Back in 2017 I wrote an article on how I consumed media (https://lancewicks.com/2017/02/08/media-consumption/) and I thought I would revisit the subject as we close in on the the end of 2019 to see what has changed.
Watching:
Traditional TV is completely dead to me; I can’t remembver the last time we watch anything in realtime. The quality and availability of Netflix and Amazon Prime content has really decreased the need for our Sky+ subscription, we have discussed finally saying good bye to it; but they too have improved and the ability to get more via download on the device is helpful.
Additionally the Sky+ box allows us to show same content in our kitchen and in the living room with zero hassle, so going to get coffee etc does not require a pause.
Netflix and competitors, please build in features so that I can stream same content at same time on multiple devices in sync please.
Youtube and twitch are in the mix, though more than in 2017 I am not watching too much that way.
Listening:
Pocketcasts remains my primary media consumption tool, despite a shorter commute currently I still listen to podcasts a lot. The app is now free which means you have no excuse!
To date according to the app I have listened to over 50 days of content since 2015 on pocketcasts. Mainly at 1.9x speed. Below is my OPML file of podcasts I am subscribed to.
Audible is still used, though not as much as I used to.
Music:
- Youtube Music and Amazon Music are my two prime music players at the moment. Though I have two activity specific sources I need to mention:
- https://www.fitradio.com/ – I have used this app and paid for it for quite a while and use it primarily for Judo and running. The mixes are non-stop and excellent.
- http://www.wefunkradio.com/ – This is a free radio station in Canada I have listened to for years and years online. It is my go to music when programming.
Because of this, I now try and remember to donate every year as I have had my best productivity as a result of Professor Groove and DJ Static’s efforts.
Reading:
My Kindle gets daily use still, mainly cheap science fiction to help me tune the brain down before sleep. Kindle’s are amazing devices they last forever and are superb at what they are designed for. Probably my most beloved device.
This year I also bought a https://remarkable.com/ tablet, which works so much better than the kindle for technical books as the eInk display is that bit bigger and the ability to highlight and scribble notes on the display makes it perfect for non-fiction reading.
Hackernews has faded for me (partially, read on for more) as to a degree has my consumption of RSS feeds via the excellent https://feedly.com/lancew site. The fade perhaps is due to my increasing desire for offline, but more than likely just due to overload as my opml file probably shows:
This is in part because I discovered Charlie Egan’s awesome https://serializer.io/ site. Which gets me my hacker news fix (along woth a few other great sources). It also does the key thing I want which is it knows where I have read up to across devices.
I then use https://getpocket.com/ to bookmark things I want to read. The mobile app does a great job off offline and I am currently exploring how to take this the next step and scripting up getting these sites onto my reMarkable tablet automagically.
The other primary source of amazing content for me is https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/ which I access mainly via Patchbay on my laptop and https://www.manyver.se/ on my mobile.
Interestingly in 2017 I did not mention twitter and facebook; so I shall only mention them in passing here. They are increasingly dead to me. Twitter is surviving longer than FB. But I really only go on occasionally to check for direct connections/messages. Scuttlebutt is a better home for me and the content I read there expands my mind!
So there you have it, not too much has changed since 2017. Offline is getting more important as the way I want things. I seem to triage content and want to be able to access what I want when I want.
Netflix is on point with this, realising that being able mto watch offline is important. Podcasts the same. And perhaps thats why my RSS consumption is down too.
I’d be interested in your thoughts and I will no doubt revisit this post in another couple of year and write an update then.
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