. Sometimes the Internet goes out and then what can you do? You temporarily don't have any access.

 

[PGen98]

I hope people start migrating back to buying physical media again. I like to watch my shows when I want. Sometimes the Internet goes out and then what can you do? You temporarily don't have any access.

I completely agree. I don't think it'll happen, sadly, because digital is more convenient, but losing out on shows and media because things get pulled or change companies or can only be viewed in one place is crap.

 

[MrDawn]

I completely agree. I don't think it'll happen, sadly, because digital is more convenient, but losing out on shows and media because things get pulled or change companies or can only be viewed in one place is crap.

Another thing I don't like about streaming is that they don't always keep shows or movies in their inventory. If they don't have it, you either have to rent it or buy the digital copy from Apple or whoever. What I don't like about digital copies is that you need an Internet connection to watch it.

 

[PGen98]

Another thing I don't like about streaming is that they don't always keep shows or movies in their inventory. If they don't have it, you either have to rent it or buy the digital copy from Apple or whoever.

Yep, it could be there one minute and gone the next. Licensing agreements, new streaming services, or just because they want it gone. You have no guarantee that content you enjoy will still be there tomorrow. It's awful and that's a good enough reason not to bother with them.

 

[MrDawn]

Yep, it could be there one minute and gone the next. Licensing agreements, new streaming services, or just because they want it gone. You have no guarantee that content you enjoy will still be there tomorrow. It's awful and that's a good enough reason not to bother with them.

It sucks because a lot of stores are going to no longer sale movies on disc anymore. Best Buy announced it recently.

It’s hard to imagine walking into a Best Buy with no library of movies and music that once dominated the center of most stores. If you walked into Best Buy in the late ’90s to early 2010s, you were always greeted by a curated selection of the latest releases of movies and CD albums right at the entrance. The sections shrunk down over the years into just a few aisles, and now The Digital Bits reports the company is about to remove physical media altogether, and Best Buy later confirmed the report to Variety.
No more physical media means Best Buy will stop carrying DVDs and Blu-rays, bringing an end to maybe the last enjoyable place you could go to browse around, and a place I would always have nostalgia for after working there in my college years. According to the sources, Best Buy won’t even sell physical movies online, including 4K titles and special-edition steelbooks that collectors look forward to. The DVD end times could start next year as early as Q1. The Verge reached out to Best Buy for comment, but we did not receive a response at time of publication.
Best Buy’s media department used to have the largest footprint in every store, but the economics have changed. Now, you see larger computer and smartphone departments, which are now the primary ways people consume media. There are still physical video games, but that might not even last as companies like Sony and Microsoft evolve systems to focus on digital distribution. Best Buy stopped selling music CDs in 2018.
Like walking into a library to skim through and smell some books, Best Buy was a place you could pick up, hold, and read movie cases — a feeling that cannot be satiated by pressing the arrow keys on your remote as you navigate the state of captivity that is a streaming service menu. The stores were one of the only comfortable places left to go to explore physical movies after Blockbuster movie rental stores started closing for good in the past decade.

Best Buy will no longer carry physical movies in 2024, and I am no longer whole

I used to organize DVDs at Best Buy in college, and this news saddens me.

www.theverge.com

 

[PGen98]

It sucks because a lot of stores are going to no longer sale movies on disc anymore. Best Buy announced it recently.

Best Buy will no longer carry physical movies in 2024, and I am no longer whole

I used to organize DVDs at Best Buy in college, and this news saddens me.

www.theverge.com

Yep, it's absolutely horrible that we're losing physical media. The death of content ownership

 

[MrDawn]

Yep, it's absolutely horrible that we're losing physical media. The death of content ownership

It makes you wonder where this is coming from. We had Dish and Cable airing movies and shows for decades and stores didn't think about removing physical media until streaming came along. I don't get it.

 

[PGen98]

It makes you wonder where this is coming from. We had Dish and Cable airing movies and shows for decades and stores didn't think about removing physical media until streaming came along.

Yep, I think streaming has decimated physical media sales, and that's why we're seeing it all coming to this now. Just like cds before then

 

[MrDawn]

Yep, I think streaming has decimated physical media sales, and that's why we're seeing it all coming to this now. Just like cds before then

I guess I should try to get what I can before it's time to kiss it all good bye. 🙁

 

[PGen98]

I guess I should try to get what I can before it's time to kiss it all good bye. 🙁

Yep, gotta load up while you can! That's what I've been doing!

 

[MrDawn]

Yep, gotta load up while you can! That's what I've been doing!

I've been meaning to buy the next season of "The Boys". Season 3 came out some time ago. I wasn't aware of it until now. I thought maybe it would be available locally and I couldn't find it in Wal-Mart, and so it seems I'll have to order off of Amazon anyway and wait a few days for it.

 

[PGen98]

I've been meaning to buy the next season of "The Boys". Season 3 came out some time ago. I wasn't aware of it until now. I thought maybe it would be available locally and I couldn't find it in Wal-Mart, and so it seems I'll have to order off of Amazon anyway and wait a few days for it.

View attachment 50220

Yep, this is going to be the norm, I think. Get it online and wait, since stores are turning away from physical media

 

[MrDawn]

Yep, this is going to be the norm, I think. Get it online and wait, since stores are turning away from physical media

I end up ordering a lot of movies and shows online because a lot of stores aren't carrying what I'm looking for if I don't grab it soon after it's released.

 

[PGen98]

I end up ordering a lot of movies and shows online because a lot of stores aren't carrying what I'm looking for if I don't grab it soon after it's released.

It's the simplest way to do it, for sure. Makes the most sense