Streaming Video
Tuesday 29th July, 2014 22:16 Comments: 0
Over the last few months I've been making the most of Netflix and Amazon Instant Video. I think Netflix is the better service, but Amazon has the odd exclusive show that keeps me interested. The downside to Amazon (assuming you have Prime so most things are free) is they'll occasionally get you hooked on a show and then you discover the latest season has to be purchased.
I don't mind paying for things, but some of the prices they list to watch a show online seem expensive. With my Amazon Prime subscription I can get a DVD of Season 3 of Suits delivered next day for £2 cheaper than buying it on Amazon Instant Video. Maybe they're charging me £2 more for the convenience of watching it immediately? If I'm not streaming Suits I'll end up streaming The West Wing (as Aaron Sorkin's work is free to watch with Prime) so it can't be about bandwidth costs. I can only assume that we're being tricked into using Amazon Instant Video so we'll end up paying for content, much like how shops use loss leaders to get everyone buying cheap bottles of coke so they'll buy higher margin items while they're there.
It's probably worth pointing out that the episodes are only about twice the price of buying an MP3 and are cheaper than many Kindle books. I would imagine both of them have much lower production costs.
I don't mind paying for things, but some of the prices they list to watch a show online seem expensive. With my Amazon Prime subscription I can get a DVD of Season 3 of Suits delivered next day for £2 cheaper than buying it on Amazon Instant Video. Maybe they're charging me £2 more for the convenience of watching it immediately? If I'm not streaming Suits I'll end up streaming The West Wing (as Aaron Sorkin's work is free to watch with Prime) so it can't be about bandwidth costs. I can only assume that we're being tricked into using Amazon Instant Video so we'll end up paying for content, much like how shops use loss leaders to get everyone buying cheap bottles of coke so they'll buy higher margin items while they're there.
It's probably worth pointing out that the episodes are only about twice the price of buying an MP3 and are cheaper than many Kindle books. I would imagine both of them have much lower production costs.