I have always been impressed with Plex, because I have simple needs. Store my media, let me access it in my house and when I travel, let me record TV shows. Has it been perfect? No, and sometimes I miss a recording. Would I like a few more music features like more flexible playlist content sorting when building playlists, yep. I agree with many of the concerns and “complaints” because each user has their own perspective (which is very personal).
That said, I want Plex to survive because personally I don’t want to start over with another product. I am listening now to a custom playlist on my porch of quiet, spa like music being played through PlexAmp to a portable speaker. My music, the way I like it. I would be happy to pay a nominal yearly fee to continue to receive maintenance releases and periodic updates. I am a decades old lifetime Pass user.
It is in our collective interest to see Plex survive.
After watching this thread for a little while now and still mad at a response I got from a ‘senior’ member of this company recently, this is my 2 cents worth:
Plex remains the best personal media server on the internet. I’ve never purchased the plex pass (easy to forget $4 coming out of my checking account). Now, 11 years and over $500 later, I’m stilll here. I’m still in need of the same things today - simplicity and dependability.
Plex is missing the mark as it evolves. Not because of the drive to enhance, but because its evolution is outpacing its dependability efforts. After 11 years I still don’t have basic editing/sorting of a playlist - but in the wisdom of one fool - I’m told that I don’t need it. What I don’t need is the addition of all the bells and whistles at the expense of ‘simplicity and dependability’. Basics basic basics…
Time to switch gears. How about a simple 80-20 split. 80% of the efforts on the core product and 20% in bells and whistles. If you tell me that’s where you’re at, I’ll tell you to re-learn how to use a calculator.
To play devils advocate here, what about the users that want those features and would only pay if those features are provided? This is the problem with single user input and where companies can get crushed if they choose to follow it. I’d argue that you (and me fyi) are the MINORITY in what we want in Plex. Most of their user base probably doesn’t even have a backend server anymore. Just because we are loud on a forum doesn’t mean we actually make up anything. If Plex changed to a video game streaming company tomorrow (sorry, had to make that joke), I would still be OVERLY satisfied with the $80 I spent on this software 12 years ago, its a joke to even think that’s a sustainable model and anyone who has a lifetime pass should recognize that.
Do I want them to focus on what I care about? Of course, but I also know I am a niche market for them at this point, so I just focus on stability, which in my use case has been rock solid for 8+ years for me and my 20 friends connected to me.
I don’t think the core product is what the typical user uses though, and that is where it becomes a conundrum. I would love an 80/20 split like you said, but realistically the “core” product makes them no money so you won’t see that development effort. And the “competition” is a joke still compared to Plex (I run all 3).
Yep, points taken… I tossed out the 80/20 as something that any software company deals with. Where does the bulk of their limited resources go? What is the core product? What is the primary income source? What’s the right balance - and be fluid about it as conditions change.
I’m not chiming in out of any big issues. I do, however, worry about this product when I’m told that I (the user) am wrong about what I need. Do you really want to chase away your original customer-base while pursuing a different customer and their needs? Dangerous gamble…
So layoffs? Eh , none of us know the reasoning or the impact. Time will tell as we watch the direction of development.
The problem is the original userbase is connected to piracy, yes, yes, I know, we all have only movies we ripped from our own BlueRays, yes. And that’s why Plex never embraced that and tried and failed to move their business into something more kosher. I don’t think a bunch of people are going to pay $4 a month to stream those B-movies and series, it all look like 2am TV channels. You have no chance when there are options that cost just a couple of dollars more for a decent catalogue., and in some countries you have Amazon Freeve and Netflix with ads.
For me, I paid the lifetime pass for two things, Sync (later Downloads) that never really worked and Mobile Photo Uploads which they removed. I have replaced Mobile Photo Uploads with Nextcloud but Nextcloud is seriously bloated. Mobile Photo Uploads never really worked as promised (lots of problems with uploads stopping), but even with all its problems at least it was not bloated and didn’t make my server fall to its knees.
At some point the Plex ecosystem will eventually self destruct, not just because they have to continue to find ways to pull in revenue but also for the fact that the film and tv industry is being flipped on its head. Hardware and software wise, if the major telecom conglomerates get their way with ATSC 3.0 with their implementation of DRM, they’ll have a strong hold over the future of DVR technology in the hardware industry and make it harder for consumers as well as software app developers like Plex to work with their DRM standards.
If you’re not paying any attention to the industry, someone like Comcast who not only owns their media catalog but also their internet infrastructure pipeline to consumers, are or will eventually move away from standard coaxial cable television service and only provide their old traditional cable customers with a streaming platform such as Xfinity Stream.
That move finally puts the nail in the coffin for cable-card usage and providing physical DVR hardware they can no longer make money off.
The tv and film industry is such an ever changing industry that I really don’t believe that Plex will be able to keep up or be participative in it unless one of the conglomerates purchases Plex and takes what market share they have.
Plex HAD an opportunity to hold steady with Podcasts, Music, and Audiobooks but I feel that ambition is long gone, despite the gem that PlexAmp is.
Hmmmm, I just looked and I have more than 30,000 photos of our family and grandkids I share across 5 countries to relatives. I have more than 45,000 music tracks I listen to locally. I have more than 15,000 videos (family movies - 16 mm converted from the 1950-60’s, gopro, drone) I share across 5 countries.
All via Plex.
I am more than happy to pay a sub for that purpose.
Been using Plex since around 2010. Ran my first version of the server on an old computer, just local in my house. Used it for many years and never paid a thing for this awesome functionality. Ripped my DVD bookcase into a hard drive and cleared up space in my tiny studio apartment. Then the option to stream outside the house became a paid feature and saving photos was a paid feature. Bought myself a lifetime of Plex at that point. Its been 10+ years and the server has gotten better with more features and more ways to consume media.
Like others have said here, I also have thousands of tracks of music, thousands of photos, and movies and home videos. All of this through Plex makes up my media history.
When I got my lifetime pass it was 120 bucks. back in 2010 and its still 120 bucks now. The addition of Plexamp and Plex’s ability to process music, is unbelievable for that amount of money.
Plex is a part of my daily life. I appreciate the freedom it gives, it saves me money everymonth and the hasle of jumping from one streaming service to another just to watch one movie. I buy blu rays and CDs rip them to my machine and its there for as long as I want. Plex can do whatever it wants when it comes to prices and how they charge for their product. The only thing that I would say they keep is the option for a lifetime pass. It doesn’t have to be that cheap but it needs to remain as an option.
But I guess Plex is damned if they do and damned if they don’t. People will complain about features and bugs and things not getting fixed fast enough. Thats fine and legit. But if Plex raises prices for the services so they can hire people to fix the issues/bugs and hire people to develop stuff then people will complain about how Plex is just greedy and want more money for the sake of greed.
I’m a lifetime plex pass member, and like others, I signed up for that service package as it was financially sound purchase at the time. Plex isn’t perfect, there are more than a few bugs, and if it was a product that I purchased from a store, I would have returned it long ago. But it mostly serves my purpose.
If Plex modifies their packages in a way that the services I use are placed behind an additional paywall, that changes the terms of the deal that I made with them, and therefore would entitle me to a refund. It’s simply not acceptable.
I primarily use it for live OTA TV and as a DVR. Music playback is a nice side benefit, but not all that important to me; I have many other avenues to access my music library.
And there are going to be enough problems when ATSC 3.0 becomes more widespread. It’s likely to break several aspects of Plex. So it’s on borrowed time for me, as best as I can figure, depending upon whether Plex honors the restrictions imposed by 3.0 such as no recording/time shifting, encryption and such.
are you one of those people that would want your money back if the company shuttered too? It breaks the TOS as well… Unless you just bought a Plex Pass, if youve been using it for like 6 months its paid for itself. We aren’t talking about a billion dollars here, it was a 1 time $120 fee for something you probably use multiple hours a day of your life. And I say all this as a huge cheapskate myself, but even this is a bit much for me. Products are allowed to change over time. Also, i would doubt the TOS agreement you agreed too when you purchased it doesn’t protect themselves from this type of situation.
Plex have the right to terminate under TOS (as they could have at the time I got PlexPass Lifetime over 10 years ago).
They can also decide to end PlexPass and begin a new offering.
Lifetime wrt PlexPass is the life of the offering to you, not your lifetime !
Edit - as I mentioned previously, they could do as 1Password have done and maintain the old offering but with no updates or new features and minimal support.
That’s so silly… not even TiVo or Tablo have those sorts of customer guarantees. You get what you get per the time of the product and unfortunately TOS is something that legally can be altered at any given time per their discretion. It’s pretty standard practice and something I’ve even faced with design apps like Adobe and Affinity Design suite. I’m “annoyed” that you don’t know any better.
The huge flaw between the Plex ecosystem vs. 1 Password situation is that unlike 1Password, that specific Plex Server version may not be maintained but then it also breaks any connections and features that have been implemented in any Plex client apps, additionally any third party ecosystems like old/new iOS, Linux, Android devices, game consoles, etc. There’s a huge opportunity of breakage between Plex Server and the client apps.
1Password is also a Server application but its Server App isn’t so complex that it constantly communicates to the cloud like Plex does. 1Pass also has the ability to open up previous vaults without the need to connect to the cloud. That’s something that Plex has neglected to honor and insists on making their product/services tied to their cloud platform offerings.
So my point here is that Plex in no way, shape or form will be able to honor that scenario of providing a one last final version of Plex Server without potentially messing up any future compatibility or configurations within months of new releases for the other client apps. There’s absolutely no guarantee that changes that happen on client side will work with the previous versions of the installed Plex Server that they discontinued.
Hence my point …this is exactly what can happen and has done so for other software offerings. If you want to specifically focus on one component of PlexPass, Plex actually have an example already.
Edit - please note we are talking about PlexPass (thread title), not a component of PlexPass.
I look at it this way. Plex mgmt. chose to offer a fantastic deal, their lifetime pass in order to generate a quick hit of incoming cash at that time. They made that choice, and ethically should be held to it. Legally, that would vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but in some states such as NY, I’m pretty sure they would be legally required to honor it.
It reminds me of the health club scams that were popular a few decades ago, where the owners of a club would sell unlimited lifetime memberships until they couldn’t accommodate any more customers, and the new membership funds dried up. So the club did a corporate sale/purchase deal, opened under a new name, which of course invalidated all the existing memberships. The state put the kibosh on that scam a while back.
I think this example is quite different as a health club is physical location and it is truly limited per the laws and regulations set forth by how many occupants can enter and be in that physical location at any given time. That also means that yes, that health club can have 500 memberships but if all 500 show up at one time while there’s only a 150 person capacity, then it’s obvious that if the remaining members cannot use their membership as they intended, they have no choice but to seek a different location or make the health club make accommodations for better time management of their facilities to honor all 500 memberships.
Plex doesn’t have a physical presence and therefore their lifetime membership is merely anything that’s already been set presented in other applications and business models. MOVIEPASS? TiVo LIFETIME SERVICE per the length of the life of the hardware purchased. These TOS change very often, yearly even.
If you truly think you believe that you as a consumer have a right to fight something like that, prove me wrong by going after Disney+ and other streaming platforms where they originally offered just about everything from their catalog and then decided to take off the very content that was supposed to save households time and money in not having to ever worry about lost media.
The whole reasoning for consumers such as those of us on the Plex ecosystem, is to make sure we have access to EVERYTHING at our fingertips without constantly worrying about these licensing agreements and expiring content. I dont think the average consumer of a streaming platform ever expected these companies to delete the content they own off their platform. That act alone creates FALSE scarcity of their brands, IP and content that they already have paid to have made.
There is however arguments to be had with Plex and they’re new features like Podcasts, which was short lived. Podcasts along with photo uploads should have been a dominant feature that should have stayed as part of the Plex media ecosystem.
Plex isn’t a scam. What is a scam is this belief that a one time cost of $120 or the discounted rate of $75 for Plexpass was ever going to fund their operations. They just merely have had way too many roadblocks in terms of trying to implement many different unnecessary features that were more like “shiny new toys”. Nothing significant that was actually asked for, such as Audiobooks, has been implemented…. YET. My personal belief is that they know what challenges they have. They didn’t have the talent or the leadership at the time to make all of their ideas work on the development end. But calling Plex as a scam is very disingenuous to the work they already accomplished.
