Internet streaming has finally crossed over cable. But don’t cry about your cable company, as most places have internet connectivity as well. In fact, cable companies bundle packages that include internet access, which is why so many people rely on cable for entertainment. 61% said they watched via cable subscription.
Streaming subscriptions tend to be more expensive, but they’re cheaper than cable subscriptions. Pay only for what you want to see and subscribe monthly rather than being tied to an annual or multi-year contract.
Watching at your convenience (technically known as video on demand) goes far beyond being broadcast on cable at a fixed time. With streaming, you can always watch a show or movie from the beginning.
I don’t have time to try every streaming service, but my current favorite is Apple TV+. I have Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, but mostly watch Apple. At $4.99/month, it offers so many high-quality, well-made shows, making it one of the cheapest streaming services out there. See ‘Five Days at Memorial’ and ‘The Morning Show’. Apple offers his 1-week free trial, and when you buy an Apple product, it often comes with a 3-month free subscription. When I signed up for his T-Mobile cell service, it came with a one-year free subscription. Apple, a company renowned for its elegant and easy-to-use software, uses one of the most cumbersome and user-unfriendly online players, at least when viewed via a PC.
Public libraries are great for home entertainment if you still own a DVD player. With your library card, you can choose from hundreds of free movies and TV shows to watch at your convenience. That brings us to this reader question:
“I have a 2015 Toshiba DVD/Cassette player. The last was “licorice pizza” and I was about 2nd or 3rd. It didn’t work, so he also checked two “L pizzas” and it didn’t work. (I think he had three copies at the same time—I think they were happy when I gave up. I’ll find out about streaming later.) Any ideas?”
Many possibilities may explain your problem. DVDs use much smaller pits on the disc than CDs. Therefore, DVD tracking is tolerant. If something is even slightly wrong, there is very little room for error. Also, if you have Blu-ray discs in your library, standard DVDs will play in Blu-ray players, but not in traditional DVD players. Again, Blu-ray increases disc density to even tighter tolerances, so errors and disc defects can cause problems. Most DVD players today are made so cheaply that they can fail surprisingly quickly. The players of 2015 are old players.
Another issue is the copy protection used on the disc. Most players include modern copy protection keys, but it is always possible that a particular disc uses copy protection that is foreign to the player.
Did the disc you tried play in the library’s player? Have you discussed the issue with the library’s A/V specialist?
Usually when a player starts to fail, it will start rejecting all discs. Perhaps I should have taken “Licorice Pizza” to my local audio-video store to see if it would play in the store’s player. If it does, it’s time to buy a new player. You can buy a decent Sony Blu-ray player with Internet streaming capabilities for around $80. That’s only about $40 more than a Roku stick or Amazon Fire stick for internet streaming. Nevertheless, libraries offer the best entertainment bargains.
Rich Warren, who lives in the Champaign area, is a longtime consumer electronics critic. Email him at hifiguy@volo.net.
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