How Subscriptions RUINED the Internet (and everything else)

[@allanjmcpherson]

The option to rent something you only need once seems sensible. Renting something you might use for years and paying more than you would to buy it just seems like a terrible deal.

[@HORNOMINATOR]

the trick is to consume more

[@Name-gi8dr]

It's a good deal for sellers and that's all it matters to shareholders

[@Chicago48]

I don't subscribe to anything. I used to subscribe to magazines. My only thing to subscribe to is Amazon Prime, but that's a one year annual fee.

[@msmoniz]

"Hot water heaters in you home on line 2"

[@JohnGardnerAlhadis]

This works for physical goods, yes, but even this practice is vulnerable to the same ills that plague streaming services: the item you'd like to rent is unavailable because not enough people were paying for it, the supplier goes bankrupt, gets acquired by a monopoly who then does all sorts of dirty things to its prices and supply...

[@forgetthatgirl]

Gen X here, miss the days where you could buy standalone software (ms office, adobe etc) and that was it. Now you’re paying a monthly fee till you die! Or cancel whichever comes sooner

[@n900video]

Or you may look for alternatives if you're not forced to use a specific product (because of work, school, etc. requirements)

[@jasons5916]

They got tired of people using MS Word 2010 for 5+ years instead of upgrading every year for 2 new features and a rearranged UI (so you had to relearn it again). Subscription forces you to use it as if you used to buy the new version every year. Stuff like Adobe was the worst though. Like a thousand dollars initially and every year to keep it current. Obviously people pirated it.

[@BLACKAAROW]

Exactly, there’s not much difference between Word 2003 and Word 2010 except for a few new features and updated UI and that’s it. I remember using Word 2003 up until a few years ago lol

[@fire_drake12.arc.24]

i got certified in graphics design for photoshop, indesign, etc and wanted to buy the applications until i saw that it was all subscription based for something i probably would only use for myself anyway, and if i had decided to use it for a job, the only way to get a 1-time payment for permanent ownership was to jump through hoops to pay 300~$ if i remember correctly for a several years outdated version that a job would probably not allow you to use BECAUSE its outdated. I immediately threw that idea away because im not paying a subscription to eventually pay more than what its worth in cash for something i wont use often nor should i have to be paying more than once for either even if it was my career. Due to that i have lost probably any and all knowledge in it despite my having loved doing it and being good artistically because there is no way to maintain the skills without paying for the application and for my use 300$ was already unaffordable at the time and by the time i couldve bought it, there was no point due to lost memory and even more years that what i was buying was out of date.

[@francisquebachmann7375]

And Adobe even tries make their subscription cancellation difficult.

[@Ponkotsu67]

"70% forget/rarely use their subscription services" This has to be a 1st world problem thing I'm too poor to understand.

[@hockdudu]

For real, if I need to click 50 times to unsubscribe something I don't need anymore, I'll goddamn click 50 times. How can someone just give up and say "heh, I guess I'll keep paying it"?! I find these unsubscribe tactics amusing, but I cannot comprehend they work.

[@hudasyou3801]

One prime example is gym memberships

[@avoatlaw]

​@@hockdudu Ikr imagine being so fckin loaded that clicking a couple times on your phone is too much work and instead keep paying money 💀

[@tinkthestrange]

I forgot a subscription before, it got cut off because I didn’t have enough money in my account to pay for it. Problem solved

[@mudanzan]

​@@tinkthestrange And if your brakes wont work, you'll just ram in to a wall to stop, I see.

[@ESF-EF]

$273 a month? 😳 That’s insanity, call me cheap, but for me that just insanity.

[@MarjaMariachi]

That's car payment money!

[@Nitzpitz]

@@MarjaMariachicar payment is insanity to me too. You safe, then you buy second hand and drive it until it doesn’t work anymore.

[@Talking_Ed]

That's SO much

[@hipidipi20157max]

thats insane even in a year

[@thisismykingdom]

In my country 200$ is what an average person makes a month

[@Anonyhouse]

If buying isn't owning, PIRACY ISN'T STEALING.

[@Roxor128]

s/buying/paying/

[@jonathancunningham8739]

Buy physical.

[@elusivenahwoo]

​@@jonathancunningham8739 I do, VideoGames software/hardware, Blu-Rays, and yes, CD Albums too.

[@albertthepeacock8020]

I don't understand that how is buying isn't owning?

[@robertoduran3963]

@@albertthepeacock8020 in the subscription service in the fine print they roughly say we "pay a subscription for the license to access the service and have the right to revoke content at any time" Netflix removing and adding shows, spotify removing and adding songs are good examples. With pirating it'll be downloaded to your device, no chance of it going away

[@Rakadis]

Obligatory "You will own nothing and you will be happy" and "If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing".

[@bradleystoldt318]

Obligatory that quote was taken out of context and in a vacuum is perceived as "being forced" to be happy. The actual point was that automation/manufacturing/materials would be so cheap that a subscription to a thing would be equal to or better than owning the thing or service and maintaining it yourself.

[@Anonymous-gu7wz]

@@bradleystoldt318 Yeah, clearly we can all see that all the subscriptions we have today is actually a good thing and is keeping everyone rich. Right?

[@hypotheticalaxolotl]

@@Anonymous-gu7wz He didn't say the quote was right even in context, only that the quote is often taken out of context and presented as more malicious than it was intended as being.

[@balsalmalberto8086]

and "if life is pain then death is relief"

[@OceanAce]

​@bradleystoldt318 Obligatory you and I both know that won't happen, for the sake of climate change and because rich people don't want poor people access to these cheap methods. So, instead, if "cheap stuff" doesn't make you happy then you will be forced to be happy.

[@Thatonegirl989]

I know we all saw it coming but the way streaming services completely lied and turned in to cable again irritates me.

[@empresssk]

Had this same thought when I saw the mega bundle of Disney, Hulu & HBO Max the other day. So irritating

[@ErikLiberty]

The reason that occurred is because of intellectual property laws like copyrights which should be abolished completely. Without copyrights, people would be far more involved in different ways of crowd funding. Streamers like Netflix and Hulu wouldn't have to pay royalties for any of the movies on their platform meaning that all platforms would have all the movies at all times. You would just be paying a tiny fee for whichever streaming service had the nicest user experience and features. See the youtube videos: "You Hate all these Companies for the SAME Reason" and "Creators SHOULDN'T Own their Creations (And Why its Good for them too)" and "Everything is a Remix (Complete Updated 2023 Edition)". The thing that first changed my mind on this was the Mises Institute article: "Ideas, Free and Unfree: A Book Commentary". The Mises Institute has a lifetime of free learning on its site.

[@TheyCallMeIce]

Remember when they said "it's just the price of a cup of coffee" when netflix was like 5$ a month? Let us all pretend we believed it would last.

[@alaric_]

@@TheyCallMeIce Yep, small monthly fees get ever so slightly small increases constantly while reducing the quality of 'lower tiers', making higher tiers better and so on and so on... Sometime in the future we will suddenly start wondering why Netflix costs $100 a month and everyone seems happy about it.

[@mememaster695]

@@ErikLiberty So long as we live in a capitalist system, intellectual property laws are necessary. Creatives need a way to earn money, and intellectual property is the only way this can happen. If copyright was abolished, anyone could use any piece of art they pleased for whatever they desired. Sounds nice, unless you are an artist and suddenly realise that anyone who has access to your work can use it for anything they want without paying you a cent. Impersonating popular influencers would also be easier than ever, as there would be no protection for original characters that many creators use as their avatars or for the personal branding of large creators. Movies and tv shows simply wouldn't exist, because they're expensive to make and would not provide value to their creators as they could be freely reproduced by anyone who feels like it and the actual creators who put in the massive amount of time and money required to make these things would have no way to profit off of the work as any rando could just post the whole thing on the internet for free. Intellecutal property law is a complex thing, and is absolutely necessary for artists to be able to live off of their art, and many people love to try and undermine it just because they want stuff for free. Subscription services may be scummy, but the answer is absolutely not to throw away intellectual property law as a whole.

[@monev]

Thanks for reminding me to cancel my 1 month Amazon Prime Free Trial.

[@Teverell]

I just cancelled mine, too. I only ever used it for the free shipping - I don't watch Prime (or Netflix, Disney+, or any of the others) or use any of the other things you get access to with it. So... that's £8.99 a month I don't need to spend. And I will buy things on hard media (CDs or DVDs if I possibly can. Otherwise, I don't need to waste time and money with them.

[@saram8102]

Watching this just reminded me to cancel my Apple News free trial, which only had a few days remaining before it charged me 😂

[@DMCpawn]

Highly recommend the privacy app to make a digital card with a $1 spend limit, so that if you forget to cancel your subscription, you won't be charged! Game charger for me

[@JarNO_WAY]

Dude I have one still open too, cancelling now! Got the free trial for free delivery

[@lurekayaklrf]

How have you got to 2024 without using up your Amazon trial 😂

[@Larry]

I absolutely despise subscription processes. Unless I can purchase the item outright, I'll find other means to aquire it.

[@KidYoureAHomo]

When you making a new video?

[@toastrave7820]

didn't expect to find you here

[@MegaLokopo]

Why? buying all of the content on netflix would take a long time if you paid 20 dollars a month, also cloud storage for me is cheaper than the electricity needed to run the hardware. Who feeds the developers if everyone steals everything?

[@todesziege]

@@MegaLokopo Who the hell wants "all of the content on Netflix"/Spotify?

[@MegaLokopo]

@@todesziege No one would want all of it. But there is probably more on there that you would enjoy watching, than you realize. And 25 dollars a month is not much money, when most movies cost 10 or 20 dollars. Which means you only have to watch 2 or more new movies on average each month to break even, and 3 new movies on average per month for it to be cheaper to just pay for netflix. Anyways it isn't that hard to get most streaming services free for a few weeks at a time.

[@dh510]

Yeah.. you know what subscription annoys me the most? The one to my Apartment...

[@MegaLokopo]

Yea, I have that one too, if I didn't have to pay that one, I would be in a much better place.

[@marcusg6573]

@@MegaLokopo you mean the streets?

[@MegaLokopo]

@@marcusg6573 i jokingly meant if i didnt have to pay rent or rent was far less i would have more money.

[@buttarain27]

At least that takes care of your basic needs, now the prices? that's what's outrageous.

[@stefandebruijn6559]

I hate subscriptions. I want to buy something high quality that serves me for a long time and this is becoming harder and harder...

[@rruser853]

Its called planned obsolescence. Essentially you make a product good enough to feel nice, but also shitty enough to wear out in a few years to make you buy a new one.

[@prophetzarquon]

Ideally, you never fix the problems, just add a new feature.

[@rswow]

@@rruser853 After ww2, the soviets invented glass that was 15x stronger than normal glass. When they went to sell it in the 'free' world, no one wanted it, nope, they wanted their planned obsolescence and the freedom to instead deal with the many problems (and financial benefits) of glass and glasses so often breaking.

[@kibble-net]

Heated seat subscription is messed up... but, FURNITURE SUBSCRIPTIONS? Isn't this just Rent A Center all over again? Rent to own stores have always been a ripoff. Basic financial literacy needs to be taught alongside reading, writing, and 'rithmetic.

[@vadim6385]

Nah, Rent A Center is for poor people. For you it will be RAC Premium Maxx Pro

[@alaric_]

Renting furniture means a great hassle and work to replace those furnitures. So people will just keep paying and paying and paying to avoid the inconvinience until they've paid more then what it would cost to buy full ownership of an furniture. Pay once, take good care of them and then sell them used for little money back. It's really not that difficult!

[@Sinovian]

I could see conditional furniture renting. Things like folding tables/chairs for an event. Or a larger table for a holiday party. But anything longer than a week and not for a specific event is just insane.

[@vulcanfeline]

the heated seat sub really got me shaking my head. you "rent" a feature that's already installed in your vehicle that uses fuel you already paid for to keep the battery you bought charged up

[@hyouki8529]

Next we're going to get toilet subscriptions for our homes, if you don't pay the monthly fee you can crap your pants

[@andyinsdca]

One of the interesting side effects of not owning music or movies is that if your provider decides to stop carrying it, it's gone forever. I still buy CDs and DVDs specifically because of this. This is a big threat when it comes to controversial media like Blazing Saddles.

[@vvitch-mist20]

I'm looking to get a turntable to listen to my mother's old vinyls. They are the mini ones so I can't get a regular record player.

[@Francisco_Otero]

Exactly. I buy my movies and my games. They are trying to kill physical media though, DRM moves are getting worse and worse, even forcing an internet connection to play offline games or view certain movies.

[@vadim6385]

Back to pirating it is then

[@seazonegranec]

​@@vvitch-mist20There's an adapter that usually comes with the player. It's a small plastic thing that adds the diameter for the smaller discs. Look it up, maybe it's what you need. Mine has it at least so I can play regular and smaller vinyls.

[@RedShirt103]

I have Blazing Saddles on DVD. =P

[@amicaaranearum]

We need a law that requires companies to make it just as easy to unsubscribe as it is to subscribe. If it takes two clicks to subscribe, it ought to take two clicks to unsubscribe. If I can sign up for a gym membership online, I shouldn’t need to go in person or send certified mail to cancel the membership.

[@benjalucian1515]

They are indeed passing such laws.

[@enrico6926]

In Germany we got such laws lately

[@huddleston1878]

Lina Khan at the FTC just did this. It'll be interesting to see if trump & idiots reverse it

[@amicaaranearum]

@@huddleston1878 I hope they enforce it! (FTC regulations are sometimes toothless.)

[@domm6812]

Shout out to Louis Rossmann and his amazing consumer advocacy. He's the main man publicly spearheading the right to repair movement, and he delves into the fact your ownership is being taken away. His videos are always entertaining. The man does not hold back. I highly recommend watching.

[@clintmichigan9112]

Dude has credibility and ethics

[@RowleyFan2]

I don't regret all the viruses, I got REALLY good at cleaning my PC and also avoiding viruses now, LMAO

[@FutureProofTV]

do feel like this era fostered a lot more tech literacy than we have now 👀👀

[@Roeclean]

@@FutureProofTV YES, I literally found out about apk apps that can download movies for free from a middle school kid a couple grades below me about half a decade ago because he learned how to use it from his family

[@xiChann]

@@FutureProofTV def, most of the people I know that have risked their PC's health, know how to fix it, my other friends think they can only use microsoft edge ☠

[@Jules_Pew]

Me too. I also still clean up/sort out my adult sons' computers. Back up, back up, back up - they learnt the hard way. I'm going to invest in those long lasting DVDs as I don't even trust SSDs not to fail in the future.

[@fish3977]

​@@Jules_PewWorth noting that disk rot is very real and dvds and CDs wont last forever. The point is indeed to have backups of backups so when, not if, one medium fails you are not fucked

[@pokekohn]

Every time i see a paid subscription i imagine a pirate hat speaking to me like the green goblin mask

[@MulinaTheAngelWolf]

I feel this way as well. It’s whispering

[@TheyCallMeIce]

(whispering) "do what you want... a pirate is free.."

[@janaekelis]

i let the hat control me. constantly.

[@pokekohn]

@@janaekelisyo ho yo ho it's a pirate's life for me 🏴‍☠️🦜

[@tasenova2717]

Do it. Do the roar

[@AnonyMouse3791]

As a long time viewer of this channel, I've concluded that... 1. If it's free, I'm the product (for advertisers) 2. If I own it, I'll have ownership costs (storage, maintenance, etc) 3. If I subscribe, I'll pay forever (like renting) 4. If I do without, I lose out! (because I'm poor)

[@giselematthews7949]

It depends on your attitude.

[@honor9lite1337]

​@@giselematthews7949or capability? 🤔

[@ShyGuy23751]

When your a pirate you can own and it's free 😂

[@sprengar]

@@ShyGuy23751still not necessarily true, costs for storage/seedbox/maybe a vpn if you do a lot of

[@Intensive_Porpoises]

If I do without I don't necessarily feel like I'm losing out. If I don't see the value in it, then not paying for it is a no-brainer and you'll feel pretty good about it. I don't feel like I'm 'losing out' because I don't have a spotify subscription.

[@lasercraft32]

Any Nintendo fans know this problem very well... Online play used to be a FREE feature of Nintendo consoles. But now you have to pay an online subscription just for the most basic of online functionality. The worst part? Its not even good. The online connection is arguably _worse_ than it was when it was free! Yet people pay for it because its the only option given... You either pay the price or you get walled off from any online interaction. Multiplayer focused games like Splatoon practically require an online subscription, because the multiplayer is where the main focus of the game is. This is why I refuse to get Nintendo Online. If everyone just boycotted it, then we wouldn't have this problem.

[@todesziege]

At the same time, they spent a decade providing a service for free while their competitors raked in the cash from the subscription. If customers don't care, why should they?

[@cherubin7th]

Honestly, I am fine when there is actually ongoing effort and costs going on to keep the service alive. What sucks when games connect p2p over the internet and the missing subscription blocks it.

[@generalcatkaa5864]

Subscription streaming devalues media. There was a time when a show or movie had to be good enough to justify a movie ticket, or an in-store purchase, or at LEAST the effort to turn on the TV at the same time every day. Now, they only have to be good enough to be background noise while you fold your laundry. It's the difference between "I like this movie; I will pay for it specifically" and "I've already paid for this service - I might as well watch something."

[@todesziege]

At the same time it has devalued _quality_ music/film, so that few are willing to pay more for quality than that 'background noise'.

[@generalcatkaa5864]

@@todesziege Ouch that hurts.

[@Milo-l4g]

I never got into subscriptions, and I never will. Piracy has never stopped being convenient for me, and it undoubtedly outweighs any benefits that subscriptions might offer.

[@alaric_]

Searched previously where i could stream legally The Fog (1980) and no service has it. Fire up the torrent and i enjoyed watching it with a pizza. Thanks, torrent! ps. subscriptions can go suck themselves. Just looked and Dark City (1998) is also not available anywhere! This was the point that subscriptions were sold to us with, "watch anything" but they're pushing only 'Mega Marvel vol 15: Return of the Galaxy Saviours' instead of actually good movies!

[@dandanplaneman]

Lots of good info on Reddit

[@Ray_Vun]

so far, the only downside of piracy is that if a show has stuff in multiple languages, you might get screwed over because it might not have the subtitles. like, game of thrones, if they're talking in dorthraki or valyrian, you might have no clue what they're saying if the place you're getting the episodes from doesn't have the subtitles for it. we used to have a similar issue in the early days of piracy with music. where you'd be downloading a song from places like limewire, and then you went to listen to it and instead of the song you wanted it was either a different song with the same name, or some sort of parody of it, like goofy singing bring me back to life

[@JohnGardnerAlhadis]

​@@Ray_Vun There's a lot of sites that provide subtitles in numerous languages (mainly in SRT format, the most widely supported one).

[@Milo-l4g]

@@Ray_Vun you can download subtitles separately, though

[@MarteaniArt]

I was looking for a free/purchasable PDF program and heard the most depressing statement when looking for recs: "I wish I could find something with a one time subscription fee" Software subscriptions are so baked into the understanding of the market that the language of "ownership" and "purchase" are getting pushed out. I own the physical disks for the last version of Photoshop it was possible to own disks for and they're worth their weight in gold at this point.

[@kevin123photo]

I use PDF Gear, works well so far.

[@M167A1]

Look into PDF Candy. I don't know if they still offer it, but I have a lifetime License and a downloadable installation file.

[@mancavegamingandgardening9901]

PDF X-Change editor, cheap, perpetual license, does 99% of what Acrobat does minus the slowness.

[@mrdeanvincent]

I wish I still had one-time-purchase Photoshop 😢

[@amicaaranearum]

I use Nitro PDF.

[@sietemugres8231]

I start the video and KZbin ask if I want a premium suscription 🤣🤣🤣

[@IngeniebrioCivil]

To be fair, KZbin premium it's kinda nice, no ads on video plus acces to KZbin music for less than a Spotify subscription

[@rohanlady4]

I have KZbin Premium as I love watching YT without ads. An adblocker took away the ads for years, but YT got wise and wouldn't work with an adblocker any more. So I subscribed to the family plan and no more ads. I will buy products from YT creators if it's something I find useful as I know it supports them.

[@CptVein]

Ya...they got me too. It's my one and only subscription, but dammit, I actually like it. And I use youtube music a lot, so that's nice.

[@ThinWhiteAxe]

I do love and use YT Music all the time. Plus sometimes you can catch good free movies.

[@Cuunke]

@@IngeniebrioCivil you can't trick me KZbin employee #344052 i'll stick to my ad block

[@JenniferJadeKerr]

This reminded me to cancel my Audible subscription before my free trial ran out. The free audio book access through my library card is so much better. Support libraries!!!

[@afirewasinmyhead]

A lot of libraries have free music and movie streaming, too. Library is love, library is life. 🫶

[@miriamrobarts]

Yes, I really appreciate how much digital content is available through my library.

[@NovelNovelist]

Older millennial here -- yeah, definitely there's a psychology at play. Getting me to sign up for a recurring monthly cost is TOUGH. I'm incredibly resistant to it.

[@coachDANDY]

It's so uniquely dystopian that there are subscription services to help find and unsubscribe from unwanted services one might still be subbed to

[@KerbalJoe]

it's girl math capitalized

[@bartolomeothesatyr]

@@KerbalJoe "Girl math" calculated the trajectories of the Apollo moon landings. Can we not with the casual sexism?

[@KerbalJoe]

@@bartolomeothesatyr first off, you made it sexist. Second, you don't understand what girl math is. I want you to Google girl math 😂

[@bartolomeothesatyr]

​@@KerbalJoe I'm aware of the meme, and I object to it. The juxtaposition of the words "girl" and "math" put together in such a way as to linguistically imply that "girl math" differs from or is inferior to "boy math" is casually sexist at face value and empirically wrong; the phrase only loses that connotation when used ironically, and KZbin comment threads are notoriously bad at conveying linguistic irony.

[@TheLily97232]

doesn't Girl math mean that something doesn't make sense (cause girls suck at maths amarite ?)

[@AVdE10000]

Fuck software subscriptions particularly. Adobe and Microsoft Office going from buy-once software packages to a monthly payment model have just assured that I NEVER have used them since.

[@prophetzarquon]

Yeah I _never_ bought their software, but now I won't even _use_ their flagship apps. AnyOffice works fine, thanks!

[@benjalucian1515]

I buy MicroSoft Office when I need it. I rarely need it. I can go an entire year without using their products. Then I buy it and use it, then let the subscription lapse.

[@themancoat]

That's part of the trick, these companies no longer care about the individual consumer. It's all about that enterprise cash.

[@AVdE10000]

@@themancoat I think another huge problem is feature bloat. Photoshop or Premiere has had everything 90% of users need for like 10 years now. Why would anyone upgrade for increasingly niche and gimmicky features that no one cares about? And the number of new, non-repeat customers is probably fairly small. Don't get me wrong - I hate Adobe in particular, and the only thing worse than their subscription model is their hyper anti-consumer monopolistic business tactics. But if they went back to selling single purchase software packets, they'd probably be bankrupt withing two years.

[@benjalucian1515]

@@AVdE10000 They weren't going broke the first time, so why would they go broke now? What you said is what is theorized about iPhones. It's maxed out in design. It's not going to advance any further. That's why no one lines up anymore to get the latest release. All they can do is add niche and gimmicky options which most people won't buy.

[@dearyvettetn4489]

My son experienced this today when he had to spend his outdoor workday without music because the area of town he worked in today had a cellar service outage. So in addition to not owning any music you are deprived of its use when you loose communication with the provider of that service.

[@iLuseMy1v1s]

You can download music to listen to offline to avoid this very situation. KZbin music has this option available.

[@TomNook.]

Or just buy your playlist, download and copy to every device you own.

[@fattiger6957]

I've been buying a lot of albums lately from Bandcamp. It has streaming, but also allows you to download all your music in many different formats. But Bandcamp is for indie music made by people who are passionate about music, not mainstream music controlled by massive soulless corporations who want to suck as much money from you as possible.

[@seliamila1005]

thats why you should pirate

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

That is why all my music is stored in local storage and transferred to other devices. Only stuff I can access at home is stored on the cloud

[@JarNO_WAY]

Every time I see a service is subscription-based, I run the other direction. I only have a subscription to Spotify and one to NordVPN, the latter I use to pirate subscription services lmao

[@patrickgroening5664]

I have spotify premium but i don’t have my debit or credit card attached to it. I go out pay $100 to get a yearly spotify card and pay for premium that way. It’s over all cheaper than the $11:99 a month

[@joermnyc]

When my wife lost her job earlier this year we did a subscription clean out for anything we could do without, basically we paired it down to Amazon (free shipping, so it pays for itself… eventually) and KZbin Premium because our daughter uses the music app and sometimes the ads were inappropriate for a 10 year old (even when she was listening to kids music.))

[@vulcanfeline]

re your daughter...: yet youtube dmonitizes creators if they use a "bad word"

[@blondbraid7986]

You don't need a subscription for that though, just download a set of songs for your kid. Does no one remember the 90s when you had maybe two casette's worth of songs as a kid yet were fine with it? Especially considering most kids actively want to listen to their favourite songs over and over anyway.

[@joermnyc]

@@vulcanfeline George Carlin was right decades ago, there are no bad words, bad thoughts, bad intentions and words.

[@benjalucian1515]

@@joermnyc Before him, Oscar Wilde, about an "immoral" book. “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book,” wrote Wilde, “Books are well written or badly written. That is all.”

[@benjalucian1515]

@@joermnyc Have to disagree with Carlin, there are indeed bad intentions.

[@thebowandbullet]

Watch any budgeting show these days and one of the first things they check with their customers is how many sub services siphon off their money every month, many of which they likely forgot about and never use.

[@naophae]

Every time I sign up for some "first 7/14/30 days free" thing, I immediately put a calendar reminder to pop in 2 days before the free period expires, and at that point I cancel the hell out of it. Been totally gaming magazine services and other subscriptions like this, and I have absolutely no guilt and no shame 😏 Because otherwise, it's indeed so easy to just forget they exist... and then you wonder why you spend £200 extra every month without even knowing what it was used for....

[@ambiarock590]

I ensure to keep the number I have as low as possible. I have youtube cuz I watch things on here and discord cuz I use that to chat with friends all the time. I used to have spotify until I decided I'd rather own my music

[@fire_drake12.arc.24]

@@ambiarock590 As someone who has discord myself, genuinely i ask you, what do you get out of paying for discord nitro? I have looked at it myself and i cant fathom why anyone would ever pay money for any of what it offers. The only useful things i see from it is the increase in max file size for an attachment in a message, but the price for something like that which is so ungodly easy and simple to get around and do entirely for free is not worth it at all. I dont personally ever use emoticons/emojis and stuff like that so all that allowing you to use server emotes outside of the server, etc. is absolutely useless to me as well. The "deals" on games to me is also pointless once you consider it is outright not worth the money, since it is much easier to just wait for a sale on said game on Steam or somewhere else that DOESNT require a subscription on top of that to GET the deal in the first place; especially for someone like me where for the price of Nitro, all i would personally be getting out of it besides the sale stuff is increased attachment file size limit, which itself is such an easy workaround i wouldnt consider paying for it either. Profile icon borders, profile backgrounds, all that stuff is also absolutely worthless to me too since i dont use any of it, plus some of it can be gotten as a 1-time fee anyway which is instantly a better price. I probably just dont understand the value behind it, but to me when the offers of Nitro are so arbitrary and worthless, and some have literally a FREE alternative for barely any extra work, if at all, as well as no additional price tag to GET that "free" alternative; i cant grasp why anyone would pay monthly for what is normally a free voice chat/messaging app that gives you all you need for free already.

[@gigilee8599]

I work for an air conditioner manufacturer and we should all be terrified about the ideas that are being thrown around re: subscriptions.

[@vadim6385]

How about an A/C that doesn't go below 25C unless you pay for Premium, then if you want to go below 20C, you pay for Premium Plus. Oh, you also want heating? Then you should get our Premium Plus Max subscription for only $49.99/mo or $499.99/yr. That on top of what you paid for the unit, installation and electricity.

[@prophetzarquon]

Our new furnace uses a digital thermostat with _wireless..._ We turned all that off (it has a programmed cycle; we don't adjust it except on/off), but one of the first things it did, was throw a service warning to check for updates. Thankfully a service technician told me the hidden codes to clear the warning off the control screen.

[@planetofether5462]

That is very unethical, so many people die every year due to heat.

[@jonathancunningham8739]

@@planetofether5462 That will never happen one person dies the company goes under ac is a mandatory need so that won't change look at cars they tried and failed.

[@jer1776]

Im in the market for an AC unit right now, hoping for deals as summer passes. If I see "smart", " wifi" or "AI powered", I immediately lose all interest in buying it.

[@lexievv]

Subscription services are logical for some things and don't make sense for others. Yet every company is striving to find ways to make it seem like a subscription on their stuff is necessary.

[@RealShaktimaan]

Because it's more profitable to sell a $10 subscription then sell you a $100 one time software

[@lexievv]

@@RealShaktimaan I umderstand why, but it doesn't make it more logically. Monthly subscription for internet, understandable. Monthly subscription for stuff in a car that's already build in it. Not logical, just greed.

[@dabluflcn]

People used to constantly say government is bad at running things when it turns out it’s business that’s terrible at running things. Or good at running things into the ground, more accurately. Government is just unable to keep up with sensible legislation.

[@todesziege]

Maybe the form of ownership isn't a guarantee either way.

[@fredhurst2528]

The straw that broke me was all the major streaming services moving to ad-supported subscriptions. Hulu did this years ago when they went from a free with ads platform you could enjoy without signing up for an account, to the "you will watch ads and pay me for the privilege" model, and now they all have this. Funny thing about it is ad revenue is down across the board now for the whole industry. I guess more ads doesn't mean more money.

[@yaughl]

We as a whole just need to learn how to say "no, I don't need that". Starve the companies of subscribers; we do not NEED to participate.

[@prophetzarquon]

ISM\GPRS FTW

[@brindlekintales]

Word!

[@Mir_Teiwaz]

So far the worst sub I've heard about is one to use a printer. Not to have ink sent to your house, but to actually USE THE PRINTER. You know, the physical item that you bought to print stuff for you.

[@tyujg7495.]

How much

[@miriamrobarts]

Why would anyone buy that?

[@shablalala]

“If we don’t own anything, what does that mean for us moving into the future?” I think a more concerning question is, “If WE don’t own anything, then who does?” As we spend more of our money and own less and less, our subscriptions are just making “the owners” richer and richer and allowing them to buy more and more from us.

[@nangld]

If you don't own anything, you have nothing to lose. Enjoy freedom.

[@luddity]

@@nangld Including the freedom to unsubscribe from everything and buy what you need secondhand.

[@fedececca8318]

@@nangld literal slavery

[@OhGeeWillickersMister]

That's contemporary capitalism in a nutshell. The average person is not viewed as valuable or a source of ideas or talent (or even as human), but as a liability that should be kept as low cost as possible and which should be maximized for money extraction despite not making a living wage. Contemporary corporations are worse than vampires.

[@jonathancunningham8739]

Sigh most companies have abandon subscriptions heck Netflix and all the other services are bleeding money.

[@thoughtsofanobody]

I worked as an RA (resident assistant) at a dorm and watching students throw away entire dorm rooms of stuff every year was the worst part of the job for me. Full wardrobes, furniture, pots, dishes, rugs, artwork, everything all because it was too much money/effort to drive or fly home. I think the subscription model could work in here, everything you need for your dorm, half the price of buying new, and someone will pick it all up finals week.

[@hameley12]

Oh yes, to this! A group of Use/Reuse/Resell on Instagram was talking about this very topic. There are so many students who live on campus for a few years, whenever they go back home they don't take any of it. There is so much waste. There are a few non-profit organizations in Colorado, Nevada, Massachusetts and a few other places. The group of staffers will pick up your items. Bring it to storage, categorize it, price it and resell it to the next group of students who need it for a fair price. Unfortunately, not all States have adopted this idea out of laziness and most university shareholders care very little about the planet unless it feeds their bellies, and/or they lack the clearing crew to hire. This means paying trucks, gasoline, clearing crew and the media team [those behind the scenes categorizing, photographing and pricing things online].

[@miriamrobarts]

That could be a good business if you could get a warehouse cheap enough to store inventory.

[@fuzzyrat1955]

The thing that annoys me the most is access to credible information, so much from journals to new articles are locked behind a pay wall

[@shin-ishikiri-no]

Only rich get richer.

[@shin-ishikiri-no]

Only rich get richer.

[@dogoku]

Welcome to the age of techno-feudalism. You also forgot to mention about the "Enshittification" effect, where companies once they reach critical mass, they will reduce the value you get with your subscriptions (see Uber, Netflix and more). So we already have evidence that subscriptions will not make things better, only worse.

[@prophetzarquon]

Google _hates_ Google Voice users, & KZbin offering unlimited free video hosting is costly enough, that usage data & advertising can scarcely cover the costs. The first cellphones to have WiFi, did WiFi router duty as a built-in feature that any computer with WiFi has. Now it's a provider-specific feature & your cellular connection gets throttled the moment it's activated. They even tried charging extra for it but thankfully someone pointed out that _these features are established intrinsic capabilities of the hardware_ & it failed to pass the sniff test in court.

[@taltamir]

The "enshittification" effect is literally just a trendy new name for monopoly / trust / conspiracy. It has literally been a thing since the dawn of humanity. Look up anti trust laws. they literally exist to break those up. But have fallen by the wayside due to corruption.

[@yourguysheppy]

Until it becomes legal for the media companies to break in and smash my 20TB NAS I'll be enjoying my 1080p/4K media without a bother. Get bent, subscriptions

[@AdamKirbyMusic]

Same!

[@schpoo_]

How do youdo that?

[@Yggdrasill8]

400TB NAS here 💪

[@AdamKirbyMusic]

@@schpoo_ Other than sailing the high seas, you can rip your own physical media.

[@franciscoramirez789]

When COVID hit its peak back in 2020 and everything was closed. Planet Fitness had closed for a week, and then that turned to a month. I contacted them to cancel my membership and they said you could only cancel if you went in person. Again, the gym was closed. Took 2 more months until they had an option to mail in a cancellation request. These places prey on people with their memberships

[@PHlophe]

Paco, Diablos ! they let get fat by leveraging strict lockdown and they held you random. Now Que Triste !

[@benjalucian1515]

I was lucky. When I went to cancel my membership I was told only a manager could cancel my membership and he was never around and I couldn't make an appointment to see him I was lucky in that where I was working the time, I had a contact in our Legal Dept. I got the direct address and witness document for the company's home state and of their Attorney General. I took the documents to the club, asked again to cancel, was told the same thing, then asked the person "in charge" that day to sign my document that that was their cancellation policy and I would mail it to the AG. Within 5 minutes the manager came out said he couldn't sign, but cancelled my membership on the spot.

[@hameley12]

The same thing happened to me and my friends. We paused our payments shortly after on our banking app. The gym was sending us emails and letters almost every other day. We were thinking "How are they even sending all this email and letters? Why are they harassing people into signing up when the place is completely closed due to the pandemic? Is this even legal?" We tried calling and using the email provided on their portal. Nothing. So we drafted a letter and brought it to city hall to be notarized. We sent it to their HQ address and emailed them endlessly as they did to us. We finally saw fewer and fewer emails from them and physical mail. It was such a waste of paper, time and everyone's energy!! Any subscription-like system, should by law pause all payments or cancel them when you send an email. Overall it took us two and a half months in the back-and-forth game until they agreed to cancel. As soon as the pandemic restrictions were lifted we signed up with another gymnasium near our place.

[@flywithzunera]

I had changed membership from $30 to $15 and they overcharged me since last 3 months as they didn't change it in their system. I didn't know this until now i got reversal from bank for non sufficient funds, now that manager is offering me 4 months free membership for the extra months they charged me , but what about the $50 that bank charged me?? What can I do ? They are denying to refund the one bank charged me which happened due to their fault.

[@jpteknoman]

The optimistic take on it assumes the ethical integrity of the corporation offering the subscription. And we all know that they have no such thing. As an old philosopher said "power derives from ownership of wealth". That wealth can be anything but as long as it's yours, it gives you a degree of freedom. The more wealth/freedom you can accumulate, the less vulnerable you are to oppression. And in a world where not owning things is becoming the norm, those who hoard ownership will be the lords of the new feudal system and everyone else will be a serf.

[@kentslocum]

The fact that I need a subscription to read the news nowadays means I just don't read the news. And I'm a lot happier not being inundated with depressing news. 😊

[@mattm1686]

I get tired of the everything is only $10 a month! I want to actually own stuff that’s mine! Not stuff just owned by giant corporations like Spotify, Apple, etc. One of the newest frustrations I noticed is a lot of companies are offering these cheaper monthly subscriptions services if you agree to watch commercials every now and then I’m talking about you Netflix but then they reduce their catalog for the people that aren’t paying for the full service without ads. That kind of stuff is super shady .

[@whitneykaye]

Lime Wire and RuneScape were my 2000's internet vibes 🙌

[@navindu9889]

Nobody quits runescape

[@carl4964]

I did, back in 2016 ​@@navindu9889

[@KrulKrulSprietSpriet]

@@navindu9889 agree! I am only on my 20 year long break.

[@azca.]

Love that you didnt have to pay a sub for RS

[@KonaSuba]

Who is spending hundreds of dollars a month on subscriptions? That is wild

[@gabstradamus]

Honestly with how many things you can get subscriptions for, it’s not that hard. Tv/movie/music/music streaming services, food delivery, hygiene products, child/pet “loot boxes”

[@yourguysheppy]

People with more money than sense

[@zblurth855]

@@yourguysheppy internet and phone plan are subscription... in some country it can rack up pretty high especially if you have kids

[@zumabbar]

@@zblurth855 i think neccessary utilities like that should not count into the subscription plans the video is discussing

[@Ella-g2m]

Study apps for professional certs be like, we.

[@endelosecosplay1302]

I am a millennial from 83. The whole car subscription service part made me want to keep my 89 Cadillac hearse even more. It's a carburetor and simple electronics. Heck I removed computer parts as I have worked on her over the last 20+ yrs. The thought of paying to use a car I own is total BS and if I had too I would be bugging my techy friends to help me hack the damn thing.

[@kubakielbasa5987]

I want to buy a continental mark V or a cadillac deVille 4th gen

[@kumbah2006]

I've seen this coming many years ago, back when the ads and pop-up blockers were "all the rage', and now the landscape of what drives the internet used to be "sharing", and now it's mostly advertising - and video streaming. I've just subscribed to your channel, at around the first couple minutes into this video. Thanks for the very thorough explanations, and I plan to share this one on my channel, and on social media. This is such a great video - and thanks for posting it. :)

[@TheOtherBill]

Now subscribe to Louis Rossmann to learn the rest of the story.

[@Ivan-zf6wd]

To keep it short: The point your gen z colleague is missing is that the subscription model is created to extract more profit from the consumers which is the main incentive of every (most) companies in the current economic system.

[@domjfante8140]

No one is arguing that subscription models don’t create more profit. But that point is irrelevant if enough consumers decide that the company’s product/service isn’t worth subscribing to. Look at how far Netflix has fallen, as well as the dozens of startups that fail every year with this model. Subscribing indefinitely to use physical products (cars, printers, furniture, etc) is absolute lunacy and as long as enough people realize this there will always be companies that will sell those products for ownership.

[@opierroleo]

also renting a wedding dress from a store does not require a subscription renting =/= subscriptions

[@TheOfficialOriginalChad]

@@domjfante8140Netflix hasn’t fallen. It’s currently around its ATH. You’re out of touch.

[@cosmodious1755]

@@domjfante8140 I hate to say it but Netflix hasn't fallen. As much as their reputation is in the toilet online, financially they're doing better than they ever have. Their stock price is practically higher than it's ever been and they reported record subscriber numbers earlier this year.

[@OhGeeWillickersMister]

@@opierroleo where can you rent? Nowhere in my area

[@hopps2734]

Say it with me again kids: "If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing."

[@honor9lite1337]

Indeed.

[@mjc0961]

"YOU WOULDN'T DOWNLOAD A HEATED SEAT" Heck yes I would

[@Roeclean]

@@mjc0961 HELL YEAH. I have plenty of storage with the 1.5GB on my computer

[@Pschokid]

Nobody buys the full rights to a movie or a show. Just the right to stream it on a certain platform that's only valid as long as said platform have the right to keep that movie/series

[@Kevin-oj2uo]

Be ready because another wave of piracy crackdown will come. So be a data hoarder and have copies of the things you love , because one day they will dissapear.

[@HydroniteTB]

Subscription services even leaked into a lot of video games, it’s crazy

[@Jello2]

PlayStation plus 😭. They’ve been getting $60+ a year out of me for like 9 years

[@JeffZ1028]

​@@Jello2That's not too bad compared to paying monthly but I think the original comment is refering to individual titles having their own subscriptions now and that's completely separate from battle passes typically.

[@sprengar]

i've heard plenty of my coworkers raving abt xbox game pass and it seems like a total ticking time bomb

[@Volkbrecht]

Nothing really wrong with that. When I was a kid, live services weren't a thing. Now they are, and we need to get used to managing them.

[@HydroniteTB]

@@JeffZ1028 yes you’re correct, I don’t mean about battle passes, that is an entirely separate issue in my opinion. The actual subscription services are beginning to be more prevalent in games.

[@wer2006]

To be frank, and I think a lot of people actually think like I do on this matter, subscriptions are great for all kinds of services where we don't use a specific product over and over again, like movies, music, and news articles. But they are absolutely terrible for things that we just continuously (and maybe even just occasionally) for a very long time, like a video editing program

[@Roxor128]

Yeah, subscriptions really only make sense if you want to pay for a constant trickle of new and different things that individually aren't going to get much use. Anything else, and you're better off owning it outright.

[@thecapone45]

I loved the irony in this video when he’s pitching is a subscription. And when he talks about the guilt trips companies pull to get you to stay, then he points out how the other channel died partly because they didn’t get enough subscribers. 😂

[@Nicksonian]

Dropping subscriptions and free news killed newspapers. As a journalist, I got involved in the digitization of the news a few years after it began. Going back more than a century, newspapers were among the first to adopt a subscription model. Throughout much of the 20th Century, newspapers raked in money hand over fist by sucking in massive amounts of classified and retail advertising, plus monthly subscription fees. Come the internet and adopting the early WWW ethic of making information available to everyone, newspapers gave up on subscriptions, posted news online for free, and hoped that all the advertisers they had for print would now buy online ads. What a failure that was. But in just a few years, retail and classified ad income plummeted. The only subscription income coming in was from the shrinking number of people who still got that thing on newsprint. After over a decade of giving content away, newspapers tried to pivot and adopt subscription models, but it was too late. No one wanted to pay for what they were already getting for free. The companies that owned newspapers lost their 25 to 30 percent profit margin and the industry began its rapid decline. Sure, The Washington Post and The NY Times still exist, but odds are your local newspaper is either dying or already dead.

[@jasons5916]

There are other reasons for the death of local newspapers too. Media monopolization has squeezed them out and easy access to bigger papers online made people question why they were paying for a newspaper. I think syndication and AP also changed how they do business and it squeezed the smaller newspapers too much.

[@vulcanfeline]

speaking of the ny times: a channel i watch had an article about them so they went and bought a physical copy for themselves. it was so thin i could hardly believe it

[@TheOfficialOriginalChad]

Phones killed newspaper. I can’t think of a dumber idea than printing and shipping disposable books daily. It was a great idea when there wasn’t another way to get information to people while they sit on the toilet, but no longer.

[@DJ-so9cg]

That's why they are always biased. Income keeping things afloat is coming from lobbies

[@prophetzarquon]

I still find it weird that practically everyone _pays_ for "internet". _"Back in my day, if ya wanted to send data remotely, ya set up yer own servers for that, & maybe got some o' th' folk next to ya, to help too. And we_ *_liked_* _it!"_ Radio communication isn't _that_ hard...

[@SiincereARC]

To be fair, as someone who was in their late teens/early 20s in the early 2000s, your computer was NOT guaranteed to be virus riddled or break down the minute you downloaded music for free. It happened but it happened the way it happens now. If you don't know what you're doing, you get viruses. I only had to reformat my computer maybe 1 a year or every other year due to a virus. Mind you, those were also the days when we relied on some random company (like McAfee) for virus protection, so honestly, it could have been more their fault then the software we used to download music/music videos/movies. People kind of exaggerate how risky it was to download music in the early 2000s. I did it from 2003-2008 (ish) before I relied on youtube to get my free music/music videos.

[@prophetzarquon]

Such risks have always been exaggerated (& exacerbated) for profit. I've literally never had a personal computing issue traceable to a virus (ad-blocking helps security more than aftermarket antivirus), & Win10 was the most self-destructing OS I've seen since Windows ME. Meanwhile, I don't pay for $#¡+. Every show, ebook, etc, is free, & only fools & greedy liars think they shouldn't be. I've paid for a few games; back in the day I even _paid to play the original PlanetSide_ for a few months after my Beta pack ran out... Generally, I just won't, though. Show me a Gameboy & I'll show you a ROM cartridge. Digital media fees are a ripoff. When I want to help a content creator, I help _them,_ not a distributor with an exclusivity clause.

[@bitelaserkhalif]

Outside of real deal, It's either low quality music, moaning sounds, or virus (ranked from incidents lo to hi)

[@SiincereARC]

@@bitelaserkhalif I lucked out with music every time. I only got viruses when it came to movies, games or software.

[@balsarmy]

100% usually it slowed down the work, but cleaning was possible

[@phatphan1403]

I always back up my software and files in separate storages to prevent any regrets. Yet, I rarely have to reformat my computer due to virus problem.

[@1mlb704]

It's one thing to subscribe to a creator on KZbin or whatever so they can keep making content/art/etc. It's another thing to subscribe to some billion dollar corporation that's charging you for stuff that should already be included with the initial purchase (ie. heated seats)

[@edwardtheinsane]

Except we don't need a subscription model to share items that we don't need all the time. We already have a model. It's called a library. And it's free.

[@pixeljurnee]

It might seem weird but...this is the video that convinced me to sign up for your Patreon....and I've been subscribed to this channel since video 1. Keep doing what you are doing and I'll be here to support you all.

[@empresssk]

You peaked at the end with the disassociation bit. The more things are transferred to a detached, autopilot subscription process, the less meaning they have to us. We’re becoming soulless. Naturally, these conversations lead to questions about our humanity and the impact of capitalism. Subscriptions make us apathetic about life in general. No sense in denying it.

[@prophetzarquon]

Why deny it yourself, when you can get a digital monk to deny it for just 5¢ per proompt?

[@bloodmooncomics2249]

I am worried how far subscriptions will go. "I need to get milk from the store" "Oh sorry you forgot to renew your subscription to this store" We do have a slight version of that in the way of insurance... think about it, you pay a monthly fee to be able to go to certain doctors. If you use it for that month or don't you still have to pay or you are no long subbed and have to resub and/or pay for one time use. I personally dislike that everything is getting subscriptions. You are only renting. Places can go "Hey, we are dropping you, no reason though, but when you signed up you allowed us the right to randomly kick you off. You now have to send us everything you got from us. Since we own it". Online places get to just delete movies, shows, music, books, etc even if you paid for those things online (I think a video game did that 2 years ago). Think if a clothing subscription did the same thing. You do not own any of it so if they want it back you have to give it back to them, then they can charge you fees for not returning them right away or 'improper packaging'. Companies want to get as much money as they can. I remember when Microsoft Word was free. Then they charged you a solid one time fee to get it. Now you have to pay a monthly fee. It is crazy that once free companies will find a way to charge you.

[@Ray_Vun]

i mean a store subscription isn't too much of a stretch. plenty of supermarkets have some sort of points system that usually has a card or app so you get points, discounts, coupons, etc for using it when shopping. all they'd have to do is change it to a mandatory subscription service and require you to scan your card or some qr code on the app in order to be allowed in the store

[@user-hm5zb1qn6g]

Tht' the Costco model.

[@cheapdrunk8531]

office is still available as a one time purchase. you just loose out on cloud stuff

[@jonathancunningham8739]

Doomer subscriptions for many services are dying heck many are going back even if limited to physical media.

[@mnaeseth24]

The craziest is a subscription for Microsoft word I only use it like twice a month why can we just make up single payment and be done with it

[@RevolutionQueer]

This is why I use Open Office!

[@vulcanfeline]

@@RevolutionQueer open office also does spreadsheets

[@bad_anima]

You can. I just bought the basic MS Office from Amazon when it was on sale for Prime Day this year for a one time payment.

[@ts25679]

"Your subscription to Oxygen is coming up for renewal, why not consider upgrading to Oxygen plus *tm now with 30% fewer pollutants and offering a wide variety of fragrances. The new Spring Collection offers the scents of a forest meadow with out the allergens, order now before stock runs out..."

[@illegalalien6542]

The Lorax intensifies...

[@mediocreman2]

Don't forget that subscription services can change their content or what they are offering you at ANY time. And if you don't agree, you have to cancel. The goalposts are constantly moving.

[@Gyle_Bly]

Soon, everything will be like EA. "PaY £2.50 tO gO RiGhT!¡!"

[@eldorado3523]

You already have arguably safety features that are subscription based. Shit like adaptable headlight high beams. It's one thing to have that an optional extra when you buy the car, it's another when you get used to having it and forget to pay the sub and all of a sudden you're blind as a bat.

[@alaric_]

Can't remember what game it was but one executive suggested speed reloads at one dollar price instead of normal reloads. That's one step away from what you said.....

[@alaric_]

@@eldorado3523 Pretty sure would not work in Europe, thank the gods. Where USA is literal wild west of exploitation of consumers, Europe doesn't even allow Cybertruck to be sold here as it lacks safety featuress like "mechanical connection to open door from the inside".

[@vulcanfeline]

@@eldorado3523 omg are you serious? there's really subscription high beams now? /ponders getting out the horse and buggy again

[@samsawesomeminecraft]

Spotify does NOT contain every song written by every human being or AI ever. There is a very large number of songs that have not been registered with any music rights group, and Spotify refuses to catalog or stream such songs.

[@JohnGardnerAlhadis]

I have countless demo recordings by bands who never had a Spotify presence, many of whom disbanded long before that service existed. So I laughed like Edna Krabappel at the thought that Spotify includes every underground band in existence. 🤣

[@MetalDustGaming]

@@JohnGardnerAlhadis lmfao, for real. One of my all time favorite albums is from a music group that, while semi-popular in the 2000s, disbanded in 2007 and cannot be found on any streaming service. But even when talking about non-obscure music, sometimes songs just... vanish from Spotify or get replaced with the brand new "remastered" version. This is why I use MusicBee to play the music I store locally on my HDD. (Including all the demo tracks and self-published albums/doujins I've collected over the years.)

[@JohnGardnerAlhadis]

@@MetalDustGaming That can happen on Bandcamp too, unfortunately. I've noticed purchases going "missing" from my collection there, and it turns out Bandcamp nuked the band's account without even notifying anybody. Including the band themselves. Reason? It's war-themed black metal, and I assume it matched some WWII related lyrics and assumed it was NSBM (it wasn't). The deletions prompted me to download EVERYTHING in my collection in FLAC format and back it up to.a HDD. I mean, unceremonious, unprecedented deletion without so much a notification from the service? That's bad. Like, really bad.

[@miked5444]

I wanted to make this comment too. I've always missed out on songs cause they aren't there. Thats part 2 of the streaming hell scape. Cause everyone competes by gatekeeping content, price, user experience and practicality go out the window.

[@skiedev]

I seem to find such small artists or cover artists who don't have a Spotify and people are surprised I just listen to youtube...it's mainly younger gen z that assumes their sub to Spotify has everything

[@rachelrainbowphoenix]

Software lock outs on hardware to force subscriptions should be illegal. Full stop.

[@Ella-g2m]

I think the printer shenanigans are actually illegal in Europe. But america is a slave colony owned by corporate interests. The US is a fake country.

[@prophetzarquon]

Also, your cellular service should not get throttled just because you activated the "hotspot" (AKA the WiFi router capability intrinsic to pretty much anything with WiFi).

[@benjalucian1515]

ATT tried that BS with me. My printer has wifi. It worked for month before ATT locked down wifi access for peripherals. I had to pay a subscription. I told them where to get off, bought a $10 cable and made my wifi printer a wired printer and it's been working fine for 5 years.

[@moritz7179]

I really feel your struggle with advertising your own subscription service. Everything is turned into a business nowadays and I hate it. Won't be long until you can get subscription friends and partners, just so humans lose any real connection to the world around them. Corporations will love that because the less you care about the world around you, the easier it will be for them to destroy it.

[@NeoDarkling]

I'm Gen X so I'm in that group that saw the birth of all of these subscription services but am also old enough to remember the time before they were normalized into everyday life. The way we have been corraled into the corporate slaughter pen is truly insidious. When I imagine what will be considered "normal" in the next twenty to thirty years, my blood runs cold.

[@TheBreaded]

The car thing isn't totally new. Back in the day (like 60's/70's) some cars would come with cruise control installed but if you didn't pay for the option they wouldn't put the little button to turn it on in the interior. Made it easier for dealerships to install it. Many people realized this and then promptly installed the button themselves.

[@n900video]

Not exactly a subscription but I did it in in the 2000s as well. Cost me around $70 to buy the cruise control stalk plus a new cover for the steering wheel column and maybe 15 minutes to install all of it.

[@prophetzarquon]

At least that was a one-time cost. Subscriptions for a feature built into the product, are the "product" of insane greed.

[@hallamshire]

Ironically, I feel like I listen to and watch less diverse music, tv, and films now that I have access to an unlimited supply of them. Especially with music, the more unlimited access I have had, the less new music I have sought out and the less I have listened to full albums.

[@Window4503]

Yup. Analysis paralysis. The more options someone has, the more likely they are to make decision-making as convenient and stress-free as possible.

[@estefaniaguillen9628]

me, with a 500 gb hard disk full of pirated films: uh... yeah... subscriptions...

[@ambiarock590]

Me and my 12 TB drive loaded with MP3s: nothing to see here

[@prophetzarquon]

2TB of SciFi (full... 🤕) 250GB all the old Star Trek + IDKGB of new Trek shows 980GB recent 2TB other Movies (full) 2TB other TV (full) ~100GB on my phone? I'm missing some episodes of a few shows I liked, from the last ten years. I think I've spent ~$50 per presidency on entertainment media (almost exclusively apps, not static media). The thousands of hours I've spent helping artists, scientists, & teachers, discuss what they do, have most of all taught me that arguments in favor of "intellectual property" don't hold water.

[@Finalizor]

Personally I think it's a waste of space I rather just keep finding pirate *streaming* sites instead Which I have found multiple of

[@Finalizor]

@ArtemisRose-do6oe Well for starters you need to get a hard drive of your choice

[@lainiwakura1776]

Only 500 gbs? Time to look for something at least 2 TBs.

[@bigboxofstuff]

the thought of subscribing for a bed just creeps me out.

[@smileyp4535]

14:30 "renting out furniture and clothing is a good way to make environmentally more friendly and durable products that last a long time" Or, yk, an opportunity to make shitty stuff that doesn't last so you can charge a subscription fee and also a damage fee/safety deposit that you don't have to pay back because it's so easy for the customer to break and charge them for it.

[@smileyp4535]

Don't look for an upside to capitalism, it needs to go, even if you believe it was nessisary for humanity to get this far in technology (which I don't, incidentally, but many do) it is only destroying us and the world now, there are no upsides and to look for them is falling for propaganda. End capitalism, save the word.

I just unsubscribed a forgotten subscription yesterday, and I was _baffled_ how easy it was. A simple landing page with an unsubscribe button, no dark patterns, guilt trips or anything else. Funny to see this video on my feed today, as I was also thinking how sad it is that this experience is the outlier nowadays…

[@radishrain8866]

Normalizing good quality second hand and reusing is great. We could have a library style society where we can check things out without the greedy corporations taking advantage. We can never get to a fully sustainable culture without taking money out of the equation.

[@kotlolish]

Money is nothing more then "something that gives something else a measurable value" The fish I caught isn't super valuable to me, but to you who can't fish.. is very valuable.. so we trade goods. My fish for your thing I can't make or have. Money on the other hand puts value on my fish and your goods for everyone to see. It eliminates one huge factor.. that one of us would trade something, thinking it is rare and valuable but in reality.. is worthless. (yet scams still happen) Also coins do not expire, my fish or your goods don't. If I fish 20 fish.. it will expire.. but if I sell my 20 fish for coins, those coins will always be worth 20 fish. That said.. if someone control the value of fish as the only fisherman. That's how greed will happen.

[@radishrain8866]

@@kotlolish thanks for explaining money! I didn’t know fish expire!

[@kotlolish]

@@radishrain8866 I wasn't ment to degrade you, I just figured adding context always helps.....

[@Jorda5s]

I literally refuse to use apps that have subscription anymore. After the apps completely changing over time it doesn’t even have the value I paid for it originally. One time payment apps are harder to find.

[@unavezms8167]

Downloaded reader app. It showed me big banner asking to subscribe to it. Uninstalled in immediately.

[@Jorda5s]

@@unavezms8167 I got a few products even now that you can’t even use without subscription one was a gps tracker and another some camera gimbal it’s crazy

[@Aaron.Rants.Reviews]

I've still got a shelf full of DVDs and an iTunes library with 16GB of music ripped from CDs. A lot of things are easy to find second-hand, no need for subscriptions.

[@sparrow8072]

I have my issues with subscription models with one huge caveat: my movie theater subscription is the best $20 I spend every month! My sister and I LOVE movies, especially horror movies, and we have always preferred seeing them in theaters until tickets got so expensive that we had to be more selective in the hopes that the movie would be worth the ticket price. Now, we get 3 free tickets every week (we rarely go more than 1-2x in one week lol) and so cost no longer factors into our decision making. Movies that we really want to see, movies that seem mildly interesting or would have previously been a wait for streaming movie, movies that we vaguely remember seeing the trailer for but don’t remember anything about it (Oddity; Skincare), movies we’ve never heard of but it just happens to be playing on a day we feel like getting out of the house (this one was Problemista and it was great!), and movies that we are 90% sure won’t be any good but maybe it’ll be entertaining enough to fill an afternoon are all just as likely to get us to the theater. And the win for the theater is that we now actually buy concessions (at least a drink) every time we go since we don’t have to spend anything on the tickets. Everyone knows that’s where they get most of their money anyway!

[@pollopapigrande4990]

there's not a problem with options to pay creators that make content but ur kidding me if car companies r srsly gonna charge me a subscription to use the ac 😐.

[@SD-os2ym]

The car subscriptions for basic things hit me the hardest! I seriously seriously hope that there is enough consumer backlash to this that it does not come down to regular people cars. 😮

[@alaric_]

Don't worry, it will be the new norm in the USA. Consumer has literally zero rights in there. Meanwhile in Europe, there's already talks of putting legistlation in place that if you buy a car, manufacturer can't limit what's on it artificially to demand fees to unlock it. You bought it, you own it!

[@Ray_Vun]

modern cars becoming paywalled on basic features is just gonna increase the demand for used cars

[@vulcanfeline]

car: "please insert $5 to keep driving" tires: (hissing) "please insert $5 to close the tire valves"

[@prophetzarquon]

There is actually quite a bit wrong with restricting reproducible works as a societal default.

[@AnuschkavanDijke]

The two problems I have with subscriptions are: 1. The flattening of our cultural experience (art for the algorithm, more of the same). And 2. The hollowing out of subscriptions over time (introduction of tiers, and then inuding less and less of the basics in the lower tiers of service, which over time means you pay more and more for what used to be part of the basic rate or pay for almost non working service). Both would mean a No to subscriptions for me.

[@Mysticbladegod]

This is why I have gone all in on physical media and I'm currently working on eliminating all of my subscriptions. I no longer have Netflix and will be eliminating my Prime subscription next! I prefer owning my media and products. I have a large DVD/Blu-Ray collection, a larger collection of physical (primarily retro) video games and I utilize my local library for books (also the Libby app). I've also loved shopping for CD's and found an FYE store that was still open!

[@jenniferri7735]

same. i've transferred all of my streaming subs to family members and am working on rebuilding my DVD collection. and i've never done spotify or apple music - if there's a specific song i want to hear, i find it on youtube.

[@HORNOMINATOR]

now you will love shopping for hard drives

[@stephencoakley]

@@HORNOMINATOR Better than giving money to cloud companies so that *they* can buy more hard drives.

[@benjalucian1515]

@@HORNOMINATOR They are multi use.

[@purplespectre]

If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing

[@mchenrynick]

7:02 BMW got a lot of backlash for this. I would NEVER OWN ONE, even if won the lottery!

[@JRCSalter]

There are a few separate issues here. The idea of paying a regular amount for something, the idea of renting something, and the idea of continually paying for something that costs nothing. Paying a regular amount for something isn't inherently a bad idea. Magazine subscriptions, Patreon, even Netflix, all give value that needs a regular paycheck. Paying a regular amount for something that you won't own, is a bit more problematic; if you want to access that thing again once the subscription ends, you have to pay again; not to mention the fact it can be taken away at the whims of the business (which also includes housing. If the landlord wants their house back, you're out of there). Paying for early access to free content, is easier to justify, as you are paying for a privilege, and most people who do so are fully aware they can get the content for free, and so are doing it to support the business. Continually paying for something that costs nothing is downright evil. You are paying people to literally flick on a switch once and do nothing else (in reality, it's not even a person). In the case of the heated seats, they could just increase the price of the car by a marginal amount, and most people wouldn't care. I have nothing against subscriptions as a business model, but only really if it's treated like it was originally intended. You pay an amount for something that you enjoy which is released regularly and that you get to enjoy forever the items you have purchased, without paying anything beyond that initial investment.

[@YdenMk-II]

1:40 I have to disagree with the comment that ads back then were low key because that was the time before web browsers came built in with built in pop up blockers. There's a reason why pop up killers was category of software.

[@dany_fg]

solution? pirate. I'm not going to pay a subscription to a service that doesn't offer any value. plain and simple.

[@jonathancunningham8739]

Or buy psychical.

[@dany_fg]

@@jonathancunningham8739 if you can actually find then sure, I will buy it. it's becoming really hard to find a physical version of many things.

[@Timri3681]

The problem with not actually owning anything is that *someone* does. And that someone now has control over you.

[@bartolomeothesatyr]

This.

[@Sb129]

>consoom [content] >[content] moves to *new* separate streaming service Yo ho! Yo ho - a Pirate's life for me~~

[@ninjanerdstudent6937]

8:49 - Instead of Patreon, why don't you just get sponsors that we end up blocking? That way you get paid by the advertiser, but none of us have to ever know about it.

[@Alpha_GameDev-wq5cc]

Not everyone “blocks” it… they want to be responsible and not promote scams like betterhelp. You’re incredibly naive, these sponsors would never sponsor a creator if they don’t get measurable clicks, impressions and signups from the creator. Use basic logic.

[@genericplantlife]

I assume it's hard for them to get sponsors because the channel is built on negging different companies.

[@namespace977]

Because they track ads performance and will stop sponsoring videos if they don't get return on investment very fast.

[@ninjanerdstudent6937]

@@namespace977 Liar. Only the KZbinr and KZbin can view video analytics.

[@ShwetaManohar]

It's not video analytics. They can see how many people clicked the sponsored link and visited their site. ​@@ninjanerdstudent6937

[@phoenixhexclar9340]

If i can point out, subscriptions have always existed for life necessities... For poor people. Renting is essentially subscription housing and rent a center had all your housing needs.

[@HORNOMINATOR]

if i can just move within all houses from one to the other every month, ...

[@alaric_]

Unlike subscribe services, renter has rights written in law. Some countries even consider housing a basic human necessity, far cry from Spotify. If we have to, we could stretch the term to include student fees, electricity and even doctors bills as without healthcare, life would be very short. Who benefits from including everything that isn't actually a subscription service? I have no idea but it's not gonna be the consumer.

[@namespace977]

Renting is very convenient because you can move elsewhere with relative ease (I've moved several times in my early twenties). If I had the money I wouldn't buy a house for any reason other than as an investment.

[@jalipeno97]

the benefit of subscriptions and lack of physical media ownership in the collective conscious is that old cds are super cheap now so im able to build out my collection much faster so thanks spotify i hate you

[@olafsigursons]

I still listen to more music than I could have storage for it physical or otherwise.

[@jalipeno97]

@@olafsigursons yea but i use apple music to stream new stuff and then buy cds of the stuff i like

[@jasons5916]

@@olafsigursons A TB of CD quality FLAC is like 100 days of music. That will fit on a thumb drive

[@BLAQFiniks]

Born 1990. Have absolutely ZERO paid subscriptions. Sometimes, I'm debating on buying subscription on some educational materials or movie platform... but I always end up not doing it, because I don't want to pay for the whole bloody platform to watch a single vid.

[@Jekalmat]

As our lord savior Gaben once said, "Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem" !

[@blackpolygon9306]

Kind of tired of replacing our computers all the time, so when spotify ... That conjecture took me off guard.

[@elaineb7065]

The issue is, we still have to replace our computers on a regular basis to keep up with tech advancements, which is why my most expensive subscription is my combined ISP/ mobile phone package. I get a decent phone (currently Google Pixel 7a) for a couple of years included in the price, & after a couple of years I can swap for a new one. My other subscription is Netflix, for the simple reason that watching something on a screen in the UK either comes with a regular fee (the TV licence), ads (KZbin), or both. My current Netflix has no ads & I plan to keep it that way. Hear that Netflix??? Don't charge us for a service with ads!!! If there's a film I really want to see I can't get on Netflix, I buy the DVD

[@smallbutdeadly931]

Its funny cuz as someone who has a personally-built gaming PC, I just keep the same PC and replace/upgrade parts whenever I need to. Its not just for music though... I'd much rather own my own PC than use subscription services like Geforce Now, or have a console and have to use Xbox Live or Playstation Plus.

[@skyirwin1445]

In some situations subscriptions are needed, but rarely. It's been turned into another way to take away ownership of what we buy.

[@Undlark]

are subscriptions going to make the world better? Short answer: No. Long answer: Your Gen z writer is extremely naive to believe that *ANY* for-profit company would make a service with the intent on being environmentally and consumer conscious. If you want an example, look at the farming industry and how they 'rent out' the machines/licensing for farmers. Nothing is free, including the sites you go to that are not subscription based. The only way we can provide health and care for one another is publicly funded services and stripping private industries of their right to price gouge due to the 'convenience tax'. Meanwhile, they freely steal your personal information and sell it to advertisers *all the time*. We give it to them freely because of clicking the 'accept' button to all the cookies and terms of services you have to click on just to access a 'free' website. If you don't fight for your right to own what you've purchased or your personal data, I GUARANTEE in the next decade, your computer will require a subscription JUST to turn on.

[@brianwatts5482]

As an older boomer I still buy DVD movies, cancelled Netflix and Disney. I try to limit any subscriptions as much as I can. It would add up to hundreds of dollars. I have to add monthly payments of Internet, phone services, hydro and gas heating.

[@MegaLokopo]

It isn't some big conspiracy it is all caused from the simple fact that someone needs to pay the developers for the software that you use. Also ads getting worse was caused by people no longer interacting with ads, if no one is clicking on ads, they don't make money, you don't pay for a service by watching an ad you pay for the service by buying the product or service being advertised to you. You don't have to and never had to buy every product advertised to you, but you do have to pay for some of them. How else do you people think the developers get paid?