this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2024
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Shows and TV

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Apple TV+ spent $20B on original content. If only people actually watched. (arstechnica.com)
submitted 4 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 59 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (11 children)

Oh, I already ranted over in https://lemmy.world/post/22226162 first but,

As an Android user, how do you propose I watch? I'm aware that you released to some Android TV devices a few years ago, you haven't released to the Android OS yet and as a Chromecast user I'm still out of luck.

You're ignoring a huge section of the market, so go fuck yourself Apple. You don't get to ignore users and then complain that no one is watching.

Do you remember when Game of Thrones was only available via HBO Go, which was only available via iOS devices and then Game of Thrones was the most pirated TV show? I FUCKING WONDER WHY???

I've (somehow?) watched a number of Apple shows and they are good shows. Mythic Quest, Shrinking, Severance. I'm you're target audience, it's time you pay attention to that audience.

You're not picking me up now, I've already found "other methods" but you can win me back if you make it easier. It's going to take some time, but time to get started.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (2 children)

The reason is Apple is not in the streaming business, it's in the hardware business and sales business.

Apple is not trying to get you to just join it's streaming service. It's trying to get you to buy it's hardware so you're in it's ecosystem so it gets 1/3 of everything you spend on content and services. It's the ultimate route in upselling.

You buy an Apple TV device, you watch some of their shows but also you buy some apps, and you sign up for other services (who have to pay apple for access), maybe you buy content through iTunes.

Apple wants you using Apple TV, and get an IPhone and a Mac and tablet etc. If you're not on an Apple device they don't want you because you're able to spend money elsewhere.

Apples whole business is vendor lock-in. They just lock you in a gilded cage so you don't realise you're a prisoner. And they make you pay for the gilding.

$20bn is nothing in the scale of Apples ecosystem.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

I think you're 100% correct. I'm bothered by the article dancing around this by using the word "marketing".

I wish the article pushed back against Apple and pointed out their obviously missing flaw, even if it's part of their strategy.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

Long-time Ars reader/subscriber here. They're a pretty source for English language tech news. I am particularly fond of their reporting on tech adjacent public policy issues (US centrism notwithstanding).

One area where they are weak is taking a critical look at Apple. They keep promoting the notion that Apple is somehow different.

They did report on Apple's censorship of steaming content on AI (due to the upcoming release of Apple intelligence) and critiques of the CCP, but beyond the initial reporting it's like nothing happened.

They all use Apple products, nothing wrong with that they have excellent products, but you would think that a tech news site would have at least one or two journalists who use Windows/Android/Linux full time.

It's almost as if they need a "hero company" in their lives and can't deal with the notion that all these tech megacorps are the same; sketchy, dishonest and corrupt.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

To be fair as someone with no Apple products I'm always on the other side. As a result I'm usually extra critical of them.

Apple makes fine products. They haven't made one I want to use, but they're fine. I have plenty of complaints about Android as well.

I think reviewing tech products/software is difficult, especially from a neutral angle. It's easy to fall into a side or want a "hero" product. Especially when, I'm sure Apple TV users are big fans of their product. I'm sure the designers made a good product. I bet I would even enjoy using their product.

But do I want to spend $120 on a new physical device plus subscription just to watch Severance? I already have a device that can watch everything else (Chromecast Ultra). Oh I need to buy a new version of the device I already have because that one supports apps like Apple TV and I'll still be able to watch all my apps the way I do today but for Apple TV I'll have to use the remote.

Somewhere in there the company who makes the product I am using also fucked up. I guess I should have bought a Roku. (I won't go into that.)

As you said these mega corps can make good products. But sometimes they do be sketchy.

I like the article I'm just disappointed they missed, to me, such an obvious angle.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago

I have no issues with them even bring fans of Apple products and giving glowing reviews that may not appeal to my sensibilities.

Just he intellectually independent and honest. Don't be suckers.

All the journalists at Ars exclusively use Apple products outside of work assignments. The notion of not wanting vendor lock-in, needing flexibility and wanting intense price competition is not part of their MO.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 weeks ago

They are more and more in the cloud data subscription business instead, utilizing their closed ecosystem and then using the data for their own advertising side hustle like google (though at least they don't sell the data to the lowest bidder like google)

I don't know if many people have switched to an iPhone recently, but my mother did.

An iPhone gives you 1 GB of iCloud storage "free" and automatically force-enables icloud backup for everything on the phone like photos, videos, contacts, etc... So that it is immediately full and then gives you almost constant big warnings and reminders that you will lose all of your data and there is a problem with your phone unless you pay 5€ per month to upgrade your iCloud storage.

It is a royal pain to use a different backup service instead.

Apple also artificially caps storage on their phones and laptops (256GB on their 1100€ macbook air model in 2024? 512 GB on their 2000€ macbook pro model??) And push iCloud and iCloud plus hard, just like Microsoft is doing with their horrible OneDrive decisions and baking in "One drive save" as default in all of their apps.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 weeks ago

Kinda funny too when Android has something like a 70%+ global market share.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (2 children)

This is the purpose of “the customer is always right”. If the demand is already there but there’s no supply, that’s bad business.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

Apple's focus is vendor lock-in. Everything in their ecosystem integrates perfectly. They're selling devices that lock you in to their ecosystem and they get a 1/3 cut from all digital sales from competitors also using their platform.

They're not interested in getting as many people as possible watching their shows. They're interested in getting as many people as possible buying Apple TV devices, and then getting drawn into the Apple ecosystem.

Regard the $20bn spent on TV shows as marketing spend.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 weeks ago

sigh. As a full apple/linux user, you are so right. The pain of extracting my family from our integration in the apple ecosystem would just be too much. They got us.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 weeks ago

It's not there's no supply, it's we're going to provide you and force you to use only our approved methods of delivery, which has always been Apples whole gig since their inception. It's why I refuse to use their products.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 weeks ago

I tried to sign up for a 3 month trial that came with my TV. I had to create an account on my phone or PC. No problem. Then I had to validate my account somehow? It was essentially impossible to do without an Apple device. I went through tier 2 and tier 3 support, nobody could figure out how to activate my account. They wanted me to send screenshots of my error messages, but I could only submit them through my activated account.

After a few days I got an email saying my account was permanently locked. I called about that and they put in a ticket to have my account unlocked. Another few days and an email saying my ticket request was denied. I called to have them delete my account, they said I could only initiate that request by logging into my activated account. Most incompetent service I've ever encountered (not the customer service agents, the people who created such a horrible process).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

They were recently added as a channel in Prime, at least in the US. Can’t you access it through that?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago

Oh I figured out a way a long time ago. But since they make it a pain to watch, I'm going to make it a pain to be a user.

I pay for enough streaming services as it is, and they all behave in a way that makes me happy (enough).

Also looks like I'd need to already be paying for Amazon Prime, so I'd already be out of luck. Plus of all the apps Prime is the worst, so I'm not looking to jump back into the Prime app. (I dropped Prime earlier this year once they added ads.)

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Ted Lasso is a masterpiece

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

I haven't heard a single bad word about ted lasso, but i just can't get into it. Is there like a: "you have to watch this far until it gets really good." Moment?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Funnily enough it started very strong for me, and fell off hard towards the end of season 3. If the first 1-2 episodes don't interest you, you probably won't be interested at all.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 weeks ago

I'd probably give it 4 or 5 episodes tbh, let the characters evolve a bit.

Basically the show stands out because it's just straight happiness. It's rarely sad, and when it briefly is it bounces right back immediately. A feel good show through and through, which is so rare these days.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 weeks ago

I watched Foundation season 1. Which while visually striking, and the Empire stuff with Pace was really good, I was still pulling at my hair at all the dumb choises made in-show and irl. Sorry for Butcher grammar, no coffee yet.

Severance was fantastic though. Too bad we had to wait so long for s2.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Foundation is my Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, or Dune. When they fucking butchered it, I walked away, and I'll never come back.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

As a fellow lover of Asimov, I absolutely felt the same way, and the name of David Goyer will forever be associated in my mind with mediocre arrogance and arrogant mediocrity.
Everything about the ideas and spirit of Asimov was betrayed, with predictably inferior results.

"I'm better than Asimov... look... this here's my Ferrari!"

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

I love Apple TV. Quite a few good shows as well. I know they don't have as much content as other streaming services, but what they do have for the most part is amazingly good. So I don't mind paying for substance over content.

Silo.
Ted Lasso.
Shrinking.
Foundation.
Severance.
Monarch.
Loot.
Before.
Dark Matter.

And those are just the ones I've watched. There are a few more that are on my list to watch. As long as they keep focusing on good quality stories with great actors and cinematography, I'll keep subscribing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

For All Mankind, too.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago

For all mankind lost me in the second season with the affair. Seemed way too soap opera for me.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (2 children)

I never see their ads, the only thing I’ve seen of theirs is Silo

(which was good, season 2 starts soon)

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Silo S2 has already started btw - ep 1 was last Friday.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 weeks ago

👀 gotta finish Arcane first

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (2 children)

They have some more shows that are definitely worth watching like Tes Lasso, All for mankind, and Master of the air to name a few.

Season 2 of Silo started a couple of days ago with one episode a week

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 weeks ago

one episode a week

guys, I've figured out why no one watches

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Ted Lasso! I have also seen that, enjoyed it a lot. Haven’t heard of that last one though

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

I love For All Mankind, despite its shortcomings. I wish some fan could make an abridged version.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago

It was good for the first season when they were more focused on how things would have been different technologically and politically. Then in the middle of the second season there was an obvious shift to more "soap opera" type stories. I lost interest after that.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago

Thank you for posting here!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

As someone who has it and never watches my answer is:

“Why so serious?”

I’m sure it’s not bad stuff. I’m sure it’s actually really good. But the world is bad and even the UI starts out serious. And the whole vibe of their imaging choices is desaturated. And I need a break from serious things happening to people I guess.

Fully admit this is irrational and jokingly blame Jonathan Ive for leaving.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

Apple putting AppleTV+ on Amazon channels for Android users was a smart move, although a independent Android app would have been smarter imo.