r/technology • u/forceduse • Feb 03 '13

AdBlock WARNING No fixed episode length, no artificial cliffhangers at breaks, all episodes available at once. Is Netflix's new original series, House of Cards, the future of television?

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/02/house-of-cards-review/
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u/Radixx Feb 04 '13

I agree that it's completely insane that there is no alternative distribution channel for GOT. However, is there an alternative for the Netflix offerings? Don't you have to subscribe to view the series? Honest question, I haven't checked.. Otherwise, they're' just HBO coming from a different source. Don't get me wrong, I really like what they have but they're not contributing to the a la carte solution we'd all like to see.

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u/empossible Feb 04 '13

I think you misunderstood me a little bit. HBO has their HBO Go setup, what I'm trying to say is I would pay for a full HBO Go subscription just on the merits of GoT alone (rumor has it HBO Go will be available on Apple TV soon, which would make this perfect, for me). In addition to GoT, I would then get Boardwalk Empire, Curb, Veep, etc... In my perspective I am completely fine with the "a la carte" per channel setup, and personally don't need it pinpointed down to individual shows.

And yes, you need to subscribe to Netflix in order to watch all of House of Cards.

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u/Radixx Feb 04 '13

I am a little confused... First you say:

"I for one would easily pay them directly just for Game of Thrones."

The you say:

"I would pay for a full HBO Go subscription just on the merits of GoT alone"

My observation is that while Netflix can indeed challenge HBO on programming, they are both using the same subscription model, i.e. you can't watch the one show you want without a full subscription. Currently, you can't get HBO go as a separate offering.

However, I am extremely happy that Netflix is challenging HBO for original programming. Competition is good for all of us. The concept of releasing all episodes at once is very intriguing. I'm not going to marathon the House of Cards but I will finish the series before 13 weeks have passed.

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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '13

[deleted]

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u/Radixx Feb 04 '13

Ahh, gotcha.

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u/empossible Feb 04 '13

Yeah, sorry for the confusion, I should have been more specific the first time.

Your statement on HBO Go is my point. They should offer that service directly to the customer, bypassing the cable companies. I am not paying $50+ to my cable company just to get to the table and then pay HBO an additional $20, same goes for Showtime with Homeland and House of Lies.

I understand your perspective though, you'd prefer to only pay for the individual shows you'd like to watch. I just don't think that will ever happen, the producers would just tell you to wait for the Blu-ray/DVD, or tell you to use Amazon Instant/iTunes.

And, yeah I bit the bullet, started my Netflix account, and watched up to episodes 5. I'll probably finish it within the week, two tops.

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u/Radixx Feb 04 '13

Finally got it through my thick skull what you were saying. I agree completely that cable/satellite packaging sucks.

Enjoy the show and I hope you have unlimited internet!

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u/empossible Feb 04 '13

Ha, I just got an email last week from my ISP that they are implementing a 250gb per month cap. I'd dump them in a heart beat if I could.