Netflix is here! and it no longer sucks

[quote=“headhonchoII”]No they haven’t really tailored it to the local market, no Asian stuff at all almost. It’s just a copy and paste of some
Bits of American programming. Even for Europeans it’s a bit meh.[/quote]
Yeah I can confirm. The Dutch Netflix is pretty shitty.

300NT a month is nothing.

I checked out that Smartflix app last night and it seems pretty good. As mentioned, it allows you to watch ALL Netflix content from ALL countries. And while it’s in Beta it’s totally free. After that, it will be a one-time fee of US$7.99.

Linky: https://www.smartflix.io/

Heres a link to the Reddit discussion about it where the creator of the app seems to be active in answering questions/concerns.

Linky 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/netflix/comments/3zbg7m/is_smartflix_safe_and_secure_all/

:popcorn:

Disclaimer: Not affiliated, just helping fellow forumosans. I just stumbled across this app a few days ago.

It has to do with copyrights. It’s the same with Itunes. The Itunes store for Taiwan is different from Hong Kong, US, Australia, Nl and UK. All are different. It’s not tailoring it for the local market, but the content depends on what copyrights they can get for Taiwan.

A bit of background on why …

Netflix says it’s ‘not obvious’ how to limit use of VPNs
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/netflix-says-its-not-obvious-how-to-limit-use-of-vpns/article28100804/?cmpid=rss1

[quote=“lostinasia”][quote=“headhonchoII”]No they haven’t really tailored it to the local market, no Asian stuff at all almost. It’s just a copy and paste of some
Bits of American programming. Even for Europeans it’s a bit meh.[/quote]
I’m curious how fast it’ll change. Breaking Bad wasn’t there in the first couple of days, and then it showed up. I have a faint hope they’ll ramp up content.[/quote]

They need Asian stuff, stuff in Chinese for the locals. That’s what will end up dominating the business. They don’t have anything from my home country in Europe either so there’s no local flavor for me. I’m sure they’ll get around to the Chinese content otherwise Asian vendors will completely take over the legit internet tv market.

Actually to me that’s the big question mark here. IS there a legit internet TV market? It seems like everyone Taiwanese I know under the age of 40 pirates as a matter of course, and anyone over 40 either gets someone younger to pirate, or just keeps the TV turned on to some kind of 24-hour news or bizarre variety show channel all day (i.e they have zero concern for quality).

See also e-books. Aren’t they pretty much a non-factor in the Sinosphere, at least in part because publishers feel piracy means the profitable market is tiny?

Ebooks are a non-factor because people dont really read books. Amazon has a store in China anyway.

Netflix rolled out 130 regions last week. Im thinking they offered the same shows as a core to those regions and will expand. Japan will have its own domestically produced content, which could be very interesting. Would be cool if Netflix financed a cool, innovative Chinese TV-Show. People have been peddled nonsense chat shows, lame Korean copies and Period junk for years, im sure there are tons of smart, young people who are being constrained by the old conservative men running the TV networks.

[quote=“OrangeOrganics”]Ebooks are a non-factor because people dont really read books. Amazon has a store in China anyway.

Netflix rolled out 130 regions last week. Im thinking they offered the same shows as a core to those regions and will expand. Japan will have its own domestically produced content, which could be very interesting. Would be cool if Netflix financed a cool, innovative Chinese TV-Show. People have been peddled nonsense chat shows, lame Korean copies and Period junk for years, im sure there are tons of smart, young people who are being constrained by the old conservative men running the TV networks.[/quote]

Indeed, there are awesome people out there in China - the producer of the moving documentary of the effects of pollution comes to mind- but the risk of clashing with the Man is way too high… and Netflix could lose its very fragile hold on the Chinese market, becoming the next Weibo/Baidu/copied equivalent.

I was reading about this guy who was participating on one of those silly reality shows posted on Facebook some rumor that a certain ex high official was gay. The post found its way to the Chinese official webs and voila, the guy was literally Photoshopped out of footage of the reality show, a la 1984.

So all those awesome documentaries and groundbreaking series… ain’t no snowball’s chance they will happen in China. If they do, the first itch… and Netflix in China is history.

[quote=“Icon”][quote=“OrangeOrganics”]Ebooks are a non-factor because people dont really read books. Amazon has a store in China anyway.

Netflix rolled out 130 regions last week. Im thinking they offered the same shows as a core to those regions and will expand. Japan will have its own domestically produced content, which could be very interesting. Would be cool if Netflix financed a cool, innovative Chinese TV-Show. People have been peddled nonsense chat shows, lame Korean copies and Period junk for years, im sure there are tons of smart, young people who are being constrained by the old conservative men running the TV networks.[/quote]

Indeed, there are awesome people out there in China - the producer of the moving documentary of the effects of pollution comes to mind- but the risk of clashing with the Man is way too high… and Netflix could lose its very fragile hold on the Chinese market, becoming the next Weibo/Baidu/copied equivalent.

I was reading about this guy who was participating on one of those silly reality shows posted on Facebook some rumor that a certain ex high official was gay. The post found its way to the Chinese official webs and voila, the guy was literally Photoshopped out of footage of the reality show, a la 1984.

So all those awesome documentaries and groundbreaking series… ain’t no snowball’s chance they will happen in China. If they do, the first itch… and Netflix in China is history.[/quote]

Netflix is not available in China, dont think they will bother.

I meant in Taiwan or HK or other Chinese speaking places. It would be good to have one decent, innovative drama. Im sure there are a lot of creative Taiwanese who arent getting an opportunity because of old executives who are only concerned with producing lowest-common denominator garbage that they might be able to sell to the mainland.

Netflix doesn’t have a hope in China, it’s a mosquito and the government there always supports local biz. China has massive local streaming service providers, many started out illegally but now are legal, you can choose ads or no ads afaik. Netflix will try to drum up business in smaller countries which is what they are doing, opening in 190 countries at the same time.

[quote=“OrangeOrganics”][quote=“Icon”][quote=“OrangeOrganics”]Ebooks are a non-factor because people dont really read books. Amazon has a store in China anyway.

Netflix rolled out 130 regions last week. Im thinking they offered the same shows as a core to those regions and will expand. Japan will have its own domestically produced content, which could be very interesting. Would be cool if Netflix financed a cool, innovative Chinese TV-Show. People have been peddled nonsense chat shows, lame Korean copies and Period junk for years, im sure there are tons of smart, young people who are being constrained by the old conservative men running the TV networks.[/quote]

Indeed, there are awesome people out there in China - the producer of the moving documentary of the effects of pollution comes to mind- but the risk of clashing with the Man is way too high… and Netflix could lose its very fragile hold on the Chinese market, becoming the next Weibo/Baidu/copied equivalent.

I was reading about this guy who was participating on one of those silly reality shows posted on Facebook some rumor that a certain ex high official was gay. The post found its way to the Chinese official webs and voila, the guy was literally Photoshopped out of footage of the reality show, a la 1984.

So all those awesome documentaries and groundbreaking series… ain’t no snowball’s chance they will happen in China. If they do, the first itch… and Netflix in China is history.[/quote]

Netflix is not available in China, dont think they will bother.

I meant in Taiwan or HK or other Chinese speaking places. It would be good to have one decent, innovative drama. Im sure there are a lot of creative Taiwanese who arent getting an opportunity because of old executives who are only concerned with producing lowest-common denominator garbage that they might be able to sell to the mainland.[/quote]

Singapore, then. Taiwan has its own venues for production, and it would be fantastic to have more means -or decent, worldwide means- for distribution -Kano, cough, cough. Production technical values are high here, it is, ehem, a “content” problem.

HK is now caught in the spider’s web. Who knows? Maybe team up with Hakka TV?

Isn’t that why Netflix produced “Marco Polo”? I’ve never watched it, and have heard at best middling reviews, but I had the impression they were hoping to get a bit of the Chinese-speaking market. But I don’t even know what language they use in it.

Isn’t that why Netflix produced “Marco Polo”? I’ve never watched it, and have heard at best middling reviews, but I had the impression they were hoping to get a bit of the Chinese-speaking market. But I don’t even know what language they use in it.[/quote]

Think its pretty Western. I just would like Netflix to offer someone in Taiwan some money to go wild and actually make something cool.

We were being spoon fed garbage in the West for years, until HBO broke the mould with the Wire etc. Now Netflix, Amazon etc are making quality, intelligent shows that wouldnt have seen the light of day 20 years ago. Who would have thought that one of the most popular TV shows would be about a school teacher cooking meth? Really think the demand is there in Taiwan for something actually decent.

Do you collect plastic bottles for a living where 300nt a month is that much out of your budget? It’s 300nt!! I’ved payed more for a drink at the W. I don’t see the big deal here. :wink:

Im ok with 300 NTD per month, but most people already pay for one cable service with a lot more content. 300 is the USD price, Spotify is 150 as set for local income. Anyway, reckon it is too pricey for this market.

[quote=“Yang Gui Zi”]As far as the content (or lack there of), I believe it has something to do with country specific copyrights and target demographic. Have a buddy who recently signed up for it and is trying out a service which allows you to see/watch the content from all countries.

https://www.smartflix.io/[/quote]
Oh man. I just signed up for this and … I’ve got end-of-term marking to do, and that service is NOT going to help.

Note it’s only for computers, not iOS devices or TVs. At some point I’ll have to start figuring out how to watch non-region-restricted content on a TV as well.

I’ve been using Netflix for the last 6 years, even when I came here with a dns service, no complains really, but if you want to watch everything for free try popcorntime, illegal tho but is like the free netflix with all the newest content.

Netflix actually buy shows based on they popularity on piracy websites, so the more you steal the better shows the will keep adding. Also Netflix Originals are based on all that, they have an algorithm to see what people is watching and then hire the right actor, and mash it with the right premise.

OP you suck

This is the service I use to watch all the regions

Will probably sign up for the free month when they’re about ready to release the new season of Trailer Park Boys and then unsubscribe before having to pay any money… Ggggrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssyyyyyyyyyyy…

[quote=“lostinasia”][quote=“Yang Gui Zi”]As far as the content (or lack there of), I believe it has something to do with country specific copyrights and target demographic. Have a buddy who recently signed up for it and is trying out a service which allows you to see/watch the content from all countries.

https://www.smartflix.io/[/quote]
Oh man. I just signed up for this and … I’ve got end-of-term marking to do, and that service is NOT going to help.

Note it’s only for computers, not iOS devices or TVs. At some point I’ll have to start figuring out how to watch non-region-restricted content on a TV as well.[/quote]

Happy to help (or hinder)! Glad somebody read my posts. haha!

Good point, forgot to mention it’s only for the computer. I read on the reddit thread that he is working on an iOS version, but is unable to make it work on Android.

For watching on my TV, I just sit my laptop next to it and run an HDMI cable. Then I use a remote mouse app and control it via my smartphone.