have you ever tried to watch a show with someone who has recorded it on DVR?

the commercial break starts, they grab the remote and tap a button. for the next 30-60 seconds that are completely locked into the visual screen while images flash of cars, burgers, corporate logos, "SALES", sexy models, etc, and they are actively engaged watching for some cue of what they want.

it's like some shit out of Clockwork Orange except completely voluntary. it feels like a step below shouting "i love mcdonalds" or drinking a verification can.

i hate ads as much as anybody, and have dropped services for them being too intrusive, but at least on streaming they give you a timer that says you have 40 seconds or whatever, so you can go refill your mayonaise bowl or grab a jug of Archer Daniels Midland Homestyle Corn Syrup and not have to actively engage in the ultradense subliminal flashcard imprinting parapsychology experiment.

Don't know if it was here on Hexbear or elsewhere, but I remember someone bringing up that before it was easy to avoid seeing ads by just recording stuff to VHS or later saving it to a DVR and fast forwarding through the ads. It was a good point to me, if you're watching your slop on a streaming service there's no way to avoid watching ads except to pay for it.

I mentioned this once, might have been me. I mentioned that for oh 30-ish years people have had time-shifting options and commercial skipping options that started with VCRs and now with streaming and DRM/HDCP plus everything being on demand with the ability to just disable fast forwarding in certain segments you have for the first time no realistic ability to skip commercials. Sure you can watch what you want anytime but we're at real risk upon the removal of the ad-free tiers of being unable to skip commercials for the first time in decades, since home video hit the market which would be a dream for capitalists.