M.G. Siegler, writing for Medium, about Amazon’s decision to not carry the new Apple TV, Google’s Chromecast:
Amazon apparently doesn’t want to sell Apple TVs or Google Chromecasts because they have their own device, the Fire TV/Stick, which does much of the same thing as those two. More importantly, they have their own streaming service, through Prime, which neither of those devices currently support.
Maybe this is a play to ensure those devices support the Prime streaming service (with a sweetheart deal, no doubt). Or maybe these are in fact the first shots fired in a new battle on the content side of things. Maybe it’s not NBC, CBS, ABC, ESPN, HBO, Showtime, etc, we should be worrying about. Maybe it’s Amazon, Netflix, Hulu and the like.
And:
So we’re stuck in a world where in order to get all the content you want you need at least two, and perhaps even three set-top boxes in your living room. You need some combination of a cable box and a Roku/Apple TV/Fire TV/Chromecast/Xbox/Playstation.
Is this move by Amazon a short term bump in the road to ensure their content is properly supported? Or is this Amazon creating another walled ecosystem?
It’s been obvious forever that we were headed this way. So “cord cutting” will never work the way people envisioned initially when they wanted to cut cable. Just like he mentioned, now you’ll just need 4-5 devices if you want to see everything as more and more exclusive content deals are created and media continues to spread out. It’s sad but inevitable and I’m not sure in the end it will be any better or worse than what we had before, but simply different.
It’s because FireTV is a failure, like the Fire Phone. So they want to prop it up and get some money out of it for once.
It’s probably also because Apple isn’t bending over backwards for them to accommodate their streaming service? I have Prime, but I don’t use their music at all, and use the video streaming service very little. I have it for the free shipping. But this is starting to tick me off and think about canceling renewal of Prime this year.
If Amazon are doing it as an aggressive move against Apple and Google, surely it’s largely driven by Apple’s 30% cut for ‘digital’ in-app sales, which was really a direct hit at Amazon. That’s my hunch.
It’ll be a real pity if we end up needing multiple boxes because these mega-rich corps can’t just get along like grown ups. Apple should review the restrictions on in-app purchasing for digital content. It’s a blow to free, competitive commerce, and it gives me the creeps almost as much as Google’s data collection.
If Apple had any guts, they would create an app for Amazon Prime on the AppleTV.
Amazon can create that app. In fact, there is an Amazon app (a couple, actually, for Music and for Prime TV) for iPad and iPhone. Now that the AppleTV has an app store, I expect Amazon to have their apps there as well.
If you had a brain you’d know that Apple doesn’t make the AppleTV apps! It’s the content providers and Amazon has decided to not make one for the AppleTV.
You need some combination of a cable box and a Roku/Apple TV/Fire TV/Chromecast/Xbox/Playstation.
Cable box if you want cable.
Apple TV, and stream the Google/Amazon video from your iPhone or iPad.
(I suggest this because it’s exactly what I have going on at home; if it’s Amazon content, it’s on TV from an iOS device.)
I’m wondering if the concerns are overblown. I don’t see Netflix and Hulu being tied down to one platform. The critical issue right now seems to be Apple’s streaming services vs. Amazon’s streaming services, and people primarily choose one of those over the other. (maybe I’m wrong here).
But let’s say people need multiple devices. Most likely they have multiple devices anyway, since they probably have multiple TVs. I don’t get Sling on my Samsung Smart TV, but it’s less of an issue since I get it on my Roku devices on two other TVs.
Or, they just use Chromecast or some HDMI cable to stream stuff from their laptop, in which there are hardly any restrictions.
Don’t dismiss Amazon’s content without having a look at some of it. We’ve made our way through three of their Prime series (plus a few pilots awaiting full-season production) and can attest to the quality of the shows they’re funding. “Hand of God,” “Catastrophe,” “Transparent,” and “Man in the High Castle” are all worth attention.
Whether any show is a “must-have” is a matter of differing tastes for different genres. The content is certainly there, even though it’s being presented on the equivalent of a department-store shelf.
Once I seriously looked at cutting the cord, it didn’t take long to consider chucking the TV itself. When I sit in front of an iPad or my MacBook Pro I experience a screen bigger than my present TV and bigger than the TV I might buy to replace my current one. All that said, the new TiVO Bolt device is very interesting as an alternative to all y’all’s stuff.
I don’t understand this move. Couldn’t Amazon simply write an App supporting the new AppleTV and another supporting Google’s TV devices? I think they’re creating a great reason not to support Prime video on my TV. As it is, I find the video quality not as good as Netflix or Hulu.
Or, simply watch Clarkson, Hammond & May solely on my iPad.