HBO is now the "Max" streaming service.Originally Posted by Stan Calow
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HBO is now the "Max" streaming service.
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Agree completely.
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Standalone HBO still exists on cable...it (usually) includes free access to the streaming service Max.
Despite all the noise about "cord-cutting", there are still a LOT of cable subscribers out there.
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
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Yes I know - it went from HBO to HBO Max and now just Max. I thought people would recognize the name HBO better. And it's fallen behind Netflix in popularity. Kind of proving my point at how the whole TV business keeps evolving.
< insert spurious quote here >
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I'm thinking it might be devolving of late. Seems a lot of studio executives are wringing their hands over streaming content; especially after recent strikes in Hollywood.
Mrs. Pat has an extensive collection of DVD and Blu-ray discs in the hundreds. Lately I've been wondering if she should just get rid of them since streaming is the new technology. Then I saw a few videos and articles about all the chaos with streaming content. One video pointed out how some titles, like the movie "Cacoon", have disappeared. You can only watch it if you happen to have an older DVD copy. Many people are predicting this will become more common. And sure enough, I have recently looked for a few titles for streaming and either couldn't find them or found I would have to pay to "Rent" or "Buy" them. And when you "Buy" streaming content, the content owner can pull it at any time. So I go to the Mrs. Pat collection and, sure enough, she almost always has it on disc. Now I'm thinking we should just hang onto all those discs. I know people who built their own digital server and copy everything to that. It's also a good strategy, but since I have the physical space to store discs, I'll stick with that.
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I think the issue, or at least some it, is that streaming services license the movie or whatever for a certain period of time from the owner and when that is over it gets pulled off.
You've probably seen things like, "Available until March31, 20XX".
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Pat nailed it. Long term, it's in every studios' best interest to lock their content up behind a streaming paywall with a list of Terms & Conditions that leaves you powerless. Once physical discs die off, we will all be locked into paying-per-viewing for everything, or paying a monthly subscription. Or both. And a lot of content (think anything not a blockbuster) will be gone.
Last edited by Marc Fenneuff; 12-27-2023 at 2:44 PM.
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I don't mind, begrudge, or even care about the three bucks a month. What I want to know is if you go ad free will the content just skip past the ad time, or will it sit there with a blank screen while the ad runs. If it sits there with a blank screen and wastes my time, I'm out.
BIL tells me one service they have does that, so they're paying extra just to not have to watch the ad, but the screen goes blank. I forget what service that is.
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Mrs Pat is my New Best Friend.
As long as you own the hard copy you will never be at the mercy of the "Content Czars."
Also I read that some streaming services (Netflix being one IIRC) sometimes lop off the credits at the end of movies.
I am a "credit watcher"... have been since I was in third grade (and this was long, long before there were any "easter eggs" in the credits.)
Lopping off the credits of any movie would annoy me no end, to the point of near rage.
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
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I'm not a credit watcher normally, but as I recall, Netflix shrinks the credits to a tiny window and shows a teaser/trailer/whatever for the next episode (in a series) or a similar movie. (Not sure how they pick the "next in line".) But if you click on that window (or just hit 'OK' depending on the device), the credits go back to full screen.
(The credits sometimes get out of hand. A friend who works as an editor noted that one movie she worked on, her then-boyfriend fetched sandwiches during an all-nighter editing session, got a credit, and now has a "production assistant" IMDB entry.)
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
Contributor
Too funnyI'm not a credit watcher normally, but as I recall, Netflix shrinks the credits to a tiny window and shows a teaser/trailer/whatever for the next episode (in a series) or a similar movie. (Not sure how they pick the "next in line".) But if you click on that window (or just hit 'OK' depending on the device), the credits go back to full screen.
(The credits sometimes get out of hand. A friend who works as an editor noted that one movie she worked on, her then-boyfriend fetched sandwiches during an all-nighter editing session, got a credit, and now has a "production assistant" IMDB entry.
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
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i hated paying for add free on discovery pluss . after all the political adds last election cycle add free is money well spent
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Presumably Amazon will do the same as other ad free services do - you just don't see ads, and no time is taken up with a black screen where the ad would be.
That at least has been my experience with peacock and youtube when I had ad free versions of those. It would be pointless to just have a black screen that one has to sit through.
That said, for content that is streamed live (eg, Thursday night football or other sporting events) where ads are inserted for those not paying for the premium service, it probably is a black screen that sits there, because it is not like they can skip ahead. So if a lot of your viewing is events of that type, premium ad free may not get you much.
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Don't they just normally charge for those on a game-by-game basis for non-Prime viewers?
We've only watched one of the Thursday NFL games (way back when the Packers still had hope
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
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