Is Netflix Crumbling?

cpp

cpp

Audioholic Ninja
That is already here. For Netflix you can be grandfathered into the "old" plan at the somewhat lower price, but when you come back, your only option is the Ad based which is currently a little less, or the new higher cost tier. The one that people like me are grandfathered into doesn't exist anymore.

ALL of them are adding commercials and the advertisers are jumping on that. They are really just doing it because they feel enough will pay the extra few bucks not to have those commercials.
good point
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
Yup… microtransactions are the wave of the future.
Buy into streaming, pay extra per month for no commercials. Even Amazon is doing this soon. Buy a car, pay a monthly subscription for the connectivity package. Buy a video game, pay for extra loot. Buy a new phone or other gadget and pay for…
The most insidious aspect is the subscription within the cost of ownership or use.
And everybody wants a piece of it.
Even Gmail used to be free, but now you pay if you use it for business.
 
D

Danzilla31

Audioholic Spartan
Yup… microtransactions are the wave of the future.
Buy into streaming, pay extra per month for no commercials. Even Amazon is doing this soon. Buy a car, pay a monthly subscription for the connectivity package. Buy a video game, pay for extra loot. Buy a new phone or other gadget and pay for…
The most insidious aspect is the subscription within the cost of ownership or use.
And everybody wants a piece of it.
Even Gmail used to be free, but now you pay if you use it for business.
Funny how things come full circle. When I was a kid you had commercials with your entertainment. Now with streaming you have commercials with your entertainment. Deja vu
 
D

Danzilla31

Audioholic Spartan
That is already here. For Netflix you can be grandfathered into the "old" plan at the somewhat lower price, but when you come back, your only option is the Ad based which is currently a little less, or the new higher cost tier. The one that people like me are grandfathered into doesn't exist anymore.

ALL of them are adding commercials and the advertisers are jumping on that. They are really just doing it because they feel enough will pay the extra few bucks not to have those commercials.
Honestly I feel ashamed about admitting this but I don't mind commercials that much. I watch Freevee and Tubi all the time when I don't like paying for something. Plus they have a great catalogue of old movies and TV shows when I get nostalgic
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I had a less than inspiring experience with the end of the disc rental, but didn't really expect as much as some of the media had proposed was going to happen. Still a competitive service in most respects it seems....

ps Beats hell out of that Disney nonsense.
 
cpp

cpp

Audioholic Ninja
You surely meant to say for the heated seats, additional horsepower, or simply a remote start? Right?
And more actually.
Just kill me now.
r/latestagecapitalism
I remember with the Tesla, something like $9.99 a month for the connectivity package . It includes in-car Wi-Fi, navigation with live traffic updates, and access to the monthly downloads Tesla pushes out with fun in-car entertainment like karaoke and games on the car’s central touchscreen. Premium connectivity costs $9.99 per month or an annual fee of $99.

I told the guy, I'll just use a app on my iphone instead.
 
jinjuku

jinjuku

Moderator
BMW walked their paywall for heated seats back because of massive backlash from customers. You don't like it, well owners really don't like it either.
No BMW owner complained about turn signal license ever...
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
BMW walked their paywall for heated seats back FOR NOW.
FTFY

They DIDN'T walk back on the idea of car feature subscriptions, just the heated seats (FOR NOW).
They did add a whole other head of subscribe-only features:
FeatureModel CompatibilityOne-time3 Years1 Year1 Month
Remote Engine Start2019 and newer vehicles with automatic transmission and 4- or 6-cylinder engine$330$250$105$10
Drive RecorderVehicles equipped with BMW Live Cockpit Professional and Parking Assistant Plus$149$99$39N/A
Traffic Camera2020 and new vehicles equipped with BMW Live Cockpit ProfessionalN/AN/A$25N/A
Driving Assistant Plus with Stop & GoCertain 2022 and newer iX SUVs$950$580$210$20
Parking Assistant ProfessionalCertain 2022 and newer iX SUVs, X7 SUVs, and 7 Series sedans equipped with Parking Assistant Plus$220$130$50$5

Source:
 
Last edited:
Teetertotter?

Teetertotter?

Senior Audioholic
We have Prime, Netflix, Starz, Paramount+, and Max, for movies and what not. Whatever price increases, we can a ford, along with Directv Satellite. We are lucky to have during our retirement since 2008 and 2010 for wife. Life is good.
 
H

Hobbit

Senior Audioholic
FTFY

They DIDN'T walk back on the idea of car feature subscriptions, just the heated seats (FOR NOW).
They did add a whole other head of subscribe-only features:
FeatureModel CompatibilityOne-time3 Years1 Year1 Month
Remote Engine Start2019 and newer vehicles with automatic transmission and 4- or 6-cylinder engine$330$250$105$10
Drive RecorderVehicles equipped with BMW Live Cockpit Professional and Parking Assistant Plus$149$99$39N/A
Traffic Camera2020 and new vehicles equipped with BMW Live Cockpit ProfessionalN/AN/A$25N/A
Driving Assistant Plus with Stop & GoCertain 2022 and newer iX SUVs$950$580$210$20
Parking Assistant ProfessionalCertain 2022 and newer iX SUVs, X7 SUVs, and 7 Series sedans equipped with Parking Assistant Plus$220$130$50$5

Source:
Yeah, this is just milking every last drop from the cow. Beyond this it makes no sense.

I brought this up before, but it fits. I had a Sony CD player that came with a remote. This was probably back in the early nineties. I bought a universal remote to control all my device. What I found was the model CD player I had had all the functionality of the model above it!

However, in this case it made sense. The display panel was a lot smaller on the model I had. The added features worked, but there wasn't a way to verify they were on via the display or a button to activate the feature. The case was also smaller. The transport may have had a few more plastic pieces. Most likely, they also saved money by having one chipset for all their CD players. Which is why they worked with a remote.

Therefore, it adds up (or subtracts), to being a CD player Sony could charge less for.

But, at a BMW level car one would expect these "features." Moreover, if you're building every car with these features in every car, by default the consumer is already paying for them - enabled or not. With software only items I can understand a little as long as you get free updates after paying.
 
cpp

cpp

Audioholic Ninja
No BMW owner complained about turn signal license ever...
Had one, freaking weird design. The BMW turn signal stalk immediately snaps back to center, but the signal stays on. It will then remain blinking until you turn and recenter the wheel. So why not just click it down? For reasons unknown, BMW doesn’t allow you to cancel the turn signal by clicking it in the opposite direction. Instead, you’ll just be indicating in that direction. Stupid design, but !, its the way it is. If your turn signal is on and you don’t want it to be, simply fully move the stalk in the same direction. This will effectively cancel the signal, so you can drive in peace.
 
Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
Had one, freaking weird design. The BMW turn signal stalk immediately snaps back to center, but the signal stays on. It will then remain blinking until you turn and recenter the wheel. So why not just click it down? For reasons unknown, BMW doesn’t allow you to cancel the turn signal by clicking it in the opposite direction. Instead, you’ll just be indicating in that direction. Stupid design, but !, its the way it is. If your turn signal is on and you don’t want it to be, simply fully move the stalk in the same direction. This will effectively cancel the signal, so you can drive in peace.
Chris, my daily driver is a '17 X5 and while part of what you say is true it can in fact cancel by nothing more than 'touch' in the opposite direction. The 'three blink' lane signal works the same, just a touch in the direction your signaling
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
Yeah, this is just milking every last drop from the cow. Beyond this it makes no sense.

I brought this up before, but it fits. I had a Sony CD player that came with a remote. This was probably back in the early nineties. I bought a universal remote to control all my device. What I found was the model CD player I had had all the functionality of the model above it!

However, in this case it made sense. The display panel was a lot smaller on the model I had. The added features worked, but there wasn't a way to verify they were on via the display or a button to activate the feature. The case was also smaller. The transport may have had a few more plastic pieces. Most likely, they also saved money by having one chipset for all their CD players. Which is why they worked with a remote.

Therefore, it adds up (or subtracts), to being a CD player Sony could charge less for.

But, at a BMW level car one would expect these "features." Moreover, if you're building every car with these features in every car, by default the consumer is already paying for them - enabled or not. With software only items I can understand a little as long as you get free updates after paying.
It is actually cheaper for them to build them all the same than it is to add/remove features. If a company wants to pull that sh1t, then I won't buy a car from them. I agree, if it is on a car that I own, then you don't have the right to disable it.
 
H

Hobbit

Senior Audioholic
We have Prime, Netflix, Starz, Paramount+, and Max, for movies and what not. Whatever price increases, we can a ford, along with Directv Satellite. We are lucky to have during our retirement since 2008 and 2010 for wife. Life is good.
For me, it's not about be able to afford it, it's about principle. If a product isn't being produced and sold at a commensurate price, I'm not paying for it. I speak to companies with my wallet.

It is actually cheaper for them to build them all the same than it is to add/remove features. If a company wants to pull that sh1t, then I won't buy a car from them. I agree, if it is on a car that I own, then you don't have the right to disable it.
Agreed! A (any) BMW isn't a Corolla. I'd expect it to have a seat warmer and it's just built into the price. Not to be paying for one in the base price of the car, and then paying s subscription to use it! I get it, in some cases, if it's a software driven device, like a GPS system, sat entertainment, or an emergency system that needs updating or other support.

I have been burned by software. They moved to a subscription base model and disable the software you have. The auto-update updated the software with a kill switch for a date and time and a pop-up window telling you that they're moving to an online subscription based version and yours is going to become a doorstop. First off, the software was mature enough I don't believe a legit update came out in years. Secondly, I don't remember anything when I bought the software telling me they have the right to disable it from working. I fully understand at some point they'll stop supporting it, but killing it off to force you to buy another version?
 
cpp

cpp

Audioholic Ninja
Chris, my daily driver is a '17 X5 and while part of what you say is true it can in fact cancel by nothing more than 'touch' in the opposite direction. The 'three blink' lane signal works the same, just a touch in the direction your signaling
We had the 2015 435i, convertible. Wife hated the turn signals and the road noise. Sold it and got a Lexus GS350
 
panteragstk

panteragstk

Audioholic Warlord
What's funny to me about the streaming prices going up is that the phone plan I have from Verizon pays for a lot of my services. They were cheaper when I signed up, so naturally Verizon wants me to change my plan.

Hahahaha...no.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
Honestly I feel ashamed about admitting this but I don't mind commercials that much. I watch Freevee and Tubi all the time when I don't like paying for something. Plus they have a great catalogue of old movies and TV shows when I get nostalgic
Commercials don't kill me either, but they will all do the same thing Crunchyroll has. The ad based free version was OK for a long time, but now they are making the commercials more frequent, looking for how many they have to force in before some people will pay to remove them. They don't need everyone to do it, just some.
 

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