You're entitled to your taste, but if the only movies you were interested in seeing -- for an entire year -- were 2 Star Wars movies and 1 Planet of the Apes movies, I would describe your position not so much as "The content itself largely sucks" but more as "I'm not interested in theatrical movies." You're a HUGE outlier.
I will clarify my position. There were only 3 movies in 2017 that I was interested in seeing *enough to drag ass to the theater and put up with the shitty movie theater experience*, rather than just wait to see it at home on Amazon Prime or whatever. If the content were MORE COMPELLING (i.e. sucked less), I would be more inclined to go put up with the shitty movie theater experience. I watch plenty of movies at home. And yes, I know I'm a huge outlier. I get that (:
You don't have to do it as two separate purchases, you just pay separately for now. Ring it up as one and have them split the purchase. They charge half to each Debit card and you sit together. It's not too complicated for them, groups often pay separately.
According to MoviePass, each "user" needs to use their own phone. Multiple purchases with the same phone on the same day violate the ToS.
I thought the original Blade Runner sucked. I doubt I will watch the new one for free on Amazon Prime if/when it appears. I certainly wouldn't pay to go watch it in the theater.
1). The movie theater "experience" still sucks - mostly due to the audience. Loud sound systems and small screens don't help. If they don't fix that, even going to the movies for FREE isn't much of a value proposition as far as I am concerned.
2). The content itself largely sucks. There's only maybe a maximum of 3 movies/year I want to see anyway. This year I saw three, and only TWO of those three I liked (++ to Planet of the Apes and Rouge One, -- to The Last Jedi). There is no way there is enough interesting content for me to go 365 times/year, or even once per month. Once again, if they don't fix that, even going to the movies for FREE isn't much of a value proposition as far as I am concerned.
3). I don't even bother going to the movies anymore unless I can get reserved seats where I want to be (not well-supported by MoviePass) - AND I tend to buy my tickets (on Fandango) LONG ahead of time too. MoviePass can only be used to buy same-day tickets. So, fuck that.
4). Apparently, can only be used to buy one ticket. So if you go with your wife, you both have to have MoviePass, and do two separate purchases...so you may or may not be able to get two reserved seats next to each other....in addition to having to do everything twice. So once again, fuck that.
Final analysis: for me, this is a completely useless product...even if it were available for free.
Yeah....enter a whole six digits to use your phone.......what a nightmare!
As for prints on your screen....you know, you could clean it once in a while.
The real problem with passwords is all the apps on the phone want their own password, rather than relying on you having already entered one to access the phone itself. THAT is the pain in the ass here.
I'd pay extra of all the apps on the phone had a "use phone password option". In this scenario, if you are on the phone, no password is required to use the app - it just logs you right the fuck in. But I'd settle for just having to enter the phone's password again - rather than having to have a different password for every app (requiring independent password management).
And no, shit like 1Password is not what I am talking about. That thing sucks ass. Bought it. Quickly decided it was a waste of money.
My complaint is chiefly with the content. The content, by and large, sucks. The delivery models just make it suck more - and the cost doesn't help.
While the streaming services may have “modest” price per month – I just don’t find them worth it. To cut to the chase – if I could get whatever the maximum possible cable TV package there is, with all the premium channels, and all of the porn channels, and all of the music channels, along with ALL streaming services and whatever else – for a flat $10/month, all-in, all taxes and fees included – I still wouldn’t buy it. It’s just not worth $10/month to me.
I considered cancelling Netflix for several years, as they cut back on movies and went with more and more "original content". Given I signed up for a movie service, their value prop was diminishing over time. The last time they raised their price by a single $1 per month, that was enough to spur action and cancel.
As for your DVR solution....again, not worth it. I’ve never had a DVR. I don’t have a DVR. Don’t want a DVR. Don't want more shit in my house. Besides which, I have to tell it what I want to watch. Right off the bat, that’s going to be more effort than it is worth. I just don’t CARE enough about watching to take the time for that. And yes, Netflix does put up a lot of episodes at once. Great. However, I simply don’t want to watch them. It takes too much time to watch 15 (or whatever) episodes of something. I don’t want to spend my time that way. As for watching pirated stuff – yeah – I DEFINITELY don’t want to put the effort into that. If I wanted to watch something that badly, I’d just pay for it and be done with it.
As for finding content that I might be interested in - just not worth the effort. Yes, you’re right. I’ve not bothered to look for them. Do you know why? Because I’m not interested enough in watching TV to put out the effort. Hell, I watched a movie over the weekend. It took THIRTY MINUTES to find something I thought was even remotely worth watching - using Vudu, Amazon Prime and Apple Store. THIRTY MINUTES!! Turns out, not only did I wish I had that 30 minutes back, I wish I had back whatever time I spent watching that stupid movie too. I've found it is getting hard and harder to even find a movie that I think is worth watching.
Of course “TV sucks” is not a factual statement. It is an OPINION. Clearly, we have a difference of opinion. Big deal. But you’re incorrect with your supposition. I hold that TV sucks, therefore I don’t bother to put any effort into watching it. And by "TV sucks" - I am referring to the content, delivery model and cost. If I found it more compelling way to spend my time, I’d be happy to make more time for it and spend money on it. Bottom line: I simply don’t LIKE watching TV. Why? Because, in my view, IT SUCKS! It is a losing value prop as far as I am concerned.
I have no regret over not watching TV, or with life choices - as you suggest. (:
I have a TV from 2011. It is a "smart" TV, and it is connected to the internet. When I subscribed to Netflix, I used it for that purpose. Although I've cancelled Netflix, I still use it to watch Vudu movies once in a while. It's still connected to the internet. So what? Where is the harm? What's the worst that can happen? Someone, somewhere, is going to be bored enough to hack into my TV? And then what? Brick it? Big deal. I will buy a newer TV that is better and a fraction of the price I paid for this one. Listen to my conversations? No Microphone on this TV, so good luck with that. Watch me? No camera on this TV, so good luck with that too. I'm sorry, but I'm just not paranoid enough to worry about someone hacking into my SmartTV. I've got much more likely shit to worry about.
What that post reveals is that you have no fucking clue what you're talking about, when you say that TV "sucks".
Sure I do. It's simply unable to compete for my time because it is uninteresting enough to do so. Besides the basic cost - they tack on all kinds of "fees" and "taxes" that contribute to the suck. Then there is the "weekly model" that sucks. I don't want to watch one show a week. If I am interested in the show, put it all up at once. You just don't get that from TV. So fuck them. Combine that with changing the time on shows, cancelling shows that I AM interested in and I just have no incentive to get sucked into watching.
Aside from all of that - then there are the plots. I'm just not interested in portrayals of hackers, or super heros, drug dealers with cancer, or propaganda pieces. It's just not interesting to me. It's just not. And that's BEFORE factoring in commercials.
THEN you factor in what else is competing for my time. I get home at 5pm, typically. The next three hours are spent playing with my kid and making/eating dinner and cleaning up afterward. So that's 8pm. I go to bed at 10pm. So that means there are, roughly speaking, 2 hours per day of "free time" Monday through Friday, that I have to do everything else I want to do. TV is simply not compelling enough to compete for that time. In other words, it sucks. If it didn't suck so much, it WOULD compete for that time - successfully.
Weekends....8 hours of sleep, 3 hours of eating, shitting, bathing, etc. - gives 13 hours for everything else. I'd estimate at least 5 for the kid, so you're down to 8 hours/day. I'd estimate at least 3 hours of that is burned on going to the grocery store, gas station, errands or other necessary things. So that puts me down to 5 hours/day for everything else I need or want to do....or 10 hours for the weekend. Out of that 10 hours, I have to do house projects or maintenance, yard projects or maintenance, vehicle projects or maintenance - and entertainment and activities. Sometimes, I will use some of that to watch a movie. I can get in, get out, and move on. A TV show? Just don't want to get sucked into that.
I'm sorry you can't appreciate that other people may have opinions that differ from yours, and yet may be completely valid.
I ditched cable in 2009 - do not miss it at all. Don't even have Netflix, Hulu, or any other subscriptions. If I want to watch a movie, I'll rent it on Vudu, or Apple Store, or even Amazon. No need to "subscribe" to any kind of movie or TV service.
I don't concern myself with movie reviews. Why would I? Someone else likes it or doesn't like it - what do I care? Most people like shit that I would never even consider watching. Besides which - a movie goes basically $10/ticket (or so). I'm not going to do a whole lot of research or have much nervousness about whether or not to spend a lousy $10. If a movie "seems interesting" enough to overcome the reasons NOT to go to the movies, then I will go see it.
What kills your movie is the movie theater experience. The worst part of the whole thing is the TOTALLY INCONSIDERATE AUDIENCE that I have to watch the movie with, if I go see it in a theater. Honestly, that is the biggest barrier. Second, the sound is always TOO FUCKING LOUD. But hey, I guess with all the motherfuckers talking through the whole movie, it needs to be. Anyway, until those two things are fixed (and they never will be), it will be rare for a movie to be attractive enough for me to go see it in a theater, at any price.
Reviewing my Fandago purchases, here is my recent movie-going history, along with my simple review:
July 2017: Planet of the Apes. Best sci-fi movie I have seen in a long time.
Jan 2017: Rouge I. Good movie, 2nd best in the entire franchise.
Dec 2016: Dr. Strange. OK. Pretty much as per expectation.
June 2016: X-Men. Sucked. Pretty much as per expectation.
May 2016: Captain America. OK. Pretty much as per expectation.
Dec 2015: Force Awakens. Sucked. Badly. Refund, please?
Nov 2015: Hunger Games: OK. Pretty much as per expectation.
Nov 2015: James Bond. Sucked. Badly. Refund, please?
As for Scorsese....I like his movies. Virtually all of them. Among the best things out there to watch - absolutely. However, there is no reason to see them in a movie theater. Absolutely NONE. He makes serious movies. You can't watch those with a movie theater audience and expect to enjoy them. I will, however, gladly watch them at home.
This is basically what Ford did in his production plant back when the Model T was the craze.....Higher wages will make people move to the area if possible, and they will also want to keep their jobs. And people with money spend it, and spend it locally which in turn drives the economy.
Ford's action was voluntary, not government-mandated.
Given that SCOTUS partially revived the ban, does that mean that they are predisposed to a more lenient view of the ban than lower courts? How much can we read into this.
No. It means that it sees that there is a significant constitutional issue that needs to be resolved. In the end, it could very well reject the ban.
Ka-ching! I was going to post this very comment when I read TFA - glad to see one of the first posts is exactly that.
The system should just pull safely over to the side of the road after the 2nd safety warning is ignored, and then refuse to start the car for 10 minutes, while providing a lecture via the car's audio system, which cannot be muted. It should then record the incident somewhere - and relay it to home base at its earliest opportunity.
Don't like this feature? Don't buy the car, or follow the fucking warnings!
Yep.
It's bad enough they've more or less gone full-blow with the PC route. But to expect me to a). Pay to watch it, and b). Watch it one week at a time is just too much.
I MIGHT watch it if you put it on a service I am already paying for (that would be Amazon Prime) AND if you make all episodes available at once (i.e. such as the Netflix House of Cards approach). Otherwise, CBS can just fuck off.
I agree. Maybe the Chinese can start being the leading provider for foreign aid to Israel too, so the U.S. can stop such funding and use that money to build a wall instead.
If you want to solve a lot of "problems", don't tax income (which is a horrible idea anyway), simply tax sales based on where the is purchased or used (not necessarily the same place). If you want, you can tax sales based on product class. For example, bread may be taxed at 0%, eggs may be taxed at 3%, while computers are taxed at 10%, with ERP systems being taxed at 20% (or whatever, I'm just picking these numbers out of the air). With this method, your "profit" becomes irrelevant.
Besides all that - if Apple were to bring in its $250B into the U.S. "tax free", what do you think would happen to that money? It would go SOMEWHERE. Either to shareholders, or to expand facilities, or R&D, to buy another business, etc. You just collect your tax there. But the U.S. takes the position that it should be able to tax the same money an infinite number of times and the result is that Apple decides to leave its money where it is. Whose fault is that?
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You're entitled to your taste, but if the only movies you were interested in seeing -- for an entire year -- were 2 Star Wars movies and 1 Planet of the Apes movies, I would describe your position not so much as "The content itself largely sucks" but more as "I'm not interested in theatrical movies." You're a HUGE outlier.
I will clarify my position. There were only 3 movies in 2017 that I was interested in seeing *enough to drag ass to the theater and put up with the shitty movie theater experience*, rather than just wait to see it at home on Amazon Prime or whatever. If the content were MORE COMPELLING (i.e. sucked less), I would be more inclined to go put up with the shitty movie theater experience. I watch plenty of movies at home. And yes, I know I'm a huge outlier. I get that (:
You don't have to do it as two separate purchases, you just pay separately for now. Ring it up as one and have them split the purchase. They charge half to each Debit card and you sit together. It's not too complicated for them, groups often pay separately.
According to MoviePass, each "user" needs to use their own phone. Multiple purchases with the same phone on the same day violate the ToS.
I thought the original Blade Runner sucked. I doubt I will watch the new one for free on Amazon Prime if/when it appears. I certainly wouldn't pay to go watch it in the theater.
I don't get it either.
1). The movie theater "experience" still sucks - mostly due to the audience. Loud sound systems and small screens don't help. If they don't fix that, even going to the movies for FREE isn't much of a value proposition as far as I am concerned.
2). The content itself largely sucks. There's only maybe a maximum of 3 movies/year I want to see anyway. This year I saw three, and only TWO of those three I liked (++ to Planet of the Apes and Rouge One, -- to The Last Jedi). There is no way there is enough interesting content for me to go 365 times/year, or even once per month. Once again, if they don't fix that, even going to the movies for FREE isn't much of a value proposition as far as I am concerned.
3). I don't even bother going to the movies anymore unless I can get reserved seats where I want to be (not well-supported by MoviePass) - AND I tend to buy my tickets (on Fandango) LONG ahead of time too. MoviePass can only be used to buy same-day tickets. So, fuck that.
4). Apparently, can only be used to buy one ticket. So if you go with your wife, you both have to have MoviePass, and do two separate purchases...so you may or may not be able to get two reserved seats next to each other....in addition to having to do everything twice. So once again, fuck that.
Final analysis: for me, this is a completely useless product...even if it were available for free.
Yeah....enter a whole six digits to use your phone.......what a nightmare!
As for prints on your screen....you know, you could clean it once in a while.
The real problem with passwords is all the apps on the phone want their own password, rather than relying on you having already entered one to access the phone itself. THAT is the pain in the ass here.
I'd pay extra of all the apps on the phone had a "use phone password option". In this scenario, if you are on the phone, no password is required to use the app - it just logs you right the fuck in. But I'd settle for just having to enter the phone's password again - rather than having to have a different password for every app (requiring independent password management).
And no, shit like 1Password is not what I am talking about. That thing sucks ass. Bought it. Quickly decided it was a waste of money.
So, what exactly is wrong with having to enter a passcode, anyway?
If my post was unclear, I apologize.
My complaint is chiefly with the content. The content, by and large, sucks. The delivery models just make it suck more - and the cost doesn't help.
While the streaming services may have “modest” price per month – I just don’t find them worth it. To cut to the chase – if I could get whatever the maximum possible cable TV package there is, with all the premium channels, and all of the porn channels, and all of the music channels, along with ALL streaming services and whatever else – for a flat $10/month, all-in, all taxes and fees included – I still wouldn’t buy it. It’s just not worth $10/month to me.
I considered cancelling Netflix for several years, as they cut back on movies and went with more and more "original content". Given I signed up for a movie service, their value prop was diminishing over time. The last time they raised their price by a single $1 per month, that was enough to spur action and cancel.
As for your DVR solution....again, not worth it. I’ve never had a DVR. I don’t have a DVR. Don’t want a DVR. Don't want more shit in my house. Besides which, I have to tell it what I want to watch. Right off the bat, that’s going to be more effort than it is worth. I just don’t CARE enough about watching to take the time for that. And yes, Netflix does put up a lot of episodes at once. Great. However, I simply don’t want to watch them. It takes too much time to watch 15 (or whatever) episodes of something. I don’t want to spend my time that way. As for watching pirated stuff – yeah – I DEFINITELY don’t want to put the effort into that. If I wanted to watch something that badly, I’d just pay for it and be done with it.
As for finding content that I might be interested in - just not worth the effort. Yes, you’re right. I’ve not bothered to look for them. Do you know why? Because I’m not interested enough in watching TV to put out the effort. Hell, I watched a movie over the weekend. It took THIRTY MINUTES to find something I thought was even remotely worth watching - using Vudu, Amazon Prime and Apple Store. THIRTY MINUTES!! Turns out, not only did I wish I had that 30 minutes back, I wish I had back whatever time I spent watching that stupid movie too. I've found it is getting hard and harder to even find a movie that I think is worth watching.
Of course “TV sucks” is not a factual statement. It is an OPINION. Clearly, we have a difference of opinion. Big deal. But you’re incorrect with your supposition. I hold that TV sucks, therefore I don’t bother to put any effort into watching it. And by "TV sucks" - I am referring to the content, delivery model and cost. If I found it more compelling way to spend my time, I’d be happy to make more time for it and spend money on it. Bottom line: I simply don’t LIKE watching TV. Why? Because, in my view, IT SUCKS! It is a losing value prop as far as I am concerned.
I have no regret over not watching TV, or with life choices - as you suggest. (:
I have a TV from 2011. It is a "smart" TV, and it is connected to the internet. When I subscribed to Netflix, I used it for that purpose. Although I've cancelled Netflix, I still use it to watch Vudu movies once in a while. It's still connected to the internet. So what? Where is the harm? What's the worst that can happen? Someone, somewhere, is going to be bored enough to hack into my TV? And then what? Brick it? Big deal. I will buy a newer TV that is better and a fraction of the price I paid for this one. Listen to my conversations? No Microphone on this TV, so good luck with that. Watch me? No camera on this TV, so good luck with that too. I'm sorry, but I'm just not paranoid enough to worry about someone hacking into my SmartTV. I've got much more likely shit to worry about.
in a post below.
What that post reveals is that you have no fucking clue what you're talking about, when you say that TV "sucks".
Sure I do. It's simply unable to compete for my time because it is uninteresting enough to do so. Besides the basic cost - they tack on all kinds of "fees" and "taxes" that contribute to the suck. Then there is the "weekly model" that sucks. I don't want to watch one show a week. If I am interested in the show, put it all up at once. You just don't get that from TV. So fuck them. Combine that with changing the time on shows, cancelling shows that I AM interested in and I just have no incentive to get sucked into watching. Aside from all of that - then there are the plots. I'm just not interested in portrayals of hackers, or super heros, drug dealers with cancer, or propaganda pieces. It's just not interesting to me. It's just not. And that's BEFORE factoring in commercials. THEN you factor in what else is competing for my time. I get home at 5pm, typically. The next three hours are spent playing with my kid and making/eating dinner and cleaning up afterward. So that's 8pm. I go to bed at 10pm. So that means there are, roughly speaking, 2 hours per day of "free time" Monday through Friday, that I have to do everything else I want to do. TV is simply not compelling enough to compete for that time. In other words, it sucks. If it didn't suck so much, it WOULD compete for that time - successfully. Weekends....8 hours of sleep, 3 hours of eating, shitting, bathing, etc. - gives 13 hours for everything else. I'd estimate at least 5 for the kid, so you're down to 8 hours/day. I'd estimate at least 3 hours of that is burned on going to the grocery store, gas station, errands or other necessary things. So that puts me down to 5 hours/day for everything else I need or want to do....or 10 hours for the weekend. Out of that 10 hours, I have to do house projects or maintenance, yard projects or maintenance, vehicle projects or maintenance - and entertainment and activities. Sometimes, I will use some of that to watch a movie. I can get in, get out, and move on. A TV show? Just don't want to get sucked into that. I'm sorry you can't appreciate that other people may have opinions that differ from yours, and yet may be completely valid.
I ditched cable in 2009 - do not miss it at all. Don't even have Netflix, Hulu, or any other subscriptions. If I want to watch a movie, I'll rent it on Vudu, or Apple Store, or even Amazon. No need to "subscribe" to any kind of movie or TV service.
They could avoid it if TV didn't suck.
I don't concern myself with movie reviews. Why would I? Someone else likes it or doesn't like it - what do I care? Most people like shit that I would never even consider watching. Besides which - a movie goes basically $10/ticket (or so). I'm not going to do a whole lot of research or have much nervousness about whether or not to spend a lousy $10. If a movie "seems interesting" enough to overcome the reasons NOT to go to the movies, then I will go see it. What kills your movie is the movie theater experience. The worst part of the whole thing is the TOTALLY INCONSIDERATE AUDIENCE that I have to watch the movie with, if I go see it in a theater. Honestly, that is the biggest barrier. Second, the sound is always TOO FUCKING LOUD. But hey, I guess with all the motherfuckers talking through the whole movie, it needs to be. Anyway, until those two things are fixed (and they never will be), it will be rare for a movie to be attractive enough for me to go see it in a theater, at any price. Reviewing my Fandago purchases, here is my recent movie-going history, along with my simple review: July 2017: Planet of the Apes. Best sci-fi movie I have seen in a long time. Jan 2017: Rouge I. Good movie, 2nd best in the entire franchise. Dec 2016: Dr. Strange. OK. Pretty much as per expectation. June 2016: X-Men. Sucked. Pretty much as per expectation. May 2016: Captain America. OK. Pretty much as per expectation. Dec 2015: Force Awakens. Sucked. Badly. Refund, please? Nov 2015: Hunger Games: OK. Pretty much as per expectation. Nov 2015: James Bond. Sucked. Badly. Refund, please? As for Scorsese....I like his movies. Virtually all of them. Among the best things out there to watch - absolutely. However, there is no reason to see them in a movie theater. Absolutely NONE. He makes serious movies. You can't watch those with a movie theater audience and expect to enjoy them. I will, however, gladly watch them at home.
This is basically what Ford did in his production plant back when the Model T was the craze. ....Higher wages will make people move to the area if possible, and they will also want to keep their jobs. And people with money spend it, and spend it locally which in turn drives the economy.
Ford's action was voluntary, not government-mandated.
Given that SCOTUS partially revived the ban, does that mean that they are predisposed to a more lenient view of the ban than lower courts? How much can we read into this.
No. It means that it sees that there is a significant constitutional issue that needs to be resolved. In the end, it could very well reject the ban.
I'm fine with a tipping option. I'll never tip an Uber.
I'll never USE an Uber.
One of the nice things about travelling to Japan or Australia is that no one expects to be tipped.
Really. Have you ever been on a dive boat in Australia?
Ka-ching! I was going to post this very comment when I read TFA - glad to see one of the first posts is exactly that. The system should just pull safely over to the side of the road after the 2nd safety warning is ignored, and then refuse to start the car for 10 minutes, while providing a lecture via the car's audio system, which cannot be muted. It should then record the incident somewhere - and relay it to home base at its earliest opportunity. Don't like this feature? Don't buy the car, or follow the fucking warnings!
Yep. It's bad enough they've more or less gone full-blow with the PC route. But to expect me to a). Pay to watch it, and b). Watch it one week at a time is just too much. I MIGHT watch it if you put it on a service I am already paying for (that would be Amazon Prime) AND if you make all episodes available at once (i.e. such as the Netflix House of Cards approach). Otherwise, CBS can just fuck off.
Does EVERYTHING need to have a layer of PC-based "everyone must be able to do everything" applied to it?
This story is as irrelevant as her tenure at Yahoo.
Well, that certainly will not be a problem once they are unemployed.
TSA can just ban laptops on planes, period. Then you can ship your laptop via Fedex Ground every time you want to go somewhere.
I agree. Maybe the Chinese can start being the leading provider for foreign aid to Israel too, so the U.S. can stop such funding and use that money to build a wall instead.
Korea is the same way.
Not only do I not need Facebook, I would actually pay money toward making it (and similar sites) go away forever.
If you want to solve a lot of "problems", don't tax income (which is a horrible idea anyway), simply tax sales based on where the is purchased or used (not necessarily the same place). If you want, you can tax sales based on product class. For example, bread may be taxed at 0%, eggs may be taxed at 3%, while computers are taxed at 10%, with ERP systems being taxed at 20% (or whatever, I'm just picking these numbers out of the air). With this method, your "profit" becomes irrelevant. Besides all that - if Apple were to bring in its $250B into the U.S. "tax free", what do you think would happen to that money? It would go SOMEWHERE. Either to shareholders, or to expand facilities, or R&D, to buy another business, etc. You just collect your tax there. But the U.S. takes the position that it should be able to tax the same money an infinite number of times and the result is that Apple decides to leave its money where it is. Whose fault is that?