Eagle-eyed readers will notice that I took over this column from Jake Buckler about six months ago. Buckler still writes for The Solid Signal Blog, but his many other duties meant that a weekly column was a little beyond his ability. I happily jumped in, and for the most part I’ve turned this from a column about how great the streaming selection is, into one talking about how the streaming world just isn’t as good as it once was.
For the record, readership’s about doubled. I must be doing something right. But, even a home run hitter needs to sit on the bench now and again. So, dear readers, I invite you to start the discussion yourself. I’ll get you rolling, and I hope a few top commenters will take the reins.
Remember when this all started?
A little more than a decade ago, there wasn’t much to stream. YouTube videos were great, but when it came to longer content, you had two choices. You could stream something that was already on cable or satellite, or you could go to Netflix.
Most streaming apps were of the “companion” variety. Think about what was then called “WatchABC.” You could catch up on the shows you had missed if you’d forgotten to record them. There was a smattering of older content, but not much. The same was true of most of these apps. They were the place you looked “second,” after you couldn’t find what you wanted on traditional pay TV.
And then there was Netflix. Netflix seemed, for a moment, to be the best thing that ever happened to the internet. It was a free “perk” to your DVD subscription, giving you tens of thousands of older movies. Not so much TV shows, not yet, but just a free library of all the stuff you might want to stream that wasn’t so new. All you had to do was pony up for a DVD plan, which everyone at the time did. It seemed like Netflix had every old movie ever, too. And all of them were good.
In the words of Archie Bunker…
“Those were the days.” Of course those words were written ironically. When Carroll O’Connor sang them, the world wasn’t better in his youth. It wasn’t better in mine either, not really. But we can all find things from the past to like. And we all remember how magical streaming sounded when we first started doing it. And we think about how it’s less magical now, right?
And… go.
I’d like to hear your recollections of the golden age of streaming, when everything was cheap or free, when the content was flowing and it seemed like there was no stop. Leave a comment below and let’s turn this into a group effort!
