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post #91 of 923
2/22/11 at 7:08am
Is HD included? Doesn't look like it.
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post #92 of 923
2/22/11 at 7:09am
On Netflix, I just finished the Swedish trilogy, the first of which is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. (I'm not sure of the official trilogy title.)

Anyway, I see it's also on Amazon. It will be interesting to compare streaming quality.
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post #93 of 923
2/22/11 at 7:20am
One (serious) disadvantage Amazon has is a lack of a queue. I tend to use it like my DVR. The titles are pre-selected and based on my preference at the time I selected what I want to view. I rather not search through thousands of titles instead of a hundred (I know I want to catch at some point).
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post #94 of 923
2/22/11 at 7:37am
selection is sad right now. Skimming, I don't think I saw almost anything I wanted that I couldn't already get on Netflix.

Hopefully it gets better.

What's nice about Tivo Premiere is it can come up in search results - but then again, you won't know off the bat that it's streaming. I don't know if you'd need a service update on Tivo to do that.
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post #95 of 923
2/22/11 at 7:39am
Thread Starter 
February 22, 2011 | Devindra Hardawar

... It’s also cheaper than Netflix’s streaming video, which costs $8 per month at a minimum, or $96 a year.

Unfortunately for those lucky few, like students, with free Amazon Prime memberships, they won’t have access to Prime streaming video. They will instead have to pay the normal $79 Prime subscription fee to take advantage of the streaming video.

http://venturebeat.com/2011/02/22/amazon-prime-video/
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post #96 of 923
2/22/11 at 7:45am
i think bgooch needs his morning coffee
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post #97 of 923
2/22/11 at 7:46am
Thread Starter 
By Doug Aamoth on February 22, 2011

the actual list of eligible titles currently returns 1,669 movies and 484 TV shows, so either Amazon's adding titles or the TV shows are counted per episode.

content selection will play a big part in how well the service does (there aren't a whole lot of mainstream titles available), as will its availability on third-party devices (Prime instant videos aren't yet available on TiVo boxes, for instance).

http://techland.time.com/2011/02/22/...prime-members/
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post #98 of 923
2/22/11 at 7:48am
Thread Starter 
Amazon Prime Members Now Get Unlimited, Commercial-free, Instant Streaming of More Than 5,000 Movies and TV Shows at No Additional Cost
Amazon Adds Instant Videos to Amazon Prime

SEATTLE, Feb 22, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced the launch of a new benefit for Amazon Prime members: unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of more than 5,000 movies and TV shows. This new benefit is being added at no additional cost -- Prime membership will continue to be $79 per year. Amazon Prime's all-you-can-eat free Two-Day Shipping has already attracted millions of members. Customers can learn more about an Amazon Prime one-month free trial and start watching instantly at www.amazon.com/primevideos.

"Millions of Amazon Prime members already enjoy the convenience of free Two-Day Shipping," said Robbie Schwietzer, vice president of Amazon Prime. "Adding unlimited instant access to thousands of movies and TV shows at no additional cost is a great way to give members even more value for their $79 annual Amazon Prime membership."

Movies and TV shows included with an Amazon Prime membership can be watched instantly on Macs, PCs and nearly 200 models of Internet-connected TVs, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes that are compatible with Amazon Instant Video. The selection of videos available for instant streaming currently includes movies, such as "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy, "Amadeus," "Syriana," and "Chariots of Fire," noted documentaries such as "Food Inc.," "March of the Penguins" and "Ken Burns' National Parks," plus TV shows, such as "Doctor Who," "Farscape," "Fawlty Towers" and children's shows, such as "Arthur," "Caillou," "Super Why!" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood."

Amazon Prime is a membership program that offers customers unlimited free Two-Day Shipping with no minimum purchase requirement for only $79 a year. Millions of items are eligible, including books, home and garden products, electronics, video games, clothing, accessories and beauty products. With the introduction of Prime instant videos, free trial and paid Amazon Prime members in the U.S. now also have unlimited instant access to more than 5,000 videos.

Amazon Instant Video is a digital video service that offers customers more than 90,000 commercial-free movies and television shows to buy or rent on an a la carte basis. New-release movies are often available as soon as they are released on DVD, and many TV shows are available the day after their first broadcast. Amazon Instant Video also offers thousands of movies and TV shows in high definition. With Amazon Instant Video, customers can watch instantly on Macs, PCs, and nearly 200 Internet connected TVs, Blu-ray players, and set-top boxes. To learn more about Amazon Instant Video on your TV, visit www.amazon.com/watchontv.

"In addition to now offering unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of 5,000 movies and TV shows to Amazon Prime members, we continue to offer all customers more than 90,000 movies and TV shows through Amazon Instant Video," said Cameron Janes, director of Amazon Instant Video. "With Amazon Instant Video customers can rent or purchase hit movies, such as 'The Social Network' as well as purchase the latest TV shows available the day-after they broadcast."

Customers who receive Prime shipping benefits through our Amazon Student and Amazon Mom programs can upgrade to receive paid Prime benefits for just $79 a year.

For more information on Amazon Prime and Prime instant videos and to start an Amazon Prime free trial, visit www.amazon.com/primevideos.

For more information on Amazon Instant Video, visit www.amazon.com/instantvideo.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....234&highlight=
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post #99 of 923
2/22/11 at 7:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HofstraJet View Post
Is HD included? Doesn't look like it.
A few of the titles specifically say HD.

Hmmm agree with the common sentiments. Not really a lot of differentiation with the stuff available on Netflix.

In any case, this would have been a lot more tempting had I known about it last Friday when I bought something from Amazon and selected the free shipping that won't get here till next week. The 2 day shipping was close to $20 If Amazon can increase/differentiate their lineup from what Netflix offers, it might not take *that* much to make it justifiable.

Wonder if Wal Mart/Vudu are starting to feel pressure to add a buffet option?

-Suntan
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post #100 of 923
2/22/11 at 8:50am
http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/22/a...deos-hands-on/
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post #101 of 923
2/22/11 at 9:20am
Just saw this on the Amazon site--I think I may give it a try--I could use the shipping upgrade anyway. I am getting a bit ticked at Netflix--haven't been able to get a new release Blu Ray in over two weeks--all of them are long or very long wait. I have a Roku on the way so that would fit in nicely. I like Amazon a lot and hope this gets better with new titles as time goes on. I can see me using the free streaming, PPV for new movies, and buying those that I really like after seeing them on PPV--all with Amazon--would really be a total video service.
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post #102 of 923
2/22/11 at 9:38am
well, I wouldn't hold my breath for Amazon to stream new releases free anytime soon. Also, you'd still not be getting Blu-ray if that's what you're worried about...
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post #103 of 923
2/22/11 at 9:39am
Nice surprise to find this out on the Amazon site this morning and on this thread. I've been a Prime member for a few years so this is a welcome bonus. I also have Netflix but have been a little disappointed they don't provide 5.1 sound on the Roku platform and after a quick search on Amazon I've only found a few (free) movie titles with 5.1 sound and none with any TV series. Will look for more as time allows.
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post #104 of 923
2/22/11 at 9:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post
I think their overview comes real close...

Ultimately you can't be too harsh on a service that comes for "free" and just makes an already tempting offering even more appealing, but ultimately Prime Instant Videos is actually quite good. No, the quality isn't quite as good as Netflix and you're going to have a hard time finding anything here that hasn't already been served up there, but now Amazon has another nice bonus to go along with all that two-day shipping.
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post #105 of 923
2/22/11 at 9:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post
well, I wouldn't hold my breath for Amazon to stream new releases free anytime soon. Also, you'd still not be getting Blu-ray if that's what you're worried about...
I agree with those observations too. The problem with "all you can eat" streaming is the studios just won't allow it--they want a premium for new releases. And I think Amazon is very happy to continue selling Blu Rays to their customers--but for me personally--I like the 3 tier option offered by Amazon, streaming of some titles, PPV for the new releases, and purchasing Blu Rays by collectors.
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post #106 of 923
2/22/11 at 9:55am
Long time Prime member. I order lots of tool related items, so the shipping discount is a big help for my business.

I chose a random title on the first few pages (Contact) just to check it out. Full screen on my 27 inch LCD is watchable, but not as good as a typical AVI rip, and miles apart from a standard DVD.

That said, I might find a title to watch on occasion.
It's convenient, but I see nothing that would tempt someone to join for this alone.
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post #107 of 923
2/22/11 at 10:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post
well, I wouldn't hold my breath for Amazon to stream new releases free anytime soon.
I don't disagree, however, you never really know about Amazon ... I've scored some great (not just throw away) MP3's over the years for free .. they also have a nice habit of giving out free future credits pretty regularly .. I just would not be surprised to see some surprises .. especially if they get into a big time promo mode with Prime ..

Bezos has the cash ..
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post #108 of 923
2/22/11 at 10:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by spiritfox View Post
I agree with those observations too. The problem with "all you can eat" streaming is the studios just won't allow it--they want a premium for new releases. And I think Amazon is very happy to continue selling Blu Rays to their customers--but for me personally--I like the 3 tier option offered by Amazon, streaming of some titles, PPV for the new releases, and purchasing Blu Rays by collectors.
Yeah I keep hoping someone will come up with some buffet plan that includes new releases and high quality (like Vudu), but am not holding my breath.

I would pay a pretty significant premium for a Vudu buffet plan (40-60 bucks/month). Given how many movies I watch, that would be reasonable for me: it would amount to about $3/title for me, which I think is a reasonable cost.

What I have to wonder is they charge $3.99-5.99 for one title right now, so would a buffet plan make them more or less money? I.e. how many people would pay that much for a buffet plan vs how many views are they selling right now on the existing model? For example, right now I give Vudu about $12/month (usually rent about 2 movies a month on it). And I'd be willing to give them as much as $60 for a buffet plan.

Anyways, I'm hoping someone puts something together sometime. I would think if they could find the right price point for it, the studios would get on board.
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post #109 of 923
2/22/11 at 10:13am
I don't think a buffet including new releases will ever happen - because it would remove the drive to make great movies that people are driven to rent. If all movies that are made are all just tossed into the general bin for streaming after they are released, what motivation does that give studios? Besides the 3D theatre tickets, home release wouldn't even matter to them.
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post #110 of 923
2/22/11 at 10:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by spiritfox View Post
And I think Amazon is very happy to continue selling Blu Rays to their customers
I'm sure they're happy to keep selling customers BRs, but what I think they are really happy about with this deal is making you actively search through all their VOD titles. The more that they can get people "into" their system, looking for something to watch, the more likely they will get someone to opt for paying a couple bucks to watch this or that instead of just sticking to the "freebees."

For this reason, I would be suprised if Amazon provides a comphrensive queue system like Netflix has. If people have an easy way to jump to their "preselected" list of just free titles, the less chance there is that people will 'window-shop" the for-pay titles.

-Suntan
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post #111 of 923
2/22/11 at 10:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post
I don't think a buffet including new releases will ever happen - because it would remove the drive to make great movies that people are driven to rent. If all movies that are made are all just tossed into the general bin for streaming after they are released, what motivation does that give studios? Besides the 3D theatre tickets, home release wouldn't even matter to them.
That same argument was given back when betamax overturned the apple cart.

In any case, I have yet to see a period in Hollywood's timeline where they didn't push to create "bigger and better" year in and year out. Regardless of the economy, changes in viewer's habits, etc.

Heck, I currently pay a monthly fee to get unlimited physical discs sent to my house and the industry is making more money off home-viewing than they ever did in the past. Is paying amonthly fee to get the same thing electronically that different?

-Suntan
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post #112 of 923
2/22/11 at 10:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post
I don't think a buffet including new releases will ever happen - because it would remove the drive to make great movies that people are driven to rent. If all movies that are made are all just tossed into the general bin for streaming after they are released, what motivation does that give studios? Besides the 3D theatre tickets, home release wouldn't even matter to them.
Not sure why the streaming bin would be different the disc rental bin (as far as studios' motivation to make movies goes).

All movies get tossed into the "rental" bin anyways, and it seems to me there's a lot more to be made with licensing streaming (and annual contracts that need to be renewed) than selling discs in bulk one-time (with some occasional replacement purchases).

The question to me is that if there's more money to be made in licensing a new release to someone like Vudu to rent at $3.99-5.99 a pop (to a very limited audience) or more money in licensing to Vudu to a larger base of subscribers all paying, for example $50/month?

That's a valid question, I think, but no idea how many people would be willing to pay that much for a buffet service, but I do suspect the number of people actually using Vudu would increase significantly, enough to offset those very few subscribers that spend $50/month to rent individual movies under the current pricing model. With the increased subscriber base, studios should be able to charge more for licenses, you would think.

**pulls on suspenders** of course I am no big-city businessman, so I am just speculating for speculation's sake that I don't really see a reason why a buffet plan could NOT be implemented....even if the "new release" window for such a plan was pushed back 28 days to correspond to the current disc model.
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post #113 of 923
2/22/11 at 10:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suntan View Post
That same argument was given back when betamax overturned the apple cart.

In any case, I have yet to see a period in Hollywood's timeline where they didn't push to create "bigger and better" year in and year out. Regardless of the economy, changes in viewer's habits, etc.

Heck, I currently pay a monthly fee to get unlimited physical discs sent to my house and the industry is making more money off home-viewing than they ever did in the past. Is paying amonthly fee to get the same thing electronically that different?

-Suntan
no, but your discs aren't technically unlimited - there is a very finite amount of discs you can receive, ship back, and receive again in one month. at the very most, with ship time it's about 10 per disc plan, a month. With streaming, you could watch something 24/7 theoretically. New releases in the mix would cause the cost per month to skyrocket, in order to make the money the studios want - because if the new Bond movie was available for no extra cost instantly to every single subscriber in 1080/5.1 on release date, why would anyone ever buy a disc? At least with the current model, the discs are throttled to a finite number that Netflix purchases - digital is an unlimited amount.
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post #114 of 923
2/22/11 at 10:36am
Maybe a revisement of "unlimited" to "up to X number" would be better for a buffet plan.

As in my previous post, I mentioned I would pay up to $60. So for argument's sake, say that $60 allowed me to stream up to 20 titles a month. That's a bit much....so make a plan for $50 for up to 15 titles and I'm on board. Throw in a 28 day wait from the day the disc is available to buy (or even throw on another 14 days) and I'm still on board.

I might not even hit the 15 titles in a month (and I wouldn't be the only one), but I still find the cost/benefit worth it. It's still over $3/title, but that's cheaper than what they are charging now, and would pull in a lot more subscribers (at least I would think so).
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post #115 of 923
2/22/11 at 10:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post

I don't think a buffet including new releases will ever happen - because it would remove the drive to make great movies that people are driven to rent. If all movies that are made are all just tossed into the general bin for streaming after they are released, what motivation does that give studios? Besides the 3D theatre tickets, home release wouldn't even matter to them.

Folks have not yet quit going to the theater .. even with rentals available for many, many years .. .. which is still the main motivation to make a great film that will draw in an audience .. no .. ??

If a buffet streaming plan that cost on average what I currently spend between NetFlix, RedBox and the local video store became available and offered essentially the same terms release date wise as now, (window) . I would go for it ..
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post #116 of 923
2/22/11 at 10:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mproper View Post

Maybe a revisement of "unlimited" to "up to X number" would be better for a buffet plan.

As in my previous post, I mentioned I would pay up to $60. So for argument's sake, say that $60 allowed me to stream up to 20 titles a month. That's a bit much....so make a plan for $50 for up to 15 titles and I'm on board. Throw in a 28 day wait from the day the disc is available to buy (or even throw on another 14 days) and I'm still on board.

I might not even hit the 15 titles in a month (and I wouldn't be the only one), but I still find the cost/benefit worth it. It's still over $3/title, but that's cheaper than what they are charging now, and would pull in a lot more subscribers (at least I would think so).

why would you pay that though, when you can get the same movies on Blu for about $15 a month for 15-20 discs a month (2 at a time). The instant (and not 100% quality) access would be worth the extra $35-$45 to you?
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post #117 of 923
2/22/11 at 10:56am
Lots of interesting theories and ideas. I'm sure some bean counter has looked at that price point for one-price streaming for new releases. So maybe sometime in the future that will happen.

Interesting observation about Amazon and getting people into their store to browse the free stuff and then renting something new. I like the Amazon VOD store and got my Roku today (from Amazon of course) so I'm going to give their rentals a try. The Amazon concept those have one advantage over Netflix. You can browse all you want on Netflix but you won't get anything new for your troubles right then and there--you have to wait until the title is available for them to mail it to you. But with Amazon, if you see it you can watch it--and if you really like it, you can buy it--and with two-day shipping, have it pretty quick.
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post #118 of 923
2/22/11 at 10:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post

why would you pay that though, when you can get the same movies on Blu for about $15 a month for 15-20 discs a month (2 at a time). The instant (and not 100% quality) access would be worth the extra $35-$45 to you?

Where can I consistently get 15-20 BD's a month for $15 bucks .. ?? Certainly not Netflix .. and believe me, I've tried
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post #119 of 923
2/22/11 at 10:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post

no, but your discs aren't technically unlimited - there is a very finite amount of discs you can receive, ship back, and receive again in one month. at the very most, with ship time it's about 10 per disc plan, a month. With streaming, you could watch something 24/7 theoretically. New releases in the mix would cause the cost per month to skyrocket, in order to make the money the studios want - because if the new Bond movie was available for no extra cost instantly to every single subscriber in 1080/5.1 on release date, why would anyone ever buy a disc? At least with the current model, the discs are throttled to a finite number that Netflix purchases - digital is an unlimited amount.

Yes, and I knew this would be the rebuttle. "If people had unlimited streaming they would just sit in front of their TV and stream-stream-stream 24 hours a day."

The reality is that disc based or streamer based, there is still only so many hours a month that most people will dedicate to watching the boob-tube.

I can assure you that a 3-disc-at-once plan would be more than I could possibly watch without quitting my job and shipping my kids off to live at their grandparents. Heck, my 1-disc-a-month disc has been sitting on the counter for the last week because I haven't gotten around to it.

Yeah, just like the slobs that sit and consume endless hours of junk on cable, there will be some aloof bums that just sit and stream content. So the streaming companies implement something similar to what the cell phone carriers have to protect their finite bandwidth resources, give streamers unlimited access to the content, but just boot the top 3 or 4% of glutens that continue to consume content endlessly, month in and month out.

Now price it accordingly and I'm sure there's profit to be made in there somewhere. If only the studios would play ball.

As for buying the disc, I've been watching movies at home for close to 3 decades (not including back in the day before VHS where we just watched the Sunday Night Movie.) I haven't actually bought a disc or tape in my life, so I assure you there is currently a means to watch movies at home without buying discs in place already. Yet the industry still sells a lot of them. Why? Because some people are hoarders and they like to own the media they watch. That will continue regardless, until the point in time that the studios decide to stop offering the physical disc.

In any case, let us not confuse Instant streaming access with wanting it at low bitrate, poor quality, no production quality, and extremely cheaply. There is a lot of differentiation between the former and the latter.

-Suntan
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post #120 of 923
2/22/11 at 10:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post

why would you pay that though, when you can get the same movies on Blu for about $15 a month for 15-20 discs a month (2 at a time). The instant (and not 100% quality) access would be worth the extra $35-$45 to you?

The problem is that a lot of us are not getting the Blu Ray--there are 9 discs in my queue that are long or very long wait--all new titles. This whole DVD/Blue Ray thing is the big question mark for Netflix and what they are really planning for the future. I am looking for a better option--and one of these companies is going to figure it out sooner or later.
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