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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

#361

Post by rodgerd »

logfromblammo wrote: post #338
wrsh07 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not a good idea. Should Amazon be forced to sell Confederate flags if they find them immoral? Curated app stores are a good thing for users. Should Apple be forced to compromise the quality of their user experience because of random laws? And Airbnb being forced to allow anyone to list properties seems like a major safety issue. There will always be competitors to Amazon, and it's ridiculous to suggest that t…

Being forced to sell something is quite a bit of moral distance away from being forced to allow anyone to set up a stall in your bazaar, regardless of the products they may be selling from it. If I wanted to buy a Confederate battle flag, it shouldn't be any more difficult for me to do so than buying a 50-star US stars and stripes flag, or a pirate jolly roger flag, or a UK union jack flag, or a North Korean flag, or…

> If I wanted to buy a Confederate battle flag, it shouldn't be any more difficult for me to do so than buying a 50-star US stars and stripes flag

Funny you don't make more apt comparisons, like a Waffen SS battle standard, or an ISIL flag.

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

#362

Post by Donzo »

aioprisan wrote: post #319
dangero wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes could this move be an attempt to force Apple to allow the Prime app on the Apple TV? I've always wondered who: Apple or Amazon is stopping Amazon Instant from appearing on the Apple TV.

There's nothing preventing Amazon from creating a video app for Apple TV, HBO, Showtime and many others have created similar apps for the Apple TV. This is Amazon choosing not to.

Amazon wants to sell digital downloads on their app, and they don't want to give anyone 30%. HBO does not.

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

#363

Post by smrtinsert »

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...

100% agree. It seems so obvious. Not sure how they didn't think that one through.

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

#364

Post by wvenable »

vidarh wrote: post #249
wvenable wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't make any sense. They want to sell me Prime not the Fire Stick. To sell Prime get it on as many devices as possible and adding Chromecast support is easy. Amazon makes some strange decisions.

They want to sell the Fire TV and Fire Stick because it will get you 1) used to talking to their remote, 2) hopefully get you searching and browsing around for all kinds of stuff - their selection is a fascinating mix of really new stuff and older stuff and b-movies, and it's often surprising what's covered by the prime subscription and what you have to pay extra for. By getting you to spend more time in their interf…

But the Chromecast has no interface of it's own! If I use Netflix on Chromecast, I'm in the Netflix app on my tablet or phone. Amazon can still own it's interface.

I don't have enough ports on my TV for a Fire Stick and a Chromecast (and everything else) so I'm going to choose the one with the most options (Chromecast).

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

#365

Post by Pyxl101 »

korzun wrote: post #284
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)…

That's not the point. Who cares if it's expensive or confusing. They are banning products that are competing with their own products. Amazon is simply a store for majority of the people who shop there. If Google banned Amazon from search results you would probably be outraged.

Based on the news article, Amazon isn't banning competitors. Roku competes with Fire TV, and the Netflix app it bundles competes with Prime Video. The article says Amazon will still sell Roku. Indeed, Amazon's Fire TV also supports Netflix and Hulu and HBO and ESPN and whatnot, not just Amazon Video.

The news article says that they're banning video streaming devices that don't support Amazon Video. So if that's true, it's not that they're banning competitors, but that they're forcing streaming devices sold on Amazon to support Amazon Video in addition to whatever else they support.

I don't know what the primary motivation is, but I could genuinely see some customers being confused. Imagine you're a customer that's just signed up for Prime. You don't have a TV stick to watch it on, so you shop around the store and find a streaming device that's highly reviewed. You buy it and plug it in, only to find that Amazon Video does not work on it, or works poorly. This is plausible; this kind of thing happens, especially with unsophisticated, less computer savvy buyers (the kind of people who think the Google search box is the Internet). I could easily see my parents making this kind of mistake.

Whether that's the primary motivation, I wouldn't know. It seems like you could also deal with that problem by changing the way the product is displayed, for people who have Prime Video, and show a big warning like "This product does not support Prime Video" on the side so they can't overlook that fact when buying it. (Though this could lead to other complications - I could imagine there being weird legal or anti-competitive issues with making claims like that about competitors' products in a way that they can't control, that's not part of the product description. Banning them might be the simplest way.)

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

#366

Post by ChuckMcM »

Kind of a sad move, I understand how someone might be convinced it was the right one based on near term goals but longer term it will bite them.

I have a Prime account because I order a lot of stuff for business, and that wins on shipping cost. But Prime Video wasn't ever really the motivator.

Its another part of the Amazon strategy that is opaque to me.

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

#367

Post by Pyxl101 »

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.

I use them both as well. What I like about Amazon* Video is that it has new releases. If I don't catch a movie while it's still in the theater, I can watch it the day it comes out online.

I still have a Netflix DVD subscription, so I could go that route too, but I always forget. Are there other good ways to watch new releases? Looks like the iTunes store also lets you rent movies.

*Edit: I meant Amazon Video here when I said Prime Video. (The difference being that Prime has a set of included videos you can watch for free)

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

#368

Post by c3534l »

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…

That sounds incredibly petty.

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

#370

Post by arrosenberg »

pm24601 wrote: post #129
chipgap98 wrote: post #6

Amazon can absolutely do this (but I think it is a slippery slope, possibly a sign of some bad changes ahead at amazon. They really should be neutral about the products listed on their site) but the reason they gave is kinda ridiculous [1]. I have a hard time believing the enough people don't know the difference between Prime & Netflix to make this a legitimate reason to stop selling Chromecast and Apple TV [1]: Over…

> Amazon can absolutely do this May, maybe not. It depends if the FTC views this as an anti-competitive move. See https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-a... "It is unlawful for a company to monopolize or attempt to monopolize trade, meaning a firm with market power cannot act to maintain or acquire a dominant position by excluding competitors or preventing new entry."

You can still buy Apple TV or Chromecast Directly, from Best Buy/Walmart, etc. etc.

All Amazon did with this is alienate people like me, who just want Prime to work with the 2 Chromecasts I already own. Good reminder that they are more interested in what they want than what I want.

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