Quote:
Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger
As a consumer this sucks. We always get screwed. BOHICA. First it was just expensive cable. Then expensive cable and expensive internet. Then cable, internet and Netflix.
Coming soon: Expensive cable, internet, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Crave, Shomi, Google, Apple!! All just so that you can watch a couple of your favorite shows on each service for $8 a month.
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Do you really think consumers are getting screwed when it comes to TV and movies? Compared to when? When you consider the wealth of content we have available, and how cheap it is, this is the best time ever to be a consumer.
Would you rather go back to the 80s, when it cost $5 ($10.30 in today's money) to rent a movie from a local videostore, and you had 6 TV channels to choose from (8 if you include community television)? Or the 90s, when it was $4 to rent a movie ($5.75 in today's dollars), and cable cost somewhat less than today but you still only had about 40 channels to choose from (and TV was mostly crap)?
Let's compare with today, when for $35 for basic cable and another $9 for Netflix you get an enormous amount of content - easily 20x the content available even 10 years ago. Fill in the gaps with iTunes, with at $6 a movie is no more expensive than Blockbuster was 15 years ago and has a far larger selection. All accessible with the click of a button, in high definition, and without leaving your couch.
This is the golden age of entertainment, in cost, accessibility, breadth and quality of content, and value. I can't imagine someone unhappy with today's offerings being satisfied with anything less than all TV shows and movies ever filmed accessible instantly for free.