How Is That Cord Cutting Working Out?
I remember when “the internet” was supposed to change things for consumers. It was to free us from useless and pricy contracts, whether they were cell phones or allowing us to ditch cable.
Allow me to give you a real-life scenario and prices as of today.
Cable
The cable now costs about $189 (using Spectrum prices), which includes all the channels I would want: a mixture of regular stuff, HGTV to be jealous of a house-buying couple, and some sports channels. The bonus here for me is the NHL Network. Don’t get me wrong, NHLN doesn’t provide this fantastic cover, but it keeps me sane when it’s off-season for hockey. The MSG network airs almost all New Jersey Devils (my team) games.
That $189 fee also covers the internet, which is crucial if you work from home, hybrid, or full-time or need a fast connection.
Cord-cutting
Verizon FIOS: Granted, this is a 1GB connection, but it’s still $70 bucks. YouTube TV is not the cheapest and is nowhere near the most expensive. That runs me about $90. We’re already in the $160 range. If I wanted MSG, that would be an additional $30; if I wished to join the NHL Network, tough nougies. YouTube TV doesn’t even offer it. In addition, YouTube TV doesn’t offer as many channels as traditional cable does — (I could care less about most of those, however).
Conclusion: The above two solutions are identical to what you get in return — if anything, Cable is cheaper and has more to offer. That’s not a good thing for the consumer.
Streaming Services Prices
Keeping this topic in mind, how about the streaming services that would have replaced much (if not all) of the cable? Let’s take a look at the most popular one, Netflix.
Flixed gives you a more in-depth breakdown of the above chart, but you get the picture.
If you think Netflix is greedy, all you have to do is look at how many subscribers they have. If I were running Netflix, I’d raise prices, too. We have not hit the price point where people will say, “Wait, this is way too much” yet. Maybe this year, when Netflix will raise them again (yes, they announced another increase this year).
Et tu, Music Streamers?
Spotify is set to increase its subscription prices, too! They need to pay for their new venture into audiobooks. According to the Wall Street Journal, the price rise will be implemented first in the UK, Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Ghana, with each subscription increasing from $1 to $2 starting this month. Later in the year, the price adjustments will extend to the US market.
This move comes as Spotify evaluates its pricing strategy to recover from financial setbacks that have led to recent layoffs.
What’s happening here is that corporations like Spotify want to cut expenses (by laying off people) and then, at the same time, raise rates. The two-pronged solution is to make investors happy but not anyone else, including the laid-off and the consumers.
24-hour Eateries are Becoming Rare
The availability of 24-hour diners has significantly decreased post-pandemic. A study by Yelp shows a notable 18% decline in all-night restaurants from 2020 to 2024, with Los Angeles particularly impacted by a 35% drop.
CNN blames this on rising food costs. While that’s true, it’s only a tiny part of the picture. Why? They closed down with COVID-19, and everyone, including those bad at math, realized that the cost-to-profit ratio was not worth it. An even more significant impact is the rising minimum wage. Rising food costs plus higher salaries for workers, why would anyone keep their place open during its slowest times?
Need More Input - Johnny Five from Short Circuit
You recall the comedy from the 1980s. Similarly, AI requires more input, specifically data. AI companies have extensively harvested virtually all the relevant information available online. At this rate, they risk exhausting their data sources, which could hinder the further development of useful AI technologies.
I am unsure if this will be brought to court, but OpenAI (makers of ChatGPT) already used AI to obtain more data by transcribing YouTube videos and infusing their model with ‘more input’ that way.
Or maybe not, as Google—the owner of YouTube—is doing the same thing. Keep in mind that neither owns the content of those videos. That’s not the only thing Google is scraping already.
To avoid being left behind, META (Facebook) is considering buying Simon & Schuster to get input from all the books the publisher has.
Despite all these efforts, scraping data for AI’s consumption is finite; there is an end to all of this.
The Things We Do For Love
I’ve combined the Read of the Week and Podcast of the Week into one glamorously dark topic: love.
Let’s start with the Perils of Intimacy from This American Life. There’s only one story here, and you can dismiss the others as they weren’t as interesting as the Prologue and Act One, which revolve around Rachel Rosenthal. The combined time to listen is only 14 minutes, but it’s a great reminder that those closest to us may not be who you thought they were.
The second story will take longer, but I promise it’s worth it. Rolling Stone’s Tim Dickinson's writing is excellent storytelling; you will feel like you’re there with the protagonists. Don’t worry if you’re squeamish; the story does not have much of that detail. This is just another example of what (men, in these particular cases) do to their spouses to get ahead. When you thought the story was over and the case closed, there was a prison break. The sociopathic nature of the main character here is so concerted but conceited that it leads to making stupid mistakes (thank goodness). I mean, he even videotaped his prison break.
Down the Rabbit Hole, Go I
Ready to climb in? I often do this; I’d start reading a recommended article, and honestly, I would wonder why it was even recommended as I didn’t feel it or the author. In this particular case, the author is lost in the drama of his own life. Hanging on to things that made him feel special. We’ve all been there, thinking, “I AM SPECIAL!” on a basic level, it’s an ego trap. It took many decades for me to have the wisdom and realize there are millions of me - not exact copies, but plenty of people with complex lives, going through complex issues, etc.… Then I remembered this word I had read a few years ago, sonder, that applies to this scenario.
I remembered it because it helped me bring myself down to earth, and I had to dig for the definition and where I read it.
Still in the tunnel with me?
The source is from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, and it defines sonder in the following way:
Sonder is defined as the profound feeling of realizing that everyone, including strangers passing by on the street, has a life as complex and vivid as your own. They experience hopes, dreams, friendships, routines, worries and an inner life, all of which you'll likely never know about or fully understand.
Is this a genuine dictionary word that we need to apply in life? Does it need to be if you have a perfect word to describe the emotion you’re going through and identifying?
Another great word — especially endemic to us Slavs — is litost. Which is described as:
"Litost is a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery."
If you’re interested in that, here’s another rabbit hole.
Funny Pages
No, this isn’t The Onion. Chechnya banned music with tempos outside 80-116 beats per minute. This move outlaws many Western pop and dance tracks. Artists have until June to adapt their music to comply. For instance, Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy" is too slow (69 bpm), Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" is too fast (119 bpm), and Radiohead's "Creep" falls within the approved range (92 bpm).
Are too many Kevin Bacon fans watching Footloose and not liking the result?
Thx for confirming what everyone already suspected...streaming is no longer a cheaper alternative and in fact probably more expensive given most people have a glut of other streaming services they don't really use. Like I think I mentioned to you on Twitter, the change to Netflix's lowest tier was one of the biggest W's I've felt in a while. "Sticking it to the man" lol. Interesting tidbit on why companies cut expenses and raise prices at the same time. I never knew that's one of the reasons. It makes absolute sense. Good observation on AI. I wish ppl understood this better. It would alleviate some of the concerns that the media likes to play up. Ok, that definition of 'sonder' is so cool. Had never hear that before. I too have had that odd moment of reflection a lot through life. It has tended to help me see ppl in a different light. More patient. More understanding that you never really know what's going on with the ppl you come across daily. That "drug talk" tweet is so dang funny, man! Cheers!