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RCBH928 wrote:USA pays $10 for a full month access of a complete streaming library, outside USA pays $3 per 20min. Then they blame privacy.

No, privacy is not the reason or the excuse. I swear, it’s like you make this stuff up.

I think that was supposed to be "piracy"; that's how I parsed it when I read the post initially.

Either way, it's likely a combination of two factors: 1) contracts made years ago regarding international distribution deals and 2) a general opinion that certain international markets simply wouldn't be interested in that material to warrant the work required to enable easier accessibility.

Yes, piracy, I apologise

Ack wrote:Either way, it's likely a combination of two factors: 1) contracts made years ago regarding international distribution deals and 2) a general opinion that certain international markets simply wouldn't be interested in that material to warrant the work required to enable easier accessibility.

Oh well, if they think its not worth it to them to do the work I guess they do not mind I watch it for free.

RCBH928 wrote:Oh well, if they think its not worth it to them to do the work I guess they do not mind I watch it for free.

That’s the thing about copyright… just because they think they wouldn’t make money off a proper localization for a region doesn’t mean they forfeit their legal copyright interests. They are not obligated to serve a particular market, but thanks to international treaties and agreements like the Berne Convention and the TRIPS agreement their copyrights are still thoroughly valid and enforceable. See, that market they’re ignoring now might someday be worth it. But they get to decide, not us. Further, some creative works might result in legal penalties were they officially released in some areas without serious modification or censorship.

I don’t necessarily agree that these are compelling reasons to use region lockouts, and I don’t necessarily agree with the decision to withhold releases in many areas, but I understand those decisions and the corporate/business logic involved. All are good reasons to break apart entertainment market oligopolies.

The iPhone 13 Pro Max Fatcat Meathook edition is a big boy.



Always had smaller phones. Had and still have the first SE. Went big with the 8 Plus back in the day. Then the 11 Pro non-Max. Now I’m back to big.

I don't get big phones. I still see it as a "smart" cellphone like a blackberry. I think people are starting to adopt this new devices as their only computer to replace desktop, laptop, ipad, and cellphone. I think some people even use it as and entertainment device to watch movies on. I think some people make a living just with their phone now

RCBH928 wrote:I don't get big phones. I still see it as a "smart" cellphone like a blackberry. I think people are starting to adopt this new devices as their only computer to replace desktop, laptop, ipad, and cellphone. I think some people even use it as and entertainment device to watch movies on. I think some people make a living just with their phone now

This is much more common than you might think among students, and has been for a while. Years ago I noticed a trend: students writing their papers on a cell phone. They were never good papers, and all the mistakes were blamed on that medium. Of course, you couldn't get them to realize they could have used the school library's computers if they didn't have one at home.

I used to take notes during college on a Windows phone. The old school ones with the slide out keyboard and stylus from the early 2000s. Had the MS Office suite right on it. Thought that was amazing back then. I used to be able to buy CDs with games made for the platform like Monopoly on it and install it through my PC. Great times!

As for the size of the phone: I had an internal dialog where I originally wanted the smaller model. I also have an entry level iPad from 2017. The one where they first started selling iPad at the $329 entry point. I wanted a new iPad but to spend money on two devices was a bit much so I went with the bigger screen as kind of an in between thing.

Makes sense in my head.

I need a phone I can at least hypothetically use one-handed, so the larger models are off-limits. That said, there are a lot of folks who live at or below the poverty line who need a phone simply to be able to communicate and certainly can't afford a computer or regular internet, so their cheap Android device is their lifeline. If they need a PC they go to the local public library. A surprising number of college students as well use computer labs, even if they have their own laptop. Fewer distractions while working.