I recently came across a post from Ted Presley (someone I had the pleasure to work with in the past) on LinkedIn about starting a blog.

Checking out said blog inspired/encouraged me to do two things: 1) to also set up a self-hosted streaming platform, and 2) to start blogging as well.

These were ideas that I thought about for a while but never quite came to fruition. I did some blogging back in 2017 (which is around the time I worked with Ted coincidentally), but didn't last long: old blog. As for a self-hosted streaming platform, it is something my partner has been suggesting to do for a while now. We do have Plex (where we host collection of DVDs that we own and ripped), but I'm not a big fan of it and so I rather move away from it.

Reasons for us to move away from streaming platforms

Ever increasing service costs

Services like Netflix, Hulu, etc. seem to increase prices multiple times a year even. Another trend seems to be adding ads to their basic plans, and introducing new 'premium' plans with no ads.

Content is limited

Content is limited to what the providers have to offer, which is mostly the mainstream content. That means a platform may not have certain titles if:

• They don't have the rights for it
• They removed it (I'm sure you saw the "Leaving soon" legends)
• They are not mainstream (think of independent films, etc.)
• They are not acceptable judged by today's standards (e.g., 5 episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia were removed from both Netflix and Hulu)

There are too many services

Having so many services adds up at the end of the month. That's probably why there are so many services promising to "remove unwanted subscriptions for you" or helping you keep track of your spending to see where your money is going. Having multiple services also makes it harder to find titles to watch. Do I want to endlessly scroll Netflix library, or Hulu? Or perhaps I feel more like Apple TV this evening? By the way, libraries are made to look bigger than they actually are, and they do so by repeating titles (putting them under different lists), which ultimately results in seeing the same titles over and over. Finding a title when you don't know what you want is overwhelming since each service has to be browsed individually. Fortunately many titles seem to in one platform only, so there is not much overlap. But checking all the libraries gets tiring really quick. So finding something to watch when there are seemingly endless possibilities is hard. Finding a specific title when you know what you want is easier, but cumbersome. You've to figure out which platform has it, if any. Google seems to include a "Where to watch" section these days when searching for a specific title, but that's not always available. Another problem with having content spread across different services is that purchased titles can't be found all in one place. You have to remember what platform you used when buying it and hope it's still there.

The algorithms

We have enough algorithms. Having personalized recommendations sounded awesome back when it became a thing, but in this day and age I prefer to have a more active role in deciding what to consume.

Benefits of having a self-hosting setup.

Lower (and more stable) costs

The cost of having a self-hosted streaming platform is much lower, and doesn't increase as much nor as often. Costs being mainly hardware, hosting services, maybe a VPN, and physical media. The hardware (storage mainly) can be costly but it's more of a one-time purchase. The cost of hosting and a VPN will probably increase overtime but they are things that tend to be cheaper and to increase less often (and in smaller increments). Buying one or two-year plans may help you save big, too. As for the cost of physical media, it is discretionary. It is up to you how much money you spend on physical media and how often.

Complete control over the content

You decide what goes into your library. You're not subject to geographic restrictions, and you're not going to log in one day and find missing content (like the "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" banned episodes). Kind of related to the algorithm point above, choosing what goes into your library forces you to think what is it that you want to include. As opposed to having someone (or something) else decide for you. It also allows you to have all sorts of non-mainstream content like independent films, digitized tapes, maybe your wedding video, etc.

Buy it once, play it forever

If you're like me or some of my friends, you may have a show that you watch non stop. Maybe even a show that you fall asleep to every night. In my case those are mainly It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The Office. Subscribing to, say, Netflix and Peacock to watch them whenever I want for years and years sounds like a terrible investment. It makes much more sense to buy the content once, and to stream from your local library until you get tired of it (i.e., never).

As for the reasons/motivation for blogging, it has to do with opening myself to the world. I've tried at different times to showcase what I'm doing by blogging (like I mentioned above) or by keeping public repositories like bitbucket or github but it never really become a habit (I suppose it's because I don't usually do coding outside from work). This is fine until I decide to apply for a new job, at which point having public repos and personal projects is recommended (and even expected). I know having a blog is not the same as personal projects or public repos, but it's better than nothing.

Next post will be focused on the self-hosting solution. Stay tuned!