Knock Yourself Out, Frances, They Still Exist.

Frances Ryan has found another thing wrong with modern society:

...when it comes to watching films on the platforms, I am one extortionate paywall away from buying a DVD player off eBay and Googling: “Does Blockbuster still exist?”

What’s the problem? 

It is not simply that Netflix and co are killing cinema – although, yes, that is a thing that is objectively bad. It is that the advent of streaming has made watching a movie in your own home more costly, more restricted and often incredibly annoying.

Really? Is this part of Frances' disability then? 

Nowadays, if you rent a film that has recently been released it’ll cost you up to £20, far more than if you saw it in most cinemas – plus you’re paying the electric and heating bills.

Rubbish! I watched 'Zootopia 2' at the weekend, a film that was in the cinema at Christmas, on Disney+, it cost me nothing extra, whate sort of niche vieeing is she after?

When I fancied rewatching Sense and Sensibility recently, it struck me how it had become the norm to have to search through Netflix, Prime and Disney+ to work out which one currently owns the rights to each film. I eventually unearthed it on iPlayer. I think it was quicker for Jane Austen to write the novel.

You can just google that, you know... 

My personal loathing is what I pettily insist on calling Prime’s “double paywall”, in which Amazon blocks off popular films from its own subscribers unless they stump up a £3.49 rental charge on top of the £8.99 we’re already paying monthly.

I just want to be able to rewatch a beloved film without helping Jeff Bezos buy another yacht.

What do you care what he spends his money on? Is that the real issue? 

The e–Bogeyman Again

Children in the UK should be offered the same protection from voracious social media companies that the Danish government has committed to providing (Denmark plans social media ban for under-15s as PM warns phones ‘stealing childhood’, 7 October) so that we can put a stop to the immense damage they are wreaking.

What 'damage' ? And if there is any, is it not offset by the good they are doing in keeping children enytertained and in touch? No tool, after all, is ever single purpose...

...we are not alone in wanting action – 70% of the UK public believe that social media companies are robbing children and young people of their childhoods, and want to see the digital age of consent raised from 13 to 16.

70% of the UK public believe all sorts of crazy things, like reality shows being worthehile tv, and Roger Moore being the best Bond. Can we have an example of of what these phones are allegedly doing? And perhaps why it isn't up to parents to choose?  

From disrupted sleep and shorter attention spans to reduced social skills and exposure to radicalised and extreme views, children and young people are being exploited by big tech executives who are making billions as a result.

Ah, I see - all the usual teenage things are blamed on a device so mumsie and popsie (if that latter exists in their life) can have a pop at capitalism. No doubt signing up to this on their own fondleslab, the hypocrites! 

We are calling on our government to raise the age of access to social media to 16, create space on the school curriculum to teach digital literacy, and introduce a windfall tax on social media companies to pay for mental health services that go some way to undoing the damage they have inflicted on children and young people in this country.

No do the Covid lockdown and unrestricted immigration.