For the past several months I have been wrestling with the existential
question; if I have 57 channels and nothing is on, why?
Having been a Cable Cutter for some time then adopting the Cloud
Cutter mantle it only seems natural that I would chase the vaunted
Streams Cutter rank as well.
Why? Streaming Services are dependent on revenue streams in order to
exist. For the moment the focus will be on subscription streaming
services (SSS). I will address the issue(s) of ad based streaming
services next. Subscription services rely on no-labor re-runs to
sustain themselves. They throw in just a touch of new content to
maintain a FOMO cycle for their viewers. That FOMO cycle can be
broken easily by continuing to subscribe to the streaming service that
generates the FOMO cycle to begin with. The walled garden of fear is
self-sustaining.
This FOMO cycle is a technique used by many silo-ing systems, whether
they are social media, music services, up to and including gaming
services.
Ad based streaming services, in my opinion, fail on three levels. The
first is "If you are not paying for a product then you are the
product." Second, beyond the interruptions, are the ad duration
verses content. My time enduring the commercials is not worth the
paltry offering. The third issue, IMO, is the detrimental effect that
Ads and associated services have; ads are emotional and social manipulation.
This last element is particularly insidious, using known psychological
and behavioral techniques to envoke feelings, needs, wants and desires
that previously were not there. Effectively bending people to the
will and intent of the Advertizer. Often this is happening without
the knowledge or consent of the viewer.
"I never knew I absolutely had to have the latest and greatest
<Widget> until I saw that 'informative' and relatable commerical on
<MediaStream>."
Enter JellyFin. My instance is locally hosted featuring the content
the *I* get to choose. (Caveate: The owner (me) is responsible for
sourcing content appropriately.) JF is an open source project that
bring new meaning to Plug-n-Play. Once installed and pointed at
directories that hold content JF produces a very comfortable, familiar
UI for access.
When I added the JF "channel" to my Roku it found my JF server
automatically. Of course, like any user-profile based program, there
is a bit of Administrivia, but that is exactly what it is, easy
trivia (self-explanitory). My SO, B, just treats JF like another Roku
stream - until she *doesn't* get billed for the service.
