HBO Max is phenomenal. They seem to be going a different route (pushing quality) than Netflix (algorithms generating low-budget reality shows).

It's slightly possible that HBO has a longer track record making good content than Netflix does; not everything can be solved by throwing money at it.

HBO Max started out with decades of inexpensive, quality content via Warner. Netflix had to either buy or build content.

Netflix did poach proven talent, but even then, it was people like Shonda Rimes and the guys who botched Game of Thrones.

Netflix failed to buy a studio; you can poach talent but poaching an entire structure is harder to do.

Netflix has spent more on original content than Amazon did to buy MGM, though they apparently have spent less than Disney did on Fox.

Apple+ is also slowly entering that bracket (with stuff like Severance) and I'm here for it.

Liked Ted Lasso season 1. Underwhelmed by most of the other offerings. Also I can’t cast Apple TV which is a big downside.

> Also I can’t cast Apple TV which is a big downside.

Sorry, what does this mean?

Not the op, but I read this as lack of chromecast support

Ah, okay.

I love HBOMax content but the technology is a nightmare. Constant buffering that makes shows almost unwatchable, which I cannot understand since I have no problem with Netflix, Prime, Hulu and Disney.

I don't have buffering problems with any streaming services. Perhaps your ISP has congested peering with their network.

Im not a technical network guy, so I don’t know, but the fact that it doesn’t affect any other streaming service leads me to blame HBO.

Not saying you're right or wrong, but the landscape during the Qwikster fiasco was so dramatically different, it may as well have been a different market.

How much are you paying for a carrier plan if Netflix is bundled with it?

$135/mo (after taxes, etc) for unlimited data and four lines.