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[InflatableMouse]

I thought this was an interesting read.

This made me think as well: "The Walking Dead was pirated 500,000 times within 16 hours despite the fact that it is available to stream for free". Especially because I always said that if streaming became available for me, I'd jump on it. Now that its here, it turns out that it's not about what I want, its about how I want it. The problem with that website offering it for free is that first of all I didn't know about it but most of all, I don't want to go to a website to watch something. Netflix has the same problem over here. It's clumsy, no remote, I need a keyboard and mouse, browsing around is clumsy ... its not how I want it. It doesn't offer the experience I am looking for.

Why is this so hard to understand for those media conglomerates? I have a bag of money and there is more in it than Netflix is asking. They can have it. What is their problem?

[6233638]

"The Walking Dead was pirated 500,000 times within 16 hours despite the fact that it is available to stream for free".

Only in USA though, I'm sure. I just checked their website, and the player doesn't even load here.
And how would I know to check their website for this free streaming even if I could access it here?
Can I stream the whole series, or does each episode expire in 7 days?

I'm sure part of this "piracy" is convenience more than anything else.

Missed the show? Download it.
Don't want to use their (presumably) awful player and terrible streaming quality? Download it.
Slow, intermittent, or busy connection? Download it.
Want to view it on a mobile device? Download it.
Does your streaming service have ads? Download it.

Especially because I always said that if streaming became available for me, I'd jump on it. Now that its here, it turns out that it's not about what I want, its about how I want it. The problem with that website offering it for free is that first of all I didn't know about it but most of all, I don't want to go to a website to watch something. Netflix has the same problem over here. It's clumsy, no remote, I need a keyboard and mouse, browsing around is clumsy ... its not how I want it. It doesn't offer the experience I am looking for.

I think a lot of the companies that are doing streaming only care about it on portable devices rather than desktop machines/HTPC.
Most of the streaming companies here only care about iOS, their silverlight-based web players are a joke.

We have a couple of services here that give us free access to streaming content, and we don't make use of them at all.

• The selection is terrible. We have been conditioned from enough experience that if it's something we want to watch, it won't be available for streaming - so why even look?
• The quality is terrible. It's low resolution, highly compressed, and runs in a Flash/Silverlight/Other plugin, so processing is poor. If I could at least run it through MC and take advantage of what madVR has to offer, that would help a lot.
• The interface is terrible.
• We only have DSL here, so streaming is unreliable. It's no fun having to see who else in the house is using up the bandwidth when a show starts stuttering or drops in quality halfway through.
• Which streaming service is it on, even if I have access to the right one? It's too fragmented.
  
• Twice now, I decided to give it a shot, and right in the middle of a season, the contract with the content provider expired. Great way to have me cancel your service.

 
I'll stick to waiting it out and buying the box set. I don't care about "keeping up with the Joneses" so I'm in no rush to watch the shows, and I would rather wait and see if they're actually worth my time, instead of getting caught up in the hype around a new show that has potential. That way I get the best quality, and I actually own it and can do what I wish with the content.

Oh and don't get me started on iTunes. Paying the same price or more than a physical copy for a low quality, DRM-infused download? Not going to happen.

[rjm]

A comment from the resident doomer...

You want your media offline so that when the global economy collapses and internet media sources go bankrupt you can continue to enjoy your media, at least until your computer and spare parts are exhausted.

[6233638]

A comment from the resident doomer...
You want your media offline so that when the global economy collapses and internet media sources go bankrupt you can continue to enjoy your media, at least until your computer and spare parts are exhausted.

In all honesty, I have a great deal of internal conflict when it comes to things like that.

On the one hand, I strive to be minimalist - I don't like having shelves full of media on display just to play some music or watch a film.
On the other hand, anything digital seems temporary compared to physical media - even if it's a disc I've ripped that's stored on a hard drive. Controlling everything with a touchscreen or a mouse sucks compared to dedicated hardware controls.