Remember when streaming used to be exciting? Remember when, after years of trawling around HMV, spending £20 on DVDs of single seasons of television, Netflix arrived and presented you with what felt like every episode of every amazing television show ever made, for six quid a month? It was a game-changer. It felt like the future.
But the future feels increasingly like a prison. This week Disney+ announced its “paid sharing program”, in which subscribers could add members outside their households for just five extra pounds a month. The press release presented this news like a golden act of unsolicited charity – although it’s obviously an attempt to squeeze more money out of punters by cracking down on password sharing.
