Amazon Prime Instant Video - Page 2

yeah but Amazon would still have to re-license all that for a streaming model, right?

True and before we get too thrilled about the amazon "give away", lets see what streaming titles are offered...

I assume Netflix's content cost is included in the $0.05. Since Amazon is having trouble acquiring content, it's obvious the studios are fighting back. We'll just have to see who blinks first, but the studios are competing against the entire web, not just Netflix.

An interesting point here is that Netflix ported their streaming service to Amazon Web Services (see link). Not only is Amazon involved in Netflix's streaming service, Amazon has a front row seat to the demand for Netflix's product. Their effort to try and start a streaming service of their own speaks volumes.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/8578...microsoft.htm#

What's your source for this?

Here's one...

Amazon apparently pushed back its original date for technical reasons and while it tries to acquire more content to take on Netflix. Amazon reportedly has yet to lock up content from any of the six major Hollywood studios, which matches the selections seen in our screenshots, as the studios continue to evaluate the impact of streaming on their DVD sales.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/02/r...ing-in-feb-no/

Oh, so the LA Times reports their source as "people familiar with the matter"--well, we know how reliable those people are .

Hopefully, this will come to pass .. I cancelled my Prime membership a while back, just did not see the value in it.. however, at $80 a year with streaming included, I'd reactivate .. epecially if Sony and Amazon did a patch for the PS3 ..

I say bring it on, the more the merrier .. maybe the studios will wake up and start letting go of more content .. and PPV can die a slow death ..

I'm sure you have more reliable ones. Who are they?


Yeah. I'm pretty sure free with Amazon Prime will include every new release on release day.

Amazon may not be the only one jumping in either as Hulu Plus could be looking to add more movies, though both are primarily looking at titles more than seven years old.

I think you know that's not exactly what I meant .. however, I will clarify .. the more cloud services available, the more pressure the content folks will feel, and the more money they will make .. after all, it's all about the cash .. .. I'd like to at least believe that we'll see the buck streaming HD new release within my lifetime .. and I'm 65 ..

An Amazon PR, perhaps? A statement by one of their board officers to the press? If any such statements existed there'd be something to talk about, but in the absence of any actual facts this is a discussion of rumors about rumors. Hell, I'd settled for statement attributed to "an Amazon employee who prefers to remain nameless" .

If your sources are dry I guess we'll have to go with the best we have... which is what this thread is about.

No source that I'm aware of. It's more like simple math. It's a well-know fact the studios resent Netflix's success and are upset with what they accepted for their content in the past. Many are on record stating they want more in the future.

Since it's impossible to exhaust the disc/streaming selection on-line currently, I really don't care what the studios do. They are completely trapped right now with no way out. The first ones to chew off their leg might survive. Even if the studios do ruin Netflix's streaming business, they still have disc rentals. I'll just bump up my disc count and find other content to stream.

The studios have been upset since the first video tape went up for rental .. they have wanted for years to control pricing.. .. fortunately, fo us anyway, the consumers have always won .. I feel that, without a doubt, the streaming of media will go the same way as rental went .. resistance, and then, ultimately, acceptance and a proper business model that keeps all the players moderately happy ..

I as well feel that the studios should embrace the tech .. as we go forward, the music business might be a good example .. sale of physical media certainly will take a dive, however, if a quality stream could be had for the price of a rental .. say, a $1.50 in HD on a new release, many of us would take advantage of that ..

VUDU, Zune and others offer the content at an inflated price, which I'm just not willing to pay .. same for most all PPV ..

How did you come to the conclusion that the price is inflated? Beyond it's more than I'll pay.

For physical media, the studios lost the β case, businesses and consumers had/have the protection of the First Sale Doctrine. With licensed content (streaming/PPV/VOD/etc.) there is no such protection and puts the studios in the drives seat. They probably can't wait for Netflix to end their disc rental business. No license, no stream and you can bet providers will want exclusive rights to certain content which will drive the price up even more.

all that will do is just drive people to piracy. There needs to be a reasonable cost alternative to piracy or it's just going to run even more rampant than it already is.

That is a very valid argument, one I'm sure everyone directly involved is considering. I'm betting that consumers on balance want total control of what they watch and when they watch it. That will put a lot of pressure on content owners to make their content more easily accessible than their direct competitors, which are other content owners. That helps keep prices down.

My personal opinion is that I think streaming has reached critical mass and don't think it would be in the best interests of the content owners to pi$$ off millions of people by withholding content from them just because they can. Besides, you can't stop the creative drive within people. Someone will step in to fill the vacuum.

That makes no sense, Netflix and Blockbuster is $9.00 (and ↑) a month and we still have a lot of piracy. There is a segment of the populous that will always steal. It was bad in the days of VHS, people would rent content and copy it to their second machine. This brought on a new company called Microvision. Then came the black boxes to defeat Microvision. Then came DVD. And so it goes...

Don't most new model televisions and BD players include streaming players for multiple online sources (Netflix, Hulu, VUDU, etc)? The conversion from hard media to streaming is close to being fait accompli.

Have you ever priced a new release from VUDU, Zune or others and compared that to rental .. ?? It's definitely inflated ..

Netflix and content providers are in bed with each other as we speak .. to think otherwise flies in the face of logic .. with Netflix gearing up and cutting delivery deals with outfits like Level 3 and others, they would not be doing that unless they knew full well they have studio support .. in addition to placing the Netflix ap in about anything that can connect these days ..

The genie is already out of the bottle .. my take is we'll see dollar/ two dollar new release streaming in the not too distant future .. studio revenue will be on volume .. not exclusive rights or exclusive deals .. that's why the CATV co's are shaking in their shoes as well .. the monopoly is over .. or close to it ..

I'd venture to guess even further that instead of a set price per title or package, the studios will go for a piece of the action on every stream ..

You read it here first ..

BB - $4.99 DVD or blu-ray
Safeway - $3.99 DVD
CinemaNow - $3.99

People are starting to believe they are entitled to entertainment for cheap and think they should keep prices at these low levels.

$5-6 for two hours of entertainment for +2 people is cheap and not inflated.

Remember, no one is forced to pay for inflated entertainment in which they enjoy to watch.
If you believe the price is to much, don't rent it.

Depends upon how much you value the convenience and/or how much you care about seeing a movie in the first 4 weeks after release to DVD.

But others forget that the cost of production and distribution of discs is far far more expensive than the bandwidth it takes to stream a movie. It shouldn't be anywhere near the same price as a disc rental to stream a movie. If you take into account that you can bring that disc with you whereever you like and play on anyone's TV, it further discounts the cost/benefit of streaming.

True although the potential market is much larger which makes the related costs far from linear.

These arguments are vacuous and annoying. You could say the same thing for a 1k/day plan. Of course there is a point to discussing price/value.

I don't think anyone would say it's not relevant. Some simply feel the cost isn't inflated because it's beyond what they can or would spend.

My comments were based on HD content .. CinemaNow may appear to be a good value, (compared to VUDU / Zune / Etc) however, I've never been able to figure out what you actually get PQ wise .. website says "Premium movies are of superior playback quality." .. what does that mean .. ??

I have no burning desire to rent on new release day .. after all, there is plenty of content to keep my viewing needs happy if I do wait till the 28 day window expires .. thus, RedBox at a $1.50 BD or wait for Netflix .. no big deal to me ..

Frugality is just that .. I can afford to rent at higher price levels, however, one of the reasons I can afford to, is frugality .. so I choose not to pay what I consider to be inflated prices .. if I have to wait, so be it ..

There is certainly no entitlement mentality on my part .. just good economic sense .. if you knew you could buy something 28 days from now at less than half the price of what it is today, why would you not wait .. ??

Have you priced a gallon of gas lately? My Safeway store is about 5 miles away, so at $3.00 a gallon a 10 mile roundtrip is about two bucks! (Not even including my time)

your car gets 15 MPG? Time to buy a new car.

Really comparing the price of gas with the cost of streaming v. disc rental is the reverse of being in your favor. Streaming = no gas for those delivery trucks to get the discs to stores.