With Netflix already having ads we are now 75% of the way to “cutting the cord” going back to reinventing cable again.
Amazon To Start Running Ads In Prime Video Series & Movies, Will Launch Ad-Free Tier For Extra Fee
Submitted 7 months ago by ZeroCool@feddit.ch to technology@lemmy.world
https://deadline.com/2023/09/amazon-ads-prime-video-series-movies-ad-free-tier-1235552984/
Comments
OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Chais@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
And that’s why people started sailing the high seas again.
hOrni@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Ha, I never stopped.
ares35@kbin.social 7 months ago
if it was still just netflix, and everybody didn't have their own streaming service, that would be different.
but when you add up netflix, prime, disney, paramount, peacock, max, and whatever else, the wallet definitely says it's just like cable.
do one at a time and rotate, maybe have one you 'always' have. you can't watch 10 different services at once anyway.
TheFriar@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Or just download what you want and say “fuck ‘em”
TimeSquirrel@kbin.social 7 months ago
"Again"?
I've still been out here since Napster.
bighatchester@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I like something I saw on here awhile ago that was something like " streaming services where only successful because they where slightly more convenient that pirating " for a while I mostly used a couple of streaming services despite most of the apps having really bad interfaces . But my Plex server has been growing in size lately while the streaming services are being cancelled.
MajorHavoc@lemmy.world 7 months ago
As someone who doesn’t sail the high seas, I thank you. Sometimes it looks like there won’t be any classic media left without your efforts.
RinseDrizzle@midwest.social 7 months ago
What are the cool kids using these days?
gringo_papi@lemmy.world 7 months ago
The internet has gotten 3x shittier in the last 12 months.
CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 7 months ago
There’s a reason for it, people don’t push back enough. We all need to push back more than we have been.
They’re noticing the pushback so far, but they’re thinking they can break through it and come out victorious on the other side.
Do you really want to pay a monthly fee to be forced to watch commercials?
The whole point of commercials was that you didn’t have to pay otherwise to watch the show.
Blastasaurus@lemm.ee 7 months ago
I’ve cancelled everything in my life that requires a monthly payment (asides vehicle and rent).
It’s not that I can’t afford it, it’s that I’m fucking sick of it.
cyberpunk007@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Apparently this is how cable started, and then they did the same thing lol
PoliticalAgitator@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Partly, this is because “the free market will solve it” is just a neoliberal lie. Sometimes, there’s simply no other choice as corporations race each other to the bottom.
So this streaming service might have gotten shitty, espensive or unethical, but you can move to another right? Oh no, looks like they’re shitty and unethical too, just slightly differently.
Then in six months time, they’ve each absorbed one another’s shitty, greedy practises anyway, ensuring consumers are fully exploited with nowhere else to go.
But the true power of neoliberalism lies in its giant book of premade excuses, so neoliberals (or neoliberals in disguise) will of course read from the next page:
“Oh that’s just because there isn’t enough competition. We just need to deregulate heavily and allow companies to do whatever the streaming equivalent of dumping toxic by-products in the river is!”
But of course, that won’t ever come true either. The companies that already exist will grow more profitable polluting the river and new entries into the market will be either stamped out, bought and stripped for parts or enshittified by the same greed over time.
Following the flowchart taught at exclusive, expensive schools the world over, the next excuse is to blame the consumers.
“Oh if people really cared, they’d simply stop buying things entirely. But they don’t, because these companies continue to bring in record profits. So secretly, consumers actually love their chocolate being picked by child slaves”.
While they do fight back with boycotts, public outcry and (in this case) things like password sharing and piracy, it’s nothing companies can’t crush if it looks like it might actually dent their profits.
At some point, consumers need to pick their misery and the choices are bleak but obvious.
They can accept the minor misery of advertising, even as they pay a subscription, just like the corporation knew they would.
They can escalate their own misery further by boycotting the entire platform or industry.
But the moral high ground doesn’t make spending your few hours of personal time each day staring at the wall suddenly as entertaining as whatever content you’re no longer watching.
Also, the company doesn’t care. That was part of their calculations and they’re still making even more money.
Or finally, they could maximise their misery and actually do something, like busting out the guillotines or becoming a politician that opposes neoliberalism yet is somehow allowed power.
So anyway, people are tired. The fight never ends and some people have fought it for 50 years already. Encourage them to take the third option by all means, but don’t shame them for taking the first option.
They might already be miserable enough.
gnuplusmatt@startrek.website 7 months ago
the money is drying up, gotta find new ways to monetise
snaggen@programming.dev 7 months ago
All these services turning into shit, are the services without a viable business model to begin with. What I find interesting is that it is obviously possible to become leading in a field, just by burning investors money.
PoliticalAgitator@lemm.ee 7 months ago
It wouldn’t matter if they were drowning in money, if you told them they could have a few pennies more from each customer, they’ll do it. It’s how greed works.
GladiusB@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Covid kindness is over. Buckle up buckaroos.
nosurprises@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Will Launch Ad-Free Tier For Extra Fee
So instead of introducing a cheaper tree with ads, they’re forcing customers to pay more?
GenderNeutralBro@lemmy.sdf.org 7 months ago
We have shrinkflation and now adflation.
oDDmON@lemmy.world 7 months ago
$2.99/mo. + $14.99/mo. Prime subscription = $17.98 totes.
🤮
GreenEngineering3475@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Price gouging and corporate greed basically.
Four_lights77@lemm.ee 7 months ago
The pendulum is swinging back towards the monopoly model that destroyed cable. Time to dust off the old Jolly Roger and teach streaming an old lesson of what happens when you price gouge people.
foggy@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I keep saying, we already fought this war, we already won.
Fuck around and find out 🏴☠️
nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
People were obviously pissed off at cable’s fragmented model, but what killed it was the existence of video on demand services over the internet. The fact that at a certain point Netflix had everything certainly helped in adoption, but the biggest factor was not having to view at a specific time.
There is no such killer improvement on the horizon. All there is is the fragmented streaming market, or piracy.
foggy@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Those on demand services arise to plug the hole of piracy.
FartsWithAnAccent@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Yarr, the killer improvement was here all along!
OldQWERTYbastard@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I’m baffled by the unrealistic demand for constant infinite growth from corporate shareholders and management. Those days are numbered.
Aceticon@lemmy.world 7 months ago
It’s basically one massive Tragedy Of The Commons (if one is being nice, Ponzi Scheme if one is not being nice) were “somebody else” is supposed to pay people good salaries and “somebody else” is supposed to pay the taxes that support the whole damn structure in which these people are getting rich and get to keep their riches and “somebody else” is supposed to “buy my shares” at a higher price.
Everybody expects “somebody else” to take on the costs of keeping the system going all the while cashing in on everything only possible thanks to that very same system they contribute into the minimum they can get away with.
It makes all sense for a single economic actor to act in a purelly extractive way when all others have a more balanced economic posture, but the problem is that over the last 4 decades ever more of the economic activity has passed into the hands of such people and now most of it is done like that (which is why “rent seeking” is so common) and the rest of the economic actors (the ones who produce rather than extract) can’t keep up anymore (hence why you’re seeing a broadening of both financial empoverishment and fall in quality of life - i.e. the things itself that can be purchased with the dwindling money most people earn are themselves getting worse).
nonailsleft@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Tell me you just woke up from a 50 year coma without telling me you just woke up from a 50 year coma
TheSaneWriter@lemmy.thesanewriter.com 7 months ago
Indeed, but no one knows what that number is. Corporations are currently of the mindset of “that will happen in the distant future, so we can keep going.” Of course, eventually, that distant future will become the present and things will collapse, but they’ll keep saying it’s in the future until then.
spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
The corporate enshittification of once decent products and services continues unabated. Amazons decision to charge for UPS store returns even if the products they delivered were defective was almost enough for me to cancel Prime but this seals the deal. When Amazon Prime commercials begin my Prime membership and most of my Amazon purchases end.
cjsolx@lemmy.world 7 months ago
When did they make the UPS change? I made a return last week, no charge.
spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
I had to return a DOA item last week and they imposed the charge for the first time. It depends on your specific situation though. In my case a Staples is physically closer than a UPS store, but I’m never near the Staples while I’m in the UPS store parking lot twice a week.
It wouldn’t bother me if I were returning items because I changed my mind, but when I’m already inconvenienced because of crappy product quality I don’t expect to be further inconvenienced so Amazon can save a buck.
poppy@lemm.ee 7 months ago
I think it depends on the cost/reason of return, and where you’re returning it. Sometimes I have to pay a $1 fee to take to a UPS store but taking it to Kohl’s drop off is free.
collegefurtrader@discuss.tchncs.de 7 months ago
Finally! I’ve been waiting for a good enough reason to cancel Prime
spiderman@ani.social 7 months ago
you don’t need a reason to cancel a sub, if you don’t like it, just do it.
collegefurtrader@discuss.tchncs.de 7 months ago
I’m addicted to the shipping
themajesticdodo@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Congratulations on waiting and paying them for a service you didn’t want?
WagnasT@iusearchlinux.fyi 7 months ago
Was already going to cancel when my renewal was up, now i’ll cancel even harder.
Bananable@feddit.nl 7 months ago
Come sail the high seas.
WhiteHawk@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Eh, I only use prime video because it doesn’t cost extra, I don’t really need it. Back to piracy it will be, I guess.
cjsolx@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Give me a prime membership that’s just for shipping. Cut the video out of the deal and stop including it in my charge kthx
NightAuthor@lemmy.world 7 months ago
They’re doing that, except it’s getting more expensive for video instead of cheaper for shipping.
Gazumi@lemmy.world 7 months ago
This is bad for everyone. I’m still a Prime Member for shopping etc., but thats really got to be reconsidered now too.
AgentGrimstone@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Seems like a lot of companies are testing how much they can get away with lately.
Asuracharya@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Yes and people are paying unfortunately Netflix succeeded and now everyone is trying ads 😔
BigT54@lemmy.world 7 months ago
So I’m really confused about the whole Netflix thing. It hasn’t asked me to set a household location and the whole no password sharing thing was supposed to have taken effect back in May, right? Since May, my family has continued to use Netflix as if nothing has changed and we said if they try to charge us extra, we will cancel. Our Netflix is regularly used at 4 different “households” and they have yet to charge a fee and have not automatically set a household like they claimed they would.
CitizenKong@lemmy.world 7 months ago
This happens when you have to grow endlessly and hit a ceiling (in this case, number of users). Then you have to squeeze those users further so the numbers go up again. Of course you are killing the product in the long run because more and more users cancel but that’s not a bit deal to the people making the decisions. (Well, the people doing actual work might object but nobody cares about them.) The shareholders that got obscenely rich will just leech onto the next big thing and the CEOs sail to next product to ruin with a huge golden parachute. Rinse and repeat. Meanwhile, civilisation crumbles and decays, before it burns in the sadly inevitable climate catastrophe.
Borkingheck@lemmy.world 7 months ago
You are incorrect though. Netflix and Uber (or any ride sharing app) have shown once people are hooked they will pay the increased rate to consume the product.
letsgocrazy@lemm.ee 7 months ago
But Amazon crumbling isn’t civilisation crumbling… In fact, it opens doors for more small business owners.
CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I am not paying to watch commercials. Fuck that.
cyberpunk007@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I think most of us pay for the shipping, the video is just a bonus. That said, their exclusives aren’t that great and they just end up in medusa.
CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I think most of us pay for the shipping, the video is just a bonus.
You’re not wrong, but the point though is to not reward them for bad behavior.
It’s a death by “1,000 cuts” if you do.
BarrierWithAshes@kbin.social 7 months ago
More I see stuff like this the more I believe that these services really aren't making any money and its all smokescreen.
Though this could also just be investors trying to drive up profits instead.
RaineV1@kbin.social 7 months ago
The latter really wouldn't surprise me. A service could be making four times the investment in profit and many investors will still push to get a few more cents out of it at any cost.
DharkStare@lemmy.world 7 months ago
It was awhile ago but I read that a lot of streaming services and I can understand the logic. With ads, there is a direct link between a show and it’s profits. The more people watch a show, the more people see the ads, the more a company can charge for ads on that show. Without ads it becomes difficult. It doesn’t matter if 100 people watch or a million, the profits are the same.
I feel it’s inevitable that streaming services are going to go back to ads. It’s the better business model.
Prior_Industry@lemmy.world 7 months ago
So basically we’re pretty much back to paying for a TV package.
Waldowal@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Don’t worry, it will be presented like this:
“To continue offering you high quality original programming like X and Y, we have to raise our price for Amazon Prime. But don’t worry, we’re now adding a lower cost ad-based alternative called Amazon Subprime.”
So, as usual, most people will be fine with it and put the plastic bag back over their head.
_number8_@lemmy.world 7 months ago
how are you just allowed to drastically lower the quality of a subscription like this. yeah i’m selling my new streaming service, it has 7 channels, $1 a month. no actually sorry it’s $7, 3 channels, and 2 of those channels just run ads on a loop. thanks for keeping autorenew on.
ArdMacha@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I pay for Prime for the next day postage, prime video is just an extra i occasionally use. I’ll just pirate their stuff in future and ignore their clunky TV app
cyberpunk007@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Seriously what is with amazon hardware and apps? They are all garbage, lack support, janky in every sense.
PhreakyByNature@feddit.uk 7 months ago
Their Fire TV stick one was decent before but has become meh
Smacks@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Streaming has essentially become TV packages again. The golden age of streaming is dead, long live Davy Jones!
MargotRobbie@lemmy.world 7 months ago
And… we are back to cable again.
Reken@lemmy.world 7 months ago
These streaming companies are giving people more of a reason to use Jellyfin every day
Zealousideal_Fox900@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Only ever had the 30 day trial. Pirate people. Pirate. Yaps.cc is a new one to try.
Prox@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Having ads in fucking movies makes a service feel cheap / lower value. But the price is staying the same, so where’s that button to cancel?
TwoGems@lemmy.world 7 months ago
We should have canceled when Prime got rid of UPS pick up for free. Only reason I used it. Now there is zero benefit to Prime with this new stupid ad tier. You don’t even get free grocery delivery.
IHaveTwoCows@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Why??! Amazin makes money already!! We’ve already paid for this!
stephenc@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Dear every single streaming service:
MAKE. THE. AD. TIER. FREE. FOR. EVERYONE. STUFF ALL THE ADS IN YOU WANT.
MAKE. THE. AD-FREE. TIER. PAID.
This way people can watch everything without having an elitist “I’M PAYING FOR ENTERTAINMENT” section of the world who are the only ones that can talk about all these new shows unless they sail the high seas with an eye patch on, which is yet another argument for MAKE THE AD TIER FREE FOR EVERYONE.
CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 7 months ago
What is ironic about this is that Bezos could probably make all of their video streaming free and have no ads and still be making gobs of money. Their AWS ecosystem is practically a license to print money. Oh and that little store he runs on the side, too…
Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
Maybe it’s time to cancel Amazon prime. I don’t feel like they even met their commitments any longer for delivery… So what’s it all for?
SpeedLimit55@lemmy.world 7 months ago
So with the media industry strikes the content is already going to be crap next year. Why not also include ads with it? WTF Amazon.
DepthCharge@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Looks like it’s time to cancel prime
toxicbubble@lemmy.world 7 months ago
this was the last straw? it wasn’t workers peeing in bottles, or businesses being displaced to build warehouse, or tax avoidance?
BolexForSoup@kbin.social 7 months ago
Shall we take a closer look at the brands you wear and the phone/computer(s) you own?
circuscritic@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
Get bent. You moralizing keyboard pseudo-activitist.
Why are you out right now on a picket line? Why are you wasting time on a forum, instead of helping the homeless? Why aren’t you…
blanketswithsmallpox@kbin.social 7 months ago
Have fun purchasing ethical power, food, textiles and electronics unless you're already rich working at a non fortune-500 company lol.
Szymon@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
Those all impact others. Nobody gives a shit about others. This impacts them, which is the only thing that matters to pretty much everyone. Look out for #1.
MrPloppy@lemmy.world 7 months ago
vagrantprodigy@lemmy.whynotdrs.org 7 months ago
Yeah, not sure how it took this to get people to finally cancel.
triclops6@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
It was those things for me, I cancelled Prime years ago and never buy from Amazon (I will browse however and reach out to the seller via their own website)
Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
“All Of My Awesome Pirated Media To Keep Being Great Quality, Ad-Free, and Forever Accessible”
scorpious@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Just do it.