As more and more streaming services have emerged and cable TV has fallen out of favor, my father can only think one thing: More is more. Thus, over the course of four years, I have amassed five different streaming services—Amazon Prime, HBO Now, Hulu, Netflix and YouTube TV.
However, recently there have been talks of yet another streaming service scheduled to be released in the coming weeks by Apple, and I’m less than impressed.
As someone with an array of TV shows and movies at her fingertips, I’ve seen first-hand the various pros and cons of each of these streaming services. Furthermore, if I were to rank these services from best to worst, it would be as such: Hulu, Netflix, HBO Now, Amazon Prime and YouTube TV.
As a student, I enjoy the benefits of a Spotify Premium student discount that packages Spotify and Hulu together and allows me to listen and watch on the go for a low monthly subscription; the main drawback of Hulu is the commercials, but with the right ad blocker, it becomes 60 seconds of a black screen, silence and some quality homework time.
On the other end of the spectrum, there’s YouTube TV. If I had one word to describe it, it’d be “pointless.” It has the most expensive monthly subscription, and it offers the fewest options; it’s underwhelming, and I wish I had canceled my subscription sooner.
However, the operative question isn’t “Which streaming service is the best?,” it’s “What does this new streaming service do for me?” In Apple’s case, the answer is nothing.
According to Karen Haslam, a reporter for Apple’s new streaming service has built a top-of-the-line video team comprising of names like Jamie Erlicht, a former Sony-Picture executive, and Paramount Network’s Dana Tuinier; however, many of the shows produced under these executives—“Breaking Bad” and “New Girl,” respectively—are already featured on successful pre-existing streaming services like Netflix.
Also, Haslam said Apple intends to create its own shows. This new Apple streaming service is beginning to sound like a spin-off of Netflix…and Hulu…and HBO Now…
As a self-proclaimed cinephile, it hurts to say this, but there is such a thing as too much TV. With this new era of never-ending shows and streaming services to go along with them, good, quality TV often gets lost in the shuffle. With an unnecessary abundance of powerhouse streaming services already floating around in our entertainment universe, I see no need for yet another one to be thrown into the mix.
Apple isn’t doing anything new, so save your money—and your brain cells.