zlacker

>>qainsi+(OP)
This is such a bummer. Why does everything get worse? I actually really enjoy prime for movies and specifically for foreign movies.

I can’t stand all the freevee crap they have been forcing down our throats too. They pack a record amount of commercials into those movies and it’s all clunky when you pause and go back, or need to fast forward or rewind. Just wish there was better ways to get rid of the freevee crap, but if 2.99 gets rid of those ads too, I might be inclined to upgrade. I know it wil just be the stuff that has no ads now tho.

>>nyjah+3a
The only reason these services got market share in the first place is by using other money (other division's income, or vc funding) as loans to undercut the competition, such as by offering prices cheaper than probably sustainable in the long term. Eventually, the loans must be repaid, which means the undercutting ends if it's not sustainable. In "real" businesses, that initial capital is used to develop something that'll be sustainable (knowledge, new technology, new products). In these industries with well established economies, there's often not something actually sustainable to develop, so eventually they have to fall back to the original economics of the industry (or shift the economics to something else that may or may not be better).

I've become a lot more really leery of "free" services, and a bit more okay with spending money when I think it makes sense. For example, I'm anti-Amazon Prime because I realize it's basically a huge loss just to get you into ordering more items from Amazon to keep their total revenue and usage high as they've diversified into even less savory business practices due to their market share. Tech companies over index too much on convenience because consumers want convenience. We should be okay with less convenience for a greater good.