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Amazon Unbox Video Store Launches
andrewl6097 writes "Amazon.com has launched it's Amazon Unbox video store. Looks like about 1300 movies and 350 tv series, at $9.99 and up for movies and $1.99 per TV episode. Downloads come with a DVD quality version and a version more appropriate for portable players (using Windows DRM). Also, videos can be re-downloaded from your Amazon media library. Cool!"
At 1/3 to 1/2 this price I'd go on a spree.
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
The site says they use wmv files. I'm assuming the recently mentioned FairUse4WM will work on them. Looks like I might need to check out one of their $3.99 (-$1.99 first time user discount) movie "rentals" to see how well it works (FairUse4WM, not Amazon Unbox).
This guy's the limit!
It seems this whole thing is kind of half baked, as if they were in a rush to get out before the itunes movie store.
-dKL
$10 bucks and up, that's fucking ridiculous.
I pay that or less in a movie theater. I pay much less than that to rent or greencine it. Never go but I would bet movies cost less than that at Walmart, esp when on sale.
Oh, and you can eventually get a whole season or two of shows for $40-60.
All the above options lack the DRM feature, so I guess you get what you pay for.
>The material cost for DVDs make up virtually none of the cost
the DRM nature is a big point but not all of it. DVDs are trivial to lend, borrow and move about.
also materials are nice, or can be. so that's a loss. plus downloads have (higher) storage costs for the end user.
also, I use iTunes for 2 reasons:
1. individual song downloads - doesn't apply to movies.
2. exclusive content (exclusive tracks, individual music videos, out-of-print albums) - doesn't apply to movies.
downloading individual TV shows is where I think this kind of service can be really useful.
They are spinning like a politician on this...
I d=161988011
from the FAQ:
Unfortunately, Apple Computer Inc. has exclusive rights to the
hardware and software that would make it possible for Amazon.com to
provide Amazon Unbox for these devices. Because of these
restrictions, we are unable to make Amazon Unbox compatible with
these products.
Additional information on using Amazon Unbox and purchasing videos
is available on our Help pages at this URL:
www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?node
now wait just a damn minute - there is NOTHING stopping Amazon from writing software for Mac OS X. nothing. Apple allows anyone to write software for Mac OS X. They do not have exclusive rights to the hardware and software to make this work on the Mac.... Microsoft does.
Micorsoft does not write any software to allow non-Windows operating systems to view Windows Media files. (they used to have Windows Media Player for the Mac - but now, they let a small company write a codec for Quicktime to play non-DRM WMP files - Flip4Mac)
Anyhow - screw Amazon - they are lying. They can write any damn software they want for the Mac - and the iPod will play any mp4 file you want.
Nothing is stopping them from making Mac compantible files - its their own problem that they don't.
guns kill people like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
So this is why MSFT fixed the Windows Media Flaw in 3 days...
Wait a second: it says specifically that you can't BURN A DVD from the downloaded file. Wha'?
Absolutely the worst idea, and opens the door extra wide for a certain, slightly balding man in a black mock turtleneck...
---- Please be nice in case my Slashdot karma ~= my real life karma.
So I can download Outlaw Star for $3.99 per episode, or I can purchase a complete set of 26 episodes on 6 DVD's from Amazon for $43.88 (or $30.17 used). Of course with the on-line download I get all that special DRM goodness.
[Insert pithy quote here]
slashdot is now running accolades for DRM crippled movie downloads? uncool!
The submitter might be a shill. Seems way too obvious in the cheerleading aspect, at least to me. Shall we break down the summary?
"Amazon.com has launched it's Amazon Unbox video store."
Good, if obvious, lead sentence here. It makes sure that the company name is repeated twice, and by using the word "it's" we may get a slight feeling that of "it's amazing" before we read the rest of the product, even if the thought is just subconscious. Interesting, if perhaps unintentional usage of the incorrect "it's" instead of the correct "its", we also may get the feeling doubly reinforced again with the uncontracted "it is amazing".
"Looks like about 1300 movies and 350 tv series, at $9.99 and up for movies and $1.99 per TV episode."
Here we see the information about the service and products, including numbers and prices. This is obviously something that will be brought up in the discussion below, but by introducing the readers to it in the summary, the submitter can keep the content tied to the positive aspects conveyed in the summary. This is in contrast to reading about it below where it is coupled with Slashdot users' negative responses to selection and pricing. No control over those comments, but the initial impression is made.
"Downloads come with a DVD quality version and a version more appropriate for portable players"
Again, more information about the service. Sentence structure gives us the words "quality" and "appropriate", which are rather neutral terms, but may make a positive subconscious impression on the readers. The mentioning of the generic "portable players" does not exclude any type of device on name alone, so it will not alienate potential customers.
"(using Windows DRM)."
Then we come to the most interesting part. By qualifying the "portable players" statement with the phrase "(using Windows DRM)", the submitter may actually gain a small measure of trust from us readers. It is likely based on the demographics of the users of Slashdot. As generally informed people, Slashdot users dislike DRM for both it's technical and philisophical nature. By using parentheses, the submitter seems to be imparting information that is somehow cloaked or not for general public knowledge, like a whispered secret. With these two concepts, we may actually trust the submitter more than we would a normal submission.
"Also, videos can be re-downloaded from your Amazon media library."
Here we get a bit more info on the service itself and another placement of the company name and additional product. We are still possibly affected by the subconscious trust level, so we may have an abnormally positive response to this information. Such as a "Great feature!" reaction instead of an "I should hope so!" reaction.
"Cool!"
This final statement, while seemingly out of place, may be accepted simply because the summary has been crafted to elicit a positive reponse and we may find ourselves in agreement, though there is nothing that special about this company's service. It does have the potential to backfire when the target audience is quick enough that they can pick out the strange concepts, as the other posts already show.
Overall, it's designed to give a positive spin and impression to the service, which will hopefully drive more click-throughs to the site. I've seen plenty of links to the iTunes store, but never went there. I clicked on this link, and I don't even plan to buy anything. I didn't buy anything, but I guess it worked on me to at least go there and check it out.
I'm currently for hire.
Qualitas edurus commercium, nullus penitus net rimor, nullus deus beneficium
yup, pretty much.
i download everything off the net onto my laptop, and then burn &/or otherwise transfer to my other machine (desktop) with a nice big flat panel screen for watching.
this 'locking to one machine' system is completely bass-ackwards and a non-starter...
Gekido's Lair
this 'locking to one machine' system is completely bass-ackwards and a non-starter...
Yeah, my DVDs aren't tied to a single DVD player (not that They don't wish it were so). Why should downloaded movies be different, especially when they cost nearly the same?
I think people have gotten too used to the portability of radios, LPs, MD players, cassettes, CDs, mp3 players, DVDs, magazines, books, soft drinks, and other smallish physical objects for there to be much traction on such a restrictive system.
Qualitas edurus commercium, nullus penitus net rimor, nullus deus beneficium
Fans. Artists must never be allowed to accumulate enough of a fanbase where they can actually survive on their own. If they sold non-drm'd stuff, you would be able to lend it to friends, and spread the popularity of the artist. This rogue promotional method is far cheaper and more effective than the big label's methods, and must never be allowable under law.
Not to sound like a parrot, but I have to say: "same here". $10 bucks for a DRM-encrusted-WinXP-Only video? No thanks. And as one of the GP posts points out, you can view this on two computers, but must download it separately for each computer. What crap. Is MS-DRM really that limited?
General, you are listening to a machine! Do the world a favor and don't act like one.
Just to "try it out" I attempted to download "V for Vendetta" as a rental tonight.
Well, it's been an hour or two and it is 13% done. Averaging 52KB/sec on my 6mb cable connection so um.... I think they will have to improve the throughput for this to be useful. I can drive to blockbuster more than a couple times in 14 hours.
My dad owns several hundred CDs. (500+) So it became an issue of simply storing them. We had two practical ways to deal with it, the first was to simply buy a couple of massive carosel cd players, the second was to convert them to mp3s and get an Audiotron. The latter was cheaper, and turned out to offer a lot more flexibility. (Though encoding that many CDs took a few months) Owning a CD player is no longer worth even the space on the shelf.
It's digital audio, you can always just convert it to mp3 to play it on the stereo right?
So not too long after, he bought a CD online. DRMed. It will never legally play on the audiotron, only on the computer. I went to usenet to get a WORKING version. That's the fundamental problem with buying music online. The music industry wants to use it to impose new restrictions, rather than to expand thier market.
It's easy to feel guilty stealing music. It's hard to feel guilty when I _HAVE_ to break the law to listen to it.
From the terms of service:
"7. Limited to U.S.
The Services are available only to customers located in the United States. If you are outside of the United States, you may not use the Services and you may not transfer Digital Content outside the United States. As used herein, "United States" refers to the 48 contiguous United States, the District of Columbia, Alaska and Hawaii."
This is something I just don't understand... There is a huge number of people living outside the US who can not access this type of content by hardly any other means than through the Internet. I would _love_ to be able to download the episodes of Lost from the Internet legally and I would jump at the offer to pay 1,99 for secure and clean downloads. 1,99 is way below my opportunity cost for finding a torrent and waiting for it to download. Many TV series feel old when we get to see them. Personally, I would like to see my Daily Show at least the same _week_ it was originally broadcasted.
You can buy the DVD's on the internet for cheaper prices, and there is no technical curve to playing a DVD. Unless the software creates a burnable DVD that can play on any DVD player with one click, this will fail hard and fast. The only reason iTunes works is because the iPod exists. Its easy to get your music on to the portable player, plus you can burn it to a CD that can be played in any other CD player. The only appeal this Unbox has is the instant gratification of getting a movie on a whim. Unfortunately, most people dont want to watch movies on their computer - they want it on their TV. Most people do not have a media PC hooked up to their TV. So Amazon provides no proper delivery system to get this to the TV set and not one popular leading portable device to drive the portable market either. Is their even a cheap rental option that can beat out NetFlix? Wow, suits can't think.
If Amazon wants to make this actually work, they will sell you the crappy as hell drm'ed digital video AND send you the actual DVD in the mail for the price of the regular DVD. That way you can get the instant gratification and not get ripped off.
Sound waves should be free!
I agree. At least with iTMS I can burn my music to an audio CD which actually works in a non-computer. Until these services let me burn a DVD from their player and let me play it on my iPod, there's no interest here... The whole "Plays for unsure" deal follows the usual Microsoft joke for reliability and interoperability...