2020-07-30 ------------------------------------------------------------------ I listen to several hours of podcasts a day. I am so glad they somehow fell through the cracks of the vampiric media industry. Sure there are a lot of traditional media trying to get in, but so far it seems that podcasts are the last stronghold of independent thought. It takes a bit of dedication for an individual to start their podcast, and there is enough of a barrier to keep out some of the most flimsical actors, but overall, anyone with even a poor connection would be able to host a podcast with relatively low cost. This is not a state to be taken for granted, though. As soon as we start paying for this stuff, the freedom is taken away. You see what Spotify did? You see what Netflix did? They took the concept of internet relayed media and turned it to shit. Things were just fine when you had to find a torrent of the new movie. You could have ANY movie. Now Netflix gives you two out of three Matrix movies and you have to go to Amazon for the third, and pay individually. There is value in not paying to these companies. It is not a fluke that they turn functioning services to shit. It comes from the need to increase profit. This overrides the quality of the system in both technical terms and in terms of content. Paying for stuff is to vote for this downward spin of quality. If you want to pay for stuff, donate to the people you listen to. Never pay the middle man. They are all fine when they don't control the scene but later they take hostages. Never negotiate with a blossoming terrorist. ------------------------------------------------------------------