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Tech is supposed to be your servant — devices and services to help you do what you want more easily — not the other way around where you find yourself at its mercy.
Unfamiliar doesn’t have to mean impossible. I’m here to help turn the unknown into something you feel confident in exploring.
Ask The Tech Guru
AARP writer Ed Baig will answer your most pressing technology questions every Tuesday. Baig previously worked for USA Today, BusinessWeek, U.S. News & World Report and Fortune, and is author of Macs for Dummies and coauthor of iPhone for Dummies and iPad for Dummies.
Each Tuesday, I’ll answer a question about the tech you have or the tech you want. I’ll also mention a quick tip that you might find helpful.
The question: Vacation is when I catch up on my shows….
I’ll be traveling internationally this summer. Will I be able to watch the streaming services I subscribe to while there?
In many cases, you can. But be aware you’ll find, um, a stream of caveats.
What you can watch and whether you can watch at all depends on where you’re visiting, the streaming services you subscribe to and the type of subscription you’re paying for.
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Half of more than 1,000 Americans that Investment Property Exchange Services surveyed in December indicated that they planned to travel more in 2024, nearly 2 in 5 internationally.
My college-age daughter, Sydney, who is interning in Dublin this summer, discovered that Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Netflix all work in Ireland, but that's not so for Disney’s bundle partner Hulu. When Sydney entered the account credentials for Hulu, which Dad pays for, she received a message that service doesn’t work anywhere outside the United States.
The message also warned that Hulu “cannot be used with an anonymous proxy service,” which means you can’t trick the service into thinking you’re in the U.S. when you’re not.
By contrast, Netflix content is available in 190 countries, but the No. 1 streaming company in the states points out that each country has its own catalog of licensed TV shows and movies. So you may not be able to watch all your favorite fare until you return home.
Ratings systems also differ across countries and regions. If you’re traveling with kids or grandkids, content that you deem off-limits at home and monitor via parental controls might play in a foreign country. The reverse could also be true.
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