6 ms·

Reminds me of Amazon Prime where many movies have an extra paywall ("rent?") even if you own a subscription. So annoying.

by ctxc 4y ago

auggierose 4y ago
Would you prefer the movies you can rent were not there at all?
- registeredcorn 4y ago
  I'd prefer a higher subscription rate for the service. The sensation of paying for something, then paying on top of that thing is infuriating. It's like paying admission to enter a theme park, then having to pay a fee for each ride: either let me enter for free, and pay for each ride, or pay to enter, and ride for free. Assuming a higher subscription rate would be prohibitively expensive, then yes, I would prefer no option at all.
  - PaulHoule 4y ago
    I think you can pay to watch movies a la carte on Amazon even if you don't have a prime subscription. Personally I've enjoyed paying for individual movies on Amazon because the selection of free movies on Prime is underwhelming. (e.g. they have all the "C" sci-fi movies)
  - colinmhayes 4y ago
    You can change Amazon video to only show free options. A subscription that made all the rentable movies free would be prohibitively expensive. You should basically be thinking of prime video and the movie rental service as different businesses.
    - ascagnel_ 4y ago
      Really the issue is that Amazon is trying to use a single app ("Prime Video") for both the Prime Video service (all-you-can-watch library of limited content) and their video storefront (a la carte purchases of a larger library). They should have split them out years ago, or at least done a better job of segmenting the two.
      - linuxftw 4y ago
        Completely disagree here. It's kinda like going into blockbuster used to be. You can spend $1 on the cheap movies (eg, the free ones on prime), or you want to watch a brand new major release, you spend more. Cable has done the same thing for decades. Subscription includes a ton of free content, and you can pay more for PPV or on demand new releases.
    - thewebcount 4y ago
      I mean, for a long time, when a new movie came out on iTunes, I would first check Netflix to see if it was included in my subscription, and about 50% of the time it was. You likely wouldn't get the same selection, but it would not be prohibitively expensive to have at least some of the movies available on their service.
      - colinmhayes 4y ago
        They do have some of the movies available on their service
      - 1123581321 4y ago
        Licensing was underpriced back then and studios didn’t strategically withhold much.
- Larrikin 4y ago
  I only watch shows on Apple TV that have been recommended to me through word of mouth or on a review site so that I know it was produced for the service, precisely because the UI is so terrible with the mixing of content. 99% of the time I will have wasted part of my life looking for something interesting to watch only to find out I have to pay more money on top of the subscription. They're handing out free subscriptions constantly to build the service, but the mixing of subscription content with pay content actively makes me use the trials less and makes me never want to pay for the service.
- AlwaysRock 4y ago
  What an odd question. I would prefer the movies that are on the service I pay for to be included in my package. It's a different service, rentals, smashed into the service I pay for, prime "free" videos. That is what makes it frustrating. I do in fact sometimes end up renting those videos which is why they include them. But it's not a good customer experience by any means.
  - auggierose 4y ago
    That's only an odd question if you assume it costs Amazon nothing to include videos in prime. So the alternatives are: a) Only free prime videos. b) Free prime videos + videos you can rent. There is no option c) All videos in the world available for free on prime. As much as you would maybe like it.
  - 1123581321 4y ago
    It was a great question. Contentment eludes you if you can’t recognize you have enough, while being aware more is possible. If that’s not possible, switch to a service that gives you “everything” (but costs more or has fewer titles.)
    - AlwaysRock 4y ago
      Lol. Very HN comment. One can be annoyed with how a service mixes their paid and "free" offers while still being content.
      - 1123581321 4y ago
        Haha. I'd argue most of HN isn't interested in contentment!
fluidcruft 4y ago
I haven't rerun the analysis but back in the day (ten-to-fifteen+ years ago) it was actually cheaper to subscribe to purchase new digital episodes of series you liked on Amazon VOD (at something like $2-$3/episode) rather than to pay for cable. Back then (pre-streaming) TiVo boxes would auto-download the new episodes overnight and poof there they are to watch. We are again getting to the point with subscriptions that just buying whatever content is becoming cost-effective again. The problem is that once I start bothering to hunt to buy something, it's not a lot harder to hunt for $0 versions so ethics becomes the only barrier. How much does it cost to purchase Stranger Things every few years vs pay Netflix monthly?

Reminds me of Amazon Prime where many movies have an extra paywall ("rent?") even if you own a subscription. So annoying.

by ctxc 4y ago

Reminds me of Amazon Prime where many movies have an extra paywall ("rent?") even if you own a subscription. So annoying.

auggierose 4y ago

Would you prefer the movies you can rent were not there at all?

registeredcorn 4y ago
I'd prefer a higher subscription rate for the service. The sensation of paying for something, then paying on top of that thing is infuriating. It's like paying admission to enter a theme park, then having to pay a fee for each ride: either let me enter for free, and pay for each ride, or pay to enter, and ride for free. Assuming a higher subscription rate would be prohibitively expensive, then yes, I would prefer no option at all.
- PaulHoule 4y ago
  I think you can pay to watch movies a la carte on Amazon even if you don't have a prime subscription. Personally I've enjoyed paying for individual movies on Amazon because the selection of free movies on Prime is underwhelming. (e.g. they have all the "C" sci-fi movies)
- colinmhayes 4y ago
  You can change Amazon video to only show free options. A subscription that made all the rentable movies free would be prohibitively expensive. You should basically be thinking of prime video and the movie rental service as different businesses.
  - ascagnel_ 4y ago
    Really the issue is that Amazon is trying to use a single app ("Prime Video") for both the Prime Video service (all-you-can-watch library of limited content) and their video storefront (a la carte purchases of a larger library). They should have split them out years ago, or at least done a better job of segmenting the two.
    - linuxftw 4y ago
      Completely disagree here. It's kinda like going into blockbuster used to be. You can spend $1 on the cheap movies (eg, the free ones on prime), or you want to watch a brand new major release, you spend more. Cable has done the same thing for decades. Subscription includes a ton of free content, and you can pay more for PPV or on demand new releases.
  - thewebcount 4y ago
    I mean, for a long time, when a new movie came out on iTunes, I would first check Netflix to see if it was included in my subscription, and about 50% of the time it was. You likely wouldn't get the same selection, but it would not be prohibitively expensive to have at least some of the movies available on their service.
    - colinmhayes 4y ago
      They do have some of the movies available on their service
    - 1123581321 4y ago
      Licensing was underpriced back then and studios didn’t strategically withhold much.
Larrikin 4y ago
I only watch shows on Apple TV that have been recommended to me through word of mouth or on a review site so that I know it was produced for the service, precisely because the UI is so terrible with the mixing of content. 99% of the time I will have wasted part of my life looking for something interesting to watch only to find out I have to pay more money on top of the subscription. They're handing out free subscriptions constantly to build the service, but the mixing of subscription content with pay content actively makes me use the trials less and makes me never want to pay for the service.
AlwaysRock 4y ago
What an odd question. I would prefer the movies that are on the service I pay for to be included in my package. It's a different service, rentals, smashed into the service I pay for, prime "free" videos. That is what makes it frustrating. I do in fact sometimes end up renting those videos which is why they include them. But it's not a good customer experience by any means.
- auggierose 4y ago
  That's only an odd question if you assume it costs Amazon nothing to include videos in prime. So the alternatives are: a) Only free prime videos. b) Free prime videos + videos you can rent. There is no option c) All videos in the world available for free on prime. As much as you would maybe like it.
- 1123581321 4y ago
  It was a great question. Contentment eludes you if you can’t recognize you have enough, while being aware more is possible. If that’s not possible, switch to a service that gives you “everything” (but costs more or has fewer titles.)
  - AlwaysRock 4y ago
    Lol. Very HN comment. One can be annoyed with how a service mixes their paid and "free" offers while still being content.
    - 1123581321 4y ago
      Haha. I'd argue most of HN isn't interested in contentment!

fluidcruft 4y ago

I haven't rerun the analysis but back in the day (ten-to-fifteen+ years ago) it was actually cheaper to subscribe to purchase new digital episodes of series you liked on Amazon VOD (at something like $2-$3/episode) rather than to pay for cable. Back then (pre-streaming) TiVo boxes would auto-download the new episodes overnight and poof there they are to watch. We are again getting to the point with subscriptions that just buying whatever content is becoming cost-effective again. The problem is that once I start bothering to hunt to buy something, it's not a lot harder to hunt for $0 versions so ethics becomes the only barrier. How much does it cost to purchase Stranger Things every few years vs pay Netflix monthly?