The Trouble With Streaming

A strange thought occurred to me recently when I realized that ten years ago I had never been anywhere near a streaming service. By the beginning of 2014 this had changed and for a while during the years that followed I was something of a regular streaming service user, especially when it came to Netflix. For some people streaming has changed the way that TV shows as well as films are watched, since with a streaming service just about anything can be viewed on a seemingly endless list of devices such as TVs, computers, iPads and phones as well as video game consoles and Sky TV. Having all of this at your disposal can at first appear to be quite an appealing prospect but personally I do feel that for all the positives there is a less pleasant side that I don’t think receives enough attention, even if the problems are obvious but still ignored.

When I think of the sort of issues that could come with using a streaming service and being too reliant on it for all your watching needs, the first potential problem is the internet connection. I am aware that in some cases this isn’t that much of a big deal but I imagine for some it is and I do recall very well one night back in 2017 when due to an internet connection fault, Netflix couldn’t be accessed for the whole night. Now in this situation perhaps a crude joke could be made about someone of my generation where a malfunctioning internet would be seen as a life or death situation. I may not have been able to watch a certain show but I didn’t make a scene about it, instead I finished a book a lot earlier than I was expecting. It didn’t put me off using Netflix nor did it strengthen my use of it, at least not in a way that I could see. But looking back on it gives me a moment to pause and consider the people who have come to rely on streaming in the way I mentioned above. It does show that like most things it works perfectly most of the time but it is good to always be prepared should there be even the smallest of faults.

Now I won’t pretend that Netflix hasn’t got a wide and often enticing range of content that can be watched with just a subscription, password and the push of a few buttons. Yes, there is definitely a lot to choose from but it will vary heavily depending on where you are in the world and it should be noted that just because something is popular does not guarantee that a streaming service is going to have it. When it comes to TV shows sometimes they don’t even have it in its entirety, just a certain number of seasons and this could be a problem, especially if it’s a show the viewer is really invested in. That happened to me a few times when I used Netflix a lot more than I do now, and in only one instance was the situation remedied when out of nowhere the next season was added. Even after that, there were still two more seasons which didn’t seem to be available and instead after a short wait I went out and got them both on DVD. Strangely enough a similar thing then happened with another show I used Netflix to watch, but that time I just went straight to the DVDs without bothering to wait.

It wasn’t always like this as there were a few times when they had all of a show from beginning to end, but whenever that happened it felt very rare. In fact looking back on it, most of the shows of which Netflix had every season (that wasn’t a Netflix original) were either made by the BBC or ITV; clearly the distributors must have been feeling generous.

I did mention that the Netflix catalogues are different in certain countries. I obviously can’t comment on all of them but this was made clear to me when I visited the USA in 2014 and when I saw what the American Netflix had that the UK didn’t, I think I was a little envious. They even had the supposedly mediocre final season of a show I had watched back home but because of the reputation of this final season I chose to avoid it. And after a few minutes of using American Netflix just to satisfy my curiosity I had made the right move in just staying clear. But what I really took away from that experience was just how much bigger and arguably better the American Netflix seemed to be in terms of content when measured up against its UK counterpart.

Something else to consider is that Netflix could very well take a film or show off its service without any warning. Normally there would be a warning with a set number of days that something could be watched before it would go – but coming back to the whole idea of investment in something, suppose that did happen to a show you were enjoying or a film you’d had your eye on for a long time but hadn’t got round to watching yet? I don’t doubt that most people would be a little frustrated if something that was there one day could very well be gone the next.

It was with Netflix that people really seemed to get into the idea of binge-watching, and I won’t be a hypocrite about that, I admit I got caught up in it. But it is easy to see why it happens, since with all the episodes of something up and ready to watch to the viewer’s heart’s content, there is very little to encourage restraint or taking a break every so often. There is another side to consider, that films and TV shows are first and foremost an art form that has been painstakingly put together by actors, directors, writers, set and production designers and many others. Naturally they would want you to really see the work and effort they have put into what you’re watching. But the problem is that if you are just mindlessly jumping from one episode to the next, you are very likely to miss at least some of the work that went into it all.

Then there is the inevitable competition to think about. Netflix is, before anything else, a business and as history has shown, when one business is successful others will come along wanting a piece of the same success. In terms of streaming services Netflix enjoyed many years of seemingly standing alone with no real competition, which doubtless went further when they began producing their own content both in film and TV. Competition finally caught up with them at the start of 2020s during the pandemic, with the release of Disney+ which basically did everything that Netflix did, from having a wide catalogue of shows and films as well as original work which mostly came from owning both Marvel and Star Wars. If I were heavily involved in the business side of Netflix I don’t know how worried I would have been about this. Yes, there were other services before like Amazon Prime but along with Disney+ came Paramount+ and HBO Max. Universal also have their own service with VOD, but the fact that I just had to look it up in an article I wrote years ago about them just to remember the name, proves that one can be forgotten about. Netflix basically went from being a dominant force in streaming to being one of many. It feels like there are streaming services everywhere which in time could lead to them being looked upon with feelings of fatigue.

Something else that became fashionable during the pandemic was to look back at classic films and shows for anything that could be deemed offensive to so-called modern sensibilities. This could lead to certain films or shows being removed from a service entirely or being slapped with what has been called a trigger warning, that quickly became an object of ridicule by those who could see just how absurd it all is. This impacted several classic films and episodes of TV shows, some of which are thought of as classics by their fans. It could very well be seen as an exercise in political correctness and censorship, but that is the direction some streaming services have chosen to go and that is down to them and them alone.

There is of course a solution to the issues that streaming represents. I’ve alluded to it a few times already but now I can go all in. Recently I’ve found myself watching more films not on a streaming service but on DVD and when I think about it, it really is the perfect antidote to streaming.

If you don’t believe me think about it like this. Going back to my internet fault anecdote, had I been watching a DVD the internet going off wouldn’t have been a problem. I could of course have been watching a DVD on a television, but what if the power went out? The answer is simple – just go to a laptop or portable DVD player with a decent amount of charge and then you can get back to enjoying what you were watching. No need to worry about internet connection at all.

Just about anything you can think of is out on DVD, and with a little bit of luck and knowing where to look the range of things to enjoy is probably far wider on DVD than it is on a streaming service. There is also the point of ownership to think about: with Netflix you simply pay a subscription to stream something but with a DVD you actually own it and get to hold it in your hand and add to your collection – which I imagine is something many film fans would rather have instead of streaming a film.

You don’t have to worry about a DVD disappearing without trace. You can buy one and not watch it for weeks, months or even years. It will still be there when you feel ready to watch it which is something I think the streaming services don’t feel too strongly about. Also, I know that with DVD, binge-watching is possible but unlike Netflix it doesn’t dangle it in front of you with only a few seconds to spare before the next episode starts. With DVDs, bingeing feels more like a choice than something to be tempted with and this is more than okay with me.

Given that DVDs were around long before streaming services, the people behind them didn’t know about things like trigger warnings or what certain people’s feelings might be about some issues years later. So many shows and films that have been censored or removed from streaming services can be found intact on DVD. I do know that Netflix had a well-known and controversial episode of South Park, but when Paramount+ got the whole series, that and several other episodes of a similar nature were nowhere to be seen. A shame, because if they did have them I’d guess it would have increased subscriptions for a while.

Being in my twenties I’ve more or less grown up with DVDs. I still own a great many of them and on occasion buy an old film second-hand. DVDs also offer parts of the viewing experience that I don’t think streaming does as well or even at all. When I was younger and knew a DVD was coming out that I wanted, there would be something of an atmosphere of anticipation and I often couldn’t wait for it to fall into my hands as the hours went by, especially if it was something that I had either missed in the cinema or couldn’t see there. Then I would take it home and let it play. I would maybe watch the trailers if any were included, or use the time to get myself into focus for the viewing experience ahead. I will admit I don’t get that as much now since I tend to watch them on my computer and the software I use takes me straight to the menu; but even with that I still have the extras, like making-of documentaries and commentary tracks. Again I think this is something the hard-core film fans enjoy more than the average viewer but they do give an insight by the people that made something can demonstrate how hard they worked. This is again something that – from what I have seen – streaming services don’t seem bothered about.

On something of a sidenote I did recently come across a video of a veteran film director talking about his dislike for Netflix. His key point was that that watching a film in a cinema is a collective experience which I guess he feels is something streaming can only fail to replicate. Yes, you can watch something on Netflix with multiple people in the room, or in small square-shaped boxes but I bet it doesn’t feel the same as it would in a cinema. It’s a stretch, but I think the same could apply to DVD.

I don’t doubt I have made my position on streaming services quite clear. I know people will still continue to use them but hopefully I have given others something to think about. I’m in no rush to go back to streaming so I will stay with my DVDs and the occasional film on TV. After all, DVDs are what I grew up with. Some people may think they are somewhat old-fashioned now, but I like them.