I have to PAY to view Escapist videos on the iPad?

[Ketsuban]

I've been a fan of The Escapist for a while now - started with Zero Punctuation, moved on to Unskippable, then Extra Credits. That's not too important for the moment, though, but note that the majority of what I consume on this site is video-based.

It's been my intention for a while now (since the release of the iPad made tablets a viable market by demonstrating the superiority of mobile operating systems over traditional ones for low-resource platforms) to buy a tablet. I was going to get an Archos 101, but the distribution for it was so terrible that by the time I had enough cash for the highest-model iPad the Archos still was nowhere near being delivered to me, so I took advantage of a relative visiting Singapore and got an iPad at a moderate discount.

So imagine my surprise, frustration and outrage when I discovered I have to pay twenty dollars a year for the privilege of watching content on The Escapist on my iPad. What's even more galling is that's the only feature of the subscription which I actually care about - it'd be less annoying if I regularly cursed the low quality of Escapist videos, or wanted to download the videos to watch later or any of the other features which you get for a subscription, but the only thing of that long list which I actually want is the ability to watch videos on my own computer.

As such, I feel like The Escapist is a highwayman. It's punishing me for the crime of buying one device over another. I can't be the only one in this situation. Is there an official response?

(I tried to search the forums to find any similar prior posts and came up with nothing, so I'm sorry if I've somehow overlooked an existing thread on the same topic.)

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

I've never thought of it that way.

People tend to think of the iPad as a luxury, but if it is effectively your primary computer, you are screwed. The Escapist actually should fix that...

 

[uvr5672]

Interesting, I thought that they said that they wouldn't remove features when they introduced Publishers-club.

 

[BonsaiK]

You can afford an iPad and you're complaining about the Escapist robbing you? I think Apple is the highwayman here, and The Escapist is the busker you meet ten minutes later down the same road...

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

You can afford an iPad and you're complaining about the Escapist robbing you?

You are missing the point.

Just because you have money, doesn't mean you should have to pay for such things.

 

[DuplicateValue]

You can afford an iPad and you're complaining about the Escapist robbing you?

*Ahem*

I took advantage of a relative visiting Singapore and got an iPad at a moderate discount.

Reading things through thoroughly saves mistakes and misunderstandings.

 

[Liberaliter]

Stop using the iPad, problem solved.

 

[The Cheezy One]

Look at it this way - you pay a small amount, and you get to watch videos on your iPad

 

[BonsaiK]

You can afford an iPad and you're complaining about the Escapist robbing you?

*Ahem*

I took advantage of a relative visiting Singapore and got an iPad at a moderate discount.

Reading things through thoroughly saves mistakes and misunderstandings.

An iPad at a "moderate discount" still ain't cheap.

 

[GeorgW]

It makes perfect sense to let people pay to get to subscribe to videos on their iPhone, but if your iPad is your primary computer, that is really annoying. I hope there's a happy medium here, but I can't think of any right now.

 

[DuplicateValue]

You can afford an iPad and you're complaining about the Escapist robbing you?

*Ahem*

I took advantage of a relative visiting Singapore and got an iPad at a moderate discount.

Reading things through thoroughly saves mistakes and misunderstandings.

An iPad at a "moderate discount" still ain't cheap.

True, but think of it this way:

In the past I've bought a ps3 at launch price, a relatively good desktop, and a pretty nice laptop.
That doesn't mean that I at any point had money to splash around on things like website subscriptions. I saved for all those things - the money wasn't just lying around.

 

[Glamorgan]

I guess I can understand where you're coming from. Still, it's a premium feature.

On an unrelated note, I think it would be really great if they somehow modified the forums for smartphone use. I found it almost impossible to use the forums on an iPhone.

 

[Anah'ya]

You enjoy the content you are given, so why would it be such a big deal to shell out 20 dollars a YEAR (thats 2 pizza meals)?

I am baffled by this. Especially because it says so in the subscription benefits: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/subscription/details#mobile

Yes. An iPad is a MOBILE device. It's not a Laptop/Notebook and it's not a PC/Mac. It is marketed, sold and developed (not in that particular order) as a mobile device akin to the previously available mobile organizers.

It's not the Escapist that is to blame here, but Apple, if you want to blame someone.

 

[Aurgelmir]

I've been a fan of The Escapist for a while now - started with Zero Punctuation, moved on to Unskippable, then Extra Credits. That's not too important for the moment, though, but note that the majority of what I consume on this site is video-based.

It's been my intention for a while now (since the release of the iPad made tablets a viable market by demonstrating the superiority of mobile operating systems over traditional ones for low-resource platforms) to buy a tablet. I was going to get an Archos 101, but the distribution for it was so terrible that by the time I had enough cash for the highest-model iPad the Archos still was nowhere near being delivered to me, so I took advantage of a relative visiting Singapore and got an iPad at a moderate discount.

So imagine my surprise, frustration and outrage when I discovered I have to pay twenty dollars a year for the privilege of watching content on The Escapist on my iPad. What's even more galling is that's the only feature of the subscription which I actually care about - it'd be less annoying if I regularly cursed the low quality of Escapist videos, or wanted to download the videos to watch later or any of the other features which you get for a subscription, but the only thing of that long list which I actually want is the ability to watch videos on my own computer.

As such, I feel like The Escapist is a highwayman. It's punishing me for the crime of buying one device over another. I can't be the only one in this situation. Is there an official response?

(I tried to search the forums to find any similar prior posts and came up with nothing, so I'm sorry if I've somehow overlooked an existing thread on the same topic.)

Correct me if I am wrong here BUT:

The Escapists videos are in flash, right?

Steve Jobs don't like flash, and decided that Flash will not be a part of his iProducts.


That means you can't open an Escapist video on your iPad through a browser.
This is not the Escapists problem though, it's yours and Apples problem, but the Escapist are nice enough to offer a secondary service to allow you to watch their videos on an iProduct. Notice how this is something they create EXTRA! and I do not find it wrong or thieving to ask you to pay for their extra work.

Besides, you get all the other content for FREE! on a computer (and most likely any other tablet)m so aren't you complaining about something that really boils down to:

"I use an inferior product, and want special treatment"

PS: I called the iPad inferior to point out that it lacks the capabilitys to run flash/the escxapist browser based videos.
It should not be read as me hating on Apple.

 

[Ketsuban]

It makes perfect sense to let people pay to get to subscribe to videos on their iPhone, but if your iPad is your primary computer, that is really annoying. I hope there's a happy medium here, but I can't think of any right now.

I believe the iPhone uses the "handheld" media type, whereas the iPad uses "screen", the same as a normal browser.

For the record, the "moderate discount" was about £100. Not much cheaper, sure, but still significant.

I'm not going to bother responding to any of the comments about "just don't use an iPad" for the simple reason that none of those people are going to leap into the fray to give me the money I spent on this device back along with however much extra it would cost me to get a Mac (or hardware than can run Mac OS X). I'm not asking for a special feature, just the ability to watch the videos on the site the same as on any other computer. HTML 5 isn't a premium feature over Flash any more than PHP is a premium feature over Perl.

 

[Nimcha]

It makes perfect sense to let people pay to get to subscribe to videos on their iPhone, but if your iPad is your primary computer, that is really annoying. I hope there's a happy medium here, but I can't think of any right now.

Not using your iPad as your primary computer? It's not meant to be anyway.

 

[mjc0961]

Correct me if I am wrong here BUT:

The Escapists videos are in flash, right?

Steve Jobs don't like flash, and decided that Flash will not be a part of his iProducts.


That means you can't open an Escapist video on your iPad through a browser.
This is not the Escapists problem though, it's yours and Apples problem, but the Escapist are nice enough to offer a secondary service to allow you to watch their videos on an iProduct. Notice how this is something they create EXTRA! and I do not find it wrong or thieving to ask you to pay for their extra work.

Besides, you get all the other content for FREE! on a computer (and most likely any other tablet)m so aren't you complaining about something that really boils down to:

"I use an inferior product, and want special treatment"

PS: I called the iPad inferior to point out that it lacks the capabilitys to run flash/the escxapist browser based videos.
It should not be read as me hating on Apple.

I have to agree with this. It's not The Escapist's fault that Steve Jobs won't let his pads and pods run Flash content. If you want to ***** out anyone, ***** out Apple. And next time, do some research before committing so much money to a purchase. The iPad not supporting flash is a pretty good reason not to buy that overpriced yet under-performing device.

 

[mrwar]

I find your anger very interesting, by joining Apple's "ecosystem", you are in fact agreeing to pay Apple for almost everything you do. You have to pay itunes to buy music, you have to pay to buy ebooks from Apple, you have to pay to buy or rent movies from itunes, etc...
You also chose not to be able to enjoy any kind of flash content because Apple decided for you that flash is not a "good" technology (in reality they just want to sell apps that make the same thing flash based applications can do, but I digress).
Yet, you are outraged that you have to pay the Escapist to enjoy content that they have to put some work on to make it available to apple devices!
How quaint...

 

[AngelicSven]

I've been a fan of The Escapist for a while now - started with Zero Punctuation, moved on to Unskippable, then Extra Credits. That's not too important for the moment, though, but note that the majority of what I consume on this site is video-based.

It's been my intention for a while now (since the release of the iPad made tablets a viable market by demonstrating the superiority of mobile operating systems over traditional ones for low-resource platforms) to buy a tablet. I was going to get an Archos 101, but the distribution for it was so terrible that by the time I had enough cash for the highest-model iPad the Archos still was nowhere near being delivered to me, so I took advantage of a relative visiting Singapore and got an iPad at a moderate discount.

So imagine my surprise, frustration and outrage when I discovered I have to pay twenty dollars a year for the privilege of watching content on The Escapist on my iPad. What's even more galling is that's the only feature of the subscription which I actually care about - it'd be less annoying if I regularly cursed the low quality of Escapist videos, or wanted to download the videos to watch later or any of the other features which you get for a subscription, but the only thing of that long list which I actually want is the ability to watch videos on my own computer.

As such, I feel like The Escapist is a highwayman. It's punishing me for the crime of buying one device over another. I can't be the only one in this situation. Is there an official response?

(I tried to search the forums to find any similar prior posts and came up with nothing, so I'm sorry if I've somehow overlooked an existing thread on the same topic.)

Correct me if I am wrong here BUT:

The Escapists videos are in flash, right?

Steve Jobs don't like flash, and decided that Flash will not be a part of his iProducts.


That means you can't open an Escapist video on your iPad through a browser.
This is not the Escapists problem though, it's yours and Apples problem, but the Escapist are nice enough to offer a secondary service to allow you to watch their videos on an iProduct. Notice how this is something they create EXTRA! and I do not find it wrong or thieving to ask you to pay for their extra work.

Besides, you get all the other content for FREE! on a computer (and most likely any other tablet)m so aren't you complaining about something that really boils down to:

"I use an inferior product, and want special treatment"

PS: I called the iPad inferior to point out that it lacks the capabilitys to run flash/the escxapist browser based videos.
It should not be read as me hating on Apple.

Pretty much, Apple and Adobe are having their ***** fight still and the videos are flash, I've tried watching some on my phone. So, you're gonna have to pony up the cash for the extra service or hope The Escapist goes HTML5 tomorrow.