[Omniusaspirer]

Not just 4K- all resolutions and it's getting worse with plenty of comparisons available online for those who care to look. Streaming video quality has generally declined across all platforms in the last few years with the exception of Apple TV+ and contrary to this puff piece it's to the point it's very noticeable to the discerning end user.

Enshittification continues relentlessly.

[jsheard]

I recall several streaming services reducing their bitrates during the pandemic, ostensibly to offset the increased network load from everyone watching more while stuck at home, did those reductions ever actually get walked back or did they just become the new default?

[charlie0]

Ah, one of those "temporary" measures.

[moi2388]

What do you think?

[TheWoolRug]

Agreed, the data volume for Apple TV+ 4k is about 5x Netflix per my router and looks way better.

[shiroiushi]

And I'm sure the content itself is far better too. I hate to admit it since normally I trash Apple, but they've been making some really great shows lately: Silo, Foundation, etc. What has Netflix produced? The Ark? (If you haven't seen it yet, spare yourself lifelong mental scarring and don't. It's hands-down the absolute worst sci-fi I've ever seen in my life, and that includes all the terrible stuff from the 70s I've seen.)

[SSLy]

Baby Reindeer is the outstanding NF show this season. But yeah, ATV+ has much better SciFi repertoire.

[SSLy]

Movies Anywhere is consistently great quality.

[entropicdrifter]

It better be. I bought those movies.

[akira2501]

> Enshittification continues relentlessly.

It's just rampant monopolization.

Enshittification makes it sound like it's a natural expected process, for companies to buy their way into dominance the market, destroy competition, then deceive and underserve customers while raking in undeserved profits.

It also fails to lay the blame on Congress and the Administration's doorsteps, where it belongs.

[lukifer]

I support your general thrust in spirit, but I think "monopoly" isn't a helpful frame here. Consumers have a glut of options in streaming services: Prime, Max, AppleTV, Hulu, even YouTube (contrast with one of the classic monopolies, AT&T, which for many was the only game in town, unless you consider "write a letter to your friend instead" to be a valid substitution good).

I feel the correct frame is the general category of "market power" (including, but not limited to, the "anti-competitive practices" that forms the basis of current regulatory policy).

In the case of streaming, the closest analogue to monopolization is vertical integration: the custom-produced content which is only accessible on a particular streaming platform (sometimes including no releases on physical media).

On the one hand, Netflix could be considered to have a monopoly over the distribution of "Squid Game" (and Prime over "The Boys", Apple over "Silo", etc), meaning they can raise prices, not for the product itself, but for the "club goods" distribution platform, which the consumer may not be interested in otherwise.

On the other hand, entertainment/culture are not the same kind of "inelastic demand" necessity as telephone service in the past, or internet service now. And when we look at actual outcomes, I'd say quality for vertically-integrated productions are better on average than older business models; and while prices are going up, I wouldn't call them ridiculous price-gouging either (in addition to competing with each other, the streaming services are also competing with piracy and password-sharing).

Anyway, I think it's absolutely the case that enshittification isn't inevitable, and we should be wary of succumbing to learned helplessness in the face of capital consolidation. I would claim it's a "natural expected process" of the shareholder corporation, and the perverse incentives of short-term profits and stock prices, even when it comes at the expense of long-term brand equity. But solving that general problem is probably out of scope for "the bitrate is too damn low and the subscription fees are too damn high".

I'd love to see more regulation in the space, but realistically it'd be tricky (I don't expect any Doctorow-approved abolition of DRM, or mandatory interoperability, anytime soon). One could perhaps establish streaming-quality standards, where a company couldn't advertise "4K" unless it hit some threshold. But when it comes to the issue of streaming quality in particular, I suspect the tragic reality is that the majority of users simply won't notice or care.

[jfengel]

You mean, dinging them for false advertising? Or creating a standard?

[chgs]

are torrents no longer available in a high bitrate capacity?