Wow. 2011. That’s a long commitment. It was a DVD service then. My computer had a slotloader drive. They’d get just about anything you asked for, if you waited long enough.
Then they added streaming. That was fun.
Then they tried to split discs and streaming, and had to do a desperate volte-face.
Eventually, they dropped discs anyway.
Original productions. Some bad. Some great. Most average. Most expensive, until they weren’t. Three seasons of Dark, but 1899 only survived one. The streaming wars peaked. No one could burn money like they used to.
But they were profitable.
And, although profitable, they wanted more.
We all dropped cable, because it cost too much, and was full of loud ads and cheap garbage shows. Then the streamers all… wanted to make cable again.
But this time it’d be 100% vertically integrated. Watch it here, or don’t watch it at all. We hated that, but the suits loved it. Dark again… Dark had the best soundtrack of any tv show to date, but you couldn’t buy it. You had to build it your own damn self.
Rubbish.
Buy a great show, so you could watch it without internet? Forget it.
Rubbish.
And that’s the world–that’s the market Netflix gave us.
They make more per customer if they show us ads. So why not jack the prices up? Again, and again, and again… Finally, they were going to switch us automatically to an ads plan. Or charge more for the same thing. No, not worth it.
2011. Damn. But, money only understands money. Getting it, or losing it.
FAFO.