Your Streaming App Is a Prison Made of Comfort
The Promise of Immersion, The Reality of Algorithms
The click of the remote is barely audible, but I feel the vibration travel up my arm. It’s a cheap plastic thing, lighter than it looks, and the buttons have that unsatisfying, gummy response. My thumb presses down, the screen flashes from black to a brand logo that hangs in the air for 5 seconds too long, and then the wall of infinite choice appears. My profile is set to French. My language is French. My region, through a series of digital hoops and tunnels, is France. I just finished watching Le Dîner de Cons, a masterpiece of comedic timing, and my brain is buzzing with new phrases and cadences.
And there it is. The first tile on the screen. ‘Because you watched Le Dîner de Cons…’ My heart gives a hopeful little flutter. What will it be? Another French comedy? A classic from the 70s? Maybe a modern film that carries the same spirit?
No. It’s an Adam Sandler movie from 2005.
Beside it, a Sylvester Stallone franchise. Below that, a sprawling American sitcom I’ve already seen 15 times. The algorithm, a multi-billion dollar piece of code designed
















