The Internet is getting like TV

It used to be so nice reading or watching a video. Now you have to wade through stupid ads and links to links to links which at the end of it is a blurb before you can actually read what you originally clicked on......or sometimes there is nothing at the end of road.

I've bitten the bullet and resigned myself to the fact that if you want ad-free content on the internet, you have to pay a little subscription fee. So I don't mind the $10 or so it costs me to subscribe to Netflix, and the same for Spotify. For other types of content, it's amazing how much the AdBlock+ browser add-on gets rid of. 

The part which probably irks me the most about internet distribution is when you want to buy something and be legit - a series, a book or an album - which is available for free everywhere on the net but unavailable for purchase in your region or such.

There's a French series I like to watch - short 4 minutes sketch. Sticking w/ the official website means having to put up w/ publicity every time you load a new episode and jumping through all kind of hoops. Unfortunately, we cannot buy that show here in the US.

But then you launch YouTube and find all the episodes, sometimes put together end to end (much more convenient), and w/ only one add at the beginning. 

Sometimes I feel like the distributors aren't in touch w/ reality.

It's a pretty dismal state of affairs.

Back in the 60s when cable was first being touted the idea was you paid a fee because there were no commercials. Last time I checked it seemed like half the channels I had were 24 hour commercials. And I'm paying for them whether I watch them or not.

The internet will, I suspect, end up largely the same. Go shopping!!!

Regards,

We got rid of our satellite and just use the internet now for TV. We also recently bought a Blu Ra player that came with 3 months free of Hulu and Amazon Prime ...

Hulu is about as worthless as they come and is not worth a penny in my opinion. 5,000 movies about gays and lesbians, and then there's ... well there's, uh, then there's that ... oh wait, that sucks too ... but there's this one show ... well, no, that really sucks too. <--- See where I'm going with this. We've had it activated for 2 weeks now and we've watched 2 shows.

Amazon Prime charges you, on top of their monthly fee, for anything worth while watching. For example ... if you want to watch The Walking Dead (A TV Series on cable) ... $27 bucks per season on top of the $8 dollar a month fee. That's half of your cable bill in one show. Want to watch a classic movie you haven't been able to find on DVD or Blu Ra ... another $5 ~ $10 bucks and some ... you have to 'buy' (which means you can watch it an unlimited amount of times for ever) ... that's $15 ~ $20 bucks ... on top of your monthly subscription.

It's all a complete and total rip off.

You actually are better off sticking with cable or satellite, but the good thing about this little adventure we embarked on is, it broke my addiction to TV. It could go in the basement in storage now to never be seen again and I wouldn't miss it one bit.