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Amazon Will Ban Sale of Apple, Google Video-Streaming Devices

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Re: Amazon Will Ban Sale of Apple, Google Video-Streaming Devices

#271

Post by dfar1 »

modeless wrote: post #41

They refuse to make the Prime Video app available on the Play Store, they refuse to add Chromecast support, and now they refuse to even sell Chromecast because of their own decision to not support it? I've just canceled my Prime subscription and I hope a few others do as well.

You need 2 apps to run Prime Video, which I believe it's just called Amazon Video now.

You need the amazon appstore app, to install it, and you need amazon shopping app installed to run it (have no idea why). It works fine on android once you have installed all the amazon bs, but last time i checked the app wasn't very good on iOS.

Re: Amazon Will Ban Sale of Apple, Google Video-Streaming Devices

#272

Post by iheart2code »

SwellJoe wrote: post #256

It's easy to paint Amazon as the bad actor here...and, they are. But, I think Google and Apple are also bad actors in this situation. The reason Google and Apple TV devices have a bad Amazon Prime experience, I suspect, is because they want a huge cut of revenue from Amazon Prime viewership (just as they expect a huge cut of revenue for anything sold on their platform), and they aren't being reasonable about getting…

The 30% revenue share is only for purchasing content that is discovered & purchased on Apple devices. Amazon Prime subscribers pay Amazon directly through the website, and would not be subject to that revenue share.

For non-Prime Instant Video purchases/rentals, users could purchase through the website and have content made available through the app. This is how Amazon Kindle currently works on iOS.

Re: Amazon Will Ban Sale of Apple, Google Video-Streaming Devices

#273

Post by davidgerard »

cwkoss wrote: post #42
Artistry121 wrote: post #5

I don't think this move is in Amazon's best interests long term. Their competitive edge with Prime is that I go to them first because I assume they'll have what I want, at a fair price and the highest level of convenience. If they are no longer the "Everything Store" then they won't be where I go to for everything...

Totally agree. They are destroying their most valuable component of their brand, for a relatively weak one (Prime Video). I have Prime and prefer Netflix, because Prime Video still doesn't have a great selection.

Prime Video is, like, what does this even have to do with why I signed up for Prime. We use Prime because we order enough stuff in a year that postage would be over £45. They're trying for nonexistent "synergy" to satisfy internal numbers in some way, and nothing a customer wants.

Re: Amazon Will Ban Sale of Apple, Google Video-Streaming Devices

#274

Post by lorenzhs »

balls187 wrote: post #250
cracoucax wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except they're also a marketplace and they require their vendors to ban the same products. It's not an ecommerce strategy, they're very clearly using their huge leverage as the #1 ecommerce on the internet to attack their competitors and lure customers into their walled garden. I'm pretty sure in my country this will be forbidden by antitrust laws.

> I'm pretty sure in my country this will be forbidden by antitrust laws. On the surface, perhaps. However from the article, this is in response to seemingly anti-competitive practices by both Apple and Google's strategies regarding Amazon Prime on their TV devices. Apple and Google are acting like walled gardens, and so Amazon is retaliating. My guess is Amazons desired outcome is Apple and Google support Amazon Pri…

Nope, Amazon not supporting chromecast is entirely Amazon's business decision, there are no technical reasons for it. Google is not preventing them from supporting Chromecast in any way. Amazon could easily offer if if they wanted to, but they would rather push their own ecosystem instead. I'm pretty sure the situation with Apple TV is similar.

Re: Amazon Will Ban Sale of Apple, Google Video-Streaming Devices

#275

Post by cwyers »

dragonwriter wrote: post #213
x0x0 wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ditto, though here's the problem with amazon: buying apple stuff on there is a shit experience. Go there right now and type macbook pro in the search. You'll get a page of results with these top results: Apple MacBook Pro MF839LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop with Retina Display (128 GB) NEWEST VERSION Apple MacBook Pro MD101LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop Apple MacBook Pro MJLQ2LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop with Retina Display (NEWEST VERSION)…

AFAICT, that problem is general to buying anything through Amazon except things sold directly by Amazon.

Honestly I'm not sure stuff sold directly by Amazon is an exception.

Re: Amazon Will Ban Sale of Apple, Google Video-Streaming Devices

#276

Post by davidgerard »

yid wrote: post #107
cwkoss wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree. They are destroying their most valuable component of their brand, for a relatively weak one (Prime Video). I have Prime and prefer Netflix, because Prime Video still doesn't have a great selection.

> They are destroying their most valuable component of their brand, for a relatively weak one (Prime Video). This is why it almost seems like Amazon's Google+ moment: one underperforming product area somehow manages to convince leadership to change the company's underlying principles in its advantage to the long-term detriment of overall brand perception. Edit: 32 points in 19 mins for this comment. I really hope som…

That's precisely what it is.

Hey, maybe we know where Vic Gundotra went!

Re: Amazon Will Ban Sale of Apple, Google Video-Streaming Devices

#277

Post by ypcx »

As an expat living in Greece, I frequently shop on the German Amazon site, where Amazon's Fire TV and Stick are pretty much destroying all competition, excluding perhaps Roku. However being from a different EU country, I can order neither Roku nor Prime. Not a huge problem for me since I'm 100% YouTube, but both Roku and Prime devices seem to have superior YouTube leanback performance over Chromecast (tried) and pretty much any Android TV box (didn't try). I'm currently waiting for my Nexus Player to arrive, I guess I've ordered it just in time.

Re: Amazon Will Ban Sale of Apple, Google Video-Streaming Devices

#278

Post by dragonwriter »

hypocrt wrote: post #175

This is a trojan horse PR move to expose Apple's longstanding "customer confusion" argument for excluding competitive products (think Amazon MP3 downloads) from the App Store. If what Apple has been doing for years is legal, so is this, and Apple can't complain without exposing complete hypocrisy. In my view, Amazon wants to be forced back from this position in a precedent-setting way. This is Jeff Bezos's long-shot…

> In my view, Amazon wants to be forced back from this position in a precedent-setting way.

The only way that could happen would be through long, drawn-out antitrust proceedings. Which, I don't think its much of a stretch to propose, no business wants to get in and lose just to set a precedent that could be used later against preexisting practices of their competitors.

Especially, since any such precedent would only be relevant if they could convince public authorities to prosecute their opponent, or if they choose to expend the resources to do so themselves, and in either of those cases they could do that first without the precedent and establish the precedent at the same time as realizing the benefit.

Re: Amazon Will Ban Sale of Apple, Google Video-Streaming Devices

#279

Post by grandalf »

ElComradio wrote: post #186
Artistry121 wrote: post #5

I don't think this move is in Amazon's best interests long term. Their competitive edge with Prime is that I go to them first because I assume they'll have what I want, at a fair price and the highest level of convenience. If they are no longer the "Everything Store" then they won't be where I go to for everything...

I bet they have studied and considered this angle extensively before announcing this decision.

Probably true, however I wish the innovation/research went into making Prime Video a better product. I have had it (as part of Prime) for years but only watched one or two videos on it b/c of inferior selection, UX, and quality.
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