In retrospect, I should have read the fine print.
HBO’s new standalone streaming service, HBO Max, debuted last week to great fanfare. Ads for HBO Max have been ubiquitous over the last month, filling not just typical spots on TV and the internet but even taking up space in CNN’s “breaking news” ticker. The value prop was straightforward enough: All those shows that you’ve been told you absolutely have to watch (The Sopranos, The Wire, Game of Thrones, etc.) plus all 10 seasons of Friends (and eventually an all-new reunion special), plus, by virtue of partnering with Warner Bros., much better movie titles than any competing service (all eight Harry Potter movies, all three Lord of the Rings, etc.). Other offerings were catered to nicher interests (Doctor Who, Rick & Morty, and those Japanese cartoons that are supposedly achievements in high cinema), but no less impressive as part of a thick catalogue. Even at $15 a month, I was excited for HBO Max, and I’d bet a lot of other non-HBO subscribers were too. On launch day, May 27, I was geared up to enjoy some new content, especially after picking Netflix and Disney+ dry these past three months of quarantine.
Except, I couldn’t. I primarily access my streaming content through an Amazon Fire Stick. We also have a Roku and a smart TV that we at times use to watch shows and movies on Amazon Prime, Netflix, YouTube and Disney+. You’d think if there were a streaming service out there (especially one as prominent as HBO Max), at least one of those technologies would allow us to watch it. You’d think wrong. HBO Max is not supported on any of those popular platforms (Roku is the most popular streaming device in the U.S.). As Coleridge might say: content, content everywhere, and not a way to watch.
Technically, I could watch HBO Max on my TV by hooking up my computer with an HDMI cable. However, that would require an HDMI port, which the new MacBook Airs no longer support. That leaves watching it on my computer my only option. Sorry, folks, but when I watch a show or a movie, I do it explicitly to get away from my laptop.
If you are considering getting HBO Max, then I’d consider reading the proverbial fine print. Of course, there is no actual fine print, and although most reviews of the service in its first week dock points for its lack of universal availability, the media was rather derelict in telling people about this before it debuted.
Hope is not lost for HBO Max. The release of Disney+ was also plagued with technical and accessibility issues, all of which it overcame in due time. HBO Max’s catalogue is too good for it to be rendered to the dustbin of the streaming wars. But they better get this fixed soon: though it hardly seems possible, America is starved for quality content right now. It would be nice if HBO came to the rescue.
