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Netflix Windows app is set to remove its downloads feature, while introducing ads (www.techradar.com)

submitted 6 months ago by ForgottenFlux to c/technology

219 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Netflix has managed to annoy a good number of its users with an announcement about an upcoming update to its Windows 11 (and Windows 10) app: support for adverts and live events will be added, but the ability to download content is being taken away.

Netflix must realize that it's a huge frustration for people who relied on offline downloads to watch content without internet access: on planes, trains, and campsites, and anywhere else where Wi-Fi is unavailable or unreliable.

There's a small chance that Netflix will change its mind if it gets enough complaints, but the streaming service seems determined to add as many money-making features as possible, while taking away genuinely useful ones.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

There is just that teeny tiny ethical problem of not paying the creators and distributors for something we enjoy. This becomes a practical problem as well. If they make less money, it's likely that even more movies or series get killed or never even started.

Idk what to do.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago

The golden age of streaming is already over. Peoples wallets are getting tighter these days, but the value of what we are paying for is also declining. There is a lot less on Netflix now then there was 5 years ago and the cost has gone way up. They produce their own shows but then cancel them constantly, even if they have a decent following. Netflix has been putting in effort to make their service shittier and more expensive, removing features that people originally switched from cable to get.

Netflix IS the content creator and yet giving them more money doesn't seem to be making their content better or stop them from cancelling shows.

Not to mention, some of these streaming sites allow you to "purchase" a movie, but then when they lose licensing to those shows it gets removed from your library. So there's no value in purchasing digital content anymore because it can get taken from you at any time. Digital ownership has become a myth.

If you want to support your favorite shows, purchase them on DVD or go see it in theater. Paying for a streaming service is only encouraging these companies to continue raising prices and reduce the value of the product you pay for.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I'm not really thrilled about almost all the money in show business being funneled to a couple of actors and actresses and giant studios/big money.

Over and over again the majority of writers, actors, actresses and supporting teams strike for a real share and they never seem to get one.

Meanwhile big companies get billions in tax credits every year for shooting movies. The public subsidizes the costs and then pays again once a show releases. It's insanely big bucks going to the ownership class.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

I am absolutely with you on that one.

But I think it's tied to how we do business and less a problem which is very specific to the movie industry. Or in other words: it's our fucked up capitalism in action again.

The workhorses of such shows get almost neglected while the shiny poster people and producers get most of the share.

And that's basically everywhere the case. CEOs, managers, superiors are making insanely more money than those who are contributing a lot of work. It's an unfair system which is holding the movie industry tightly in its grip as well.

[–] nBodyProblem 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

The fact of the matter is that people will happily pay for content if it is made available in a convenient and affordable way. Hell, many people will voluntarily pay artists for content that is available completely for free. That’s how patreon works, and there are self published authors approaching $1M/year in income due to readers choosing to support the author for their hard work.

People have no issue paying content creators.

Piracy rose to prominence in the 2000s because a few executives were funneling massive amounts of money into their pockets by the sale of CDs and cable services that were simultaneously expensive and inconvenient. The studios attacked pirates directly to little effect because you simply can’t stop the free dissemination of information among the public.

Piracy almost completely died when streaming made the alternatives affordable, user friendly and convenient. In a world where the proliferation of streaming services is making content just as expensive and inconvenient as in the old days of cable, it’s only natural that piracy will once again rise to prominence.

If they want to get paid, they simply need to stop fucking with the customer and offer a service people want to pay for.