Thoughts on Streaming Services

“Widow’s Bay” started very slowly for me. But I’d recommend you to stick with it, as there really are some stand-out episodes and moments. I grew increasingly fond of it as I watched, and even more so as I reflect on it now that we’ve finished.

I agree with Snell here: The Apple TV, even with its price increases, is still the only streaming box on the market that isn’t completely junked up. I just wish that Apple would give it more love and attention.

Quite the opposite of the Netflix story lately, Apple TV is hitting its stride. This narrative seems as strong as the negative one regarding Netflix, and I’ve been seeing it more and more. (I did start Widow’s Bay, now halfway through. It started pretty slowly, but it’s cooking with gas.)

I found myself reading this article nodding my head, and ended with a resounding “duh!” I mean, they’ve basically admitted to enshittifying the platform with ads, games, etc., while deliberately investing less in the shows themselves.

Gah, I hate when apps allow previews to automatically play by default, and the feeling that you can’t let your selection rest on anything for more than a moment. Of course there should be a standard for stopping that madness. And don’t get me started about Netflix….

Here are some thoughts on The Hollywood Reporter’s take on Supergirl, House of the Dragon’s S3 premiere, and Apple TV’s programming.

I’m apparently too old for Pop Culture Jeopardy!, because I was absolutely terrible at it the first time around. But I’m generally happy to see Jeopardy! trying new things.

I totally agree that custom players should be made to implement platform standards. The elephant in the room, of course, is: What does Apple do if Netflix calls their bluff and takes their app off of Apple TV? Does Apple need Netflix more than Netflix needs Apple?

Honestly, between the ever-increasing monthly prices and their complete refusal to be a good citizen on Apple platforms, let alone actively making their apps worse, Netflix makes me want to cancel so badly. (Recently my wife got logged out, and her first thought was that I had canceled.)

A couple years after cutting the cord, I finally fixed our flaky over-the-air TV and now have a reliable, free(ish) source for our nightly Jeopardy! habit. Hopefully this post can help anyone wanting to run their tuner on power-over-ethernet like I did.