Amazon Prime -- Anyone use it?

nasai · Post by **nasai** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 6:22 pm

naednek wrote:
nasai wrote:Dexter is on Netflix.
I don't have netflix so that doesn't help me. I have amazon prime, and that would help me.

It's too cheap not to have both. Get it. Be happy.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed May 21, 2014 6:47 pm

And now the HBO on Prime fest commences! Time to start on Season 3 of The Wire. Or The Pacific.

And I forgot... they have Rome!

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 2:42 pm

Prime - now with free music streaming! WOOT! The HBO dealio had me excited, but this just seals it for me to continue subscribing, if you want to call it a subscription.

http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=sv_dmusic_0 ... 8335758011

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 2:48 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote:Prime - now with free music streaming! WOOT! The HBO dealio had me excited, but this just seals it for me to continue subscribing, if you want to call it a subscription.

http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=sv_dmusic_0 ... 8335758011

No Frozen soundtrack? Looks like I'll be forced to keep the Rhapsody subscription.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 2:52 pm

If you can get it to load (seems to be getting hit pretty hard right now of course), sorting the albums by Average Customer Review is a little depressing.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 2:53 pm

They should contact amazon web services and see about getting some more servers stood up.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 2:58 pm

Bastion original soundtrack? Interesting. Shocked that it would be so popular.

McNutt · Post by **McNutt** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 3:00 pm

How do you play this music? I'm logged in and was able to add a song to my digital library, but don't see it and can't figure out how to actually play it.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 3:05 pm

After adding it to the library, I selected "play now" which took me to the cloud library and the songs appeared there. I then selected a song and hit >

McNutt · Post by **McNutt** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 3:11 pm

Ok, it's there now. Thanks.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 3:52 pm

McNutt wrote:Ok, it's there now. Thanks.

Also, as I suspected, they updated what they called before about 2 hours ago, the Amazon Cloud Music Player app (shocking that they would rename such a thing!)

And you can now play/stream music directly from that app, or directly from the web music player - either one you have downloaded, or online.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 4:20 pm

'Whodini - Greatest Hits'? Yes, please and thank you.

YOINK

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 4:24 pm

This first one I encountered that I recognized was Aerosmith Greatest Hits so that was my proof-of-concept. Since my data plan is restricted, and I don't listen to music on my phone, I rather doubt I'll play with this any more.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 4:31 pm

Well, here's where I use Rhapsody:

Squeezebox, livingroom
Squeezebox, bedroom
PC
Laptops
Tablet
Phones

Amazon would have to be on all those to replace it completely. Plus I can download most of the catalog for offline listening.

Kind of OT, but why the heck is Robyn Hitchcock's Queen Elvis never available anywhere ever for [legal] streaming/downloading?

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Sat Jun 14, 2014 6:35 pm

I buy a lot on Amazon, but not THAT much to justify Prime membership... yet.

Baroquen · Post by **Baroquen** » Sat Jun 14, 2014 9:54 pm

I'm totally in on Prime, but have yet to fiddle with the music player. I'm too comfortable with Spotify at the moment. Works well enough for me, and my limited streaming needs, here and at work.

tiny ogre · Post by **tiny ogre** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 1:58 am

I don't like that, on the web version, I have to add things to my library to listen to them. I don't want to pretend I own the thing, I just want to listen to it and THEN if I like it maybe I'll ask you to remember that for me. As is, if I don't like it, I then have to go delete it (through the exact same interface I'd use to delete something I actually paid for, because there's some reason I'd want to do that too? Now there's an increased chance I can do it accidentally! Yay!)

The mobile app doesn't seem to have that issue, I can just play the damn song I'm looking at. So that's nice. Why the web version is different I don't understand.

The other issue I've always had with Amazon music and videos is that Lnorigb and I can't have our own individual libraries on our one Prime account. We don't have the same tastes, and it makes the online library annoying for both of us. I just download the stuff I buy from them and ignore the library aspect as a result.

You CAN share a Prime membership among Amazon accounts at the same physical address, but only for ordering physical stuff. Doesn't work for music, kindle books or videos. Which is exactly backwards from what we want. I kind of get why, but it's worth pointing out that Netflix managed to solve that and we each have our own profiles on our one shared account now. I'm sure Amazon will catch up eventually, they're clearly trying hard.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 12:53 pm

Yeah, there is a lot of logistical stuff that Amazon players don't do well. Hell, just try sorting a play list. Can't be done! They are aware of these things based on the forums I have seen, but just some simple things like that are taking far longer than I would have expected.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 12:10 pm

Pretty much any order I place on prime now has an option for regular ground delivery. If you choose that, you get a $1 credit for Amazon digital video rentals and purchases.

Not a bad option for stuff you don't need right away. My last order, I had one shipment I went with the 2 day and the other I selected ground for the $1 credit. Both shipments arrived the in under 2 days.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 12:12 pm

My last slow mo for the $1 video credit order arrived next day.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 12:15 pm

I've had a similar experience. It seems that choosing slow-mo gives Amazon some flexibility in how they ship, but it may still work out for them to include the item in a faster shipment. Good deal.

McNutt · Post by **McNutt** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 12:21 pm

I haven't used this feature yet. Do the credits stack? In other words, can you use multiple credits to watch one video? Does it also work towards digital video purchases?

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 12:28 pm

McNutt wrote:I haven't used this feature yet. Do the credits stack? In other words, can you use multiple credits to watch one video? Does it also work towards digital video purchases?

Yes. The only real caveat is they expire, but you have several months to use them.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 12:46 pm

This is a pretty good scam. "Pay us extra to have this service. Now that you've paid us, we'll give you a dollar of fake money to NOT use it!"

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 12:47 pm

Chaz wrote:This is a pretty good scam. "Pay us extra to have this service. Now that you've paid us, we'll give you a dollar of fake money to NOT use it!"

Indeed. And yet for those who are invested in the Amazon ecosystem, fake money is real money and it's a good deal.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 12:48 pm

Chaz wrote:This is a pretty good scam. "Pay us extra to have this service. Now that you've paid us, we'll give you a dollar of fake money to NOT use it!"

I think it's a carrot they use as we're moving towards the holiday shopping season to help relieve pressure on their end. As someone that has been using Amazon Prime to get Xmas presents over the last month...I have a whole bunch of credits that need to be used before the end of October.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 12:56 pm

Zaxxon wrote:
Chaz wrote:This is a pretty good scam. "Pay us extra to have this service. Now that you've paid us, we'll give you a dollar of fake money to NOT use it!"
Indeed. And yet for those who are invested in the Amazon ecosystem, fake money is real money and it's a good deal.

Normally, I'd agree that it's real money. I just don't rent enough things from Amazon video to make it be real money. Now if it was just a dollar of Amazon credit, I'd be more interested.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 1:03 pm

Chaz wrote:Normally, I'd agree that it's real money. I just don't rent enough things from Amazon video to make it be real money.

It's not even that limiting. Even if you rent SOME video, from SOMEwhere (online), it has value.

For instance, if I didn't have say, $3 in video credit on Amazon, I would have simply rented a movie from Redbox, or iTunes, or some other provider. I don't really care WHERE I rent from. In this case, since I have credit, it's Amazon (until I use up that credit, then it's whoever has the cheapest price)

Obviously an unrestricted promo credit would be better, but still...I like having the option.

DISCLAIMER: I am an unabashed Amazon fan, so...yeah. It's a problem. I'm working on it.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 1:06 pm

Chaz wrote:This is a pretty good scam. "Pay us extra to have this service. Now that you've paid us, we'll give you a dollar of fake money to NOT use it!"

I didn't get Prime to get something that I won't need for 3 weeks shipped via 2-day. If I can parlay my pre-planning into a "free" video the kiddo/wife/I want(s) to see, I'll do it.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 1:06 pm

Oh, totally. In my use case though, we just don't ever wind up renting video from anywhere. I've got a big collection of movies, and we have Netflix. We usually just wind up watching something from one of those two rather than rent from any source. That's just us though.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 1:08 pm

Chaz wrote:Oh, totally. In my use case though, we just don't ever wind up renting video from anywhere. I've got a big collection of movies, and we have Netflix. We usually just wind up watching something from one of those two rather than rent from any source. That's just us though.

You can purchase too. For things that must always be available (i.e. kids' stuff), it's handy. When Ruby Gloom went off Netflix, shit almost got Real(tm). Fortunately I was able to buy it on Amazon digital.

Of course if anyone doesn't want the credit, they can just stick with 2-day shipping. It's a nice option.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 1:24 pm

I agree, it's definitely a nice option to have, and who knows, maybe I'll use it a few times to pay for a rental on Snowpiercer or something. I just thought it was funny is all.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 1:34 pm

I don't watch movies so of no use to me. Wish they would make it a full credit even if it were only .50.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 2:40 pm

I do wonder why they don't just make it a "media credit", which would include MP3's and maybe even Kindle books. That would be nice.

Maybe I will bring it up during the next board meeting.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 3:07 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote:I do wonder why they don't just make it a "media credit", which would include MP3's and maybe even Kindle books. That would be nice.

Because Amazon Instant Video is an also-ran (though I do love it). Kindle and Amazon Music are both doing well in market share. They want to push Instant Video.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 6:47 pm

It's the only a la cart video service that I'm aware of. I subscribe to Netflix. Redbox really missed the boat, imo, when they decided to make their streaming service a subscription model.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:19 pm

There's iTunes, and then there's everyone else. I believe Amazon is now in 2nd, but it's really iTunes and then a pack of Amazon, Vudu, Xbox, M-go, etc.

Baroquen · Post by **Baroquen** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:38 pm

They ran that deal before. Maybe in a previous holiday season? In any event, I like it - though I'm an Amazon fan too. I don't rent movies much, but I have time to watch on the treadmill. I usually stick to free Prime TV, but I have picked up a movie or two because of this. So yeah, I like.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 11:14 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:It's the only a la cart video service that I'm aware of. I subscribe to Netflix. Redbox really missed the boat, imo, when they decided to make their streaming service a subscription model.

I have rented (streaming) a movie from Redbox before. Also one other service can't recall name. 'Epix' or something similar.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 10:02 am

Redbox Instant is done:

Outerwall and Verizon are closing the tap on Redbox Instant, offering customers refunds and a short window of opportunity to stream through the rest of their queues.
...
In Outerwall's quarterly earnings report, released in July, J. Scott Di Valerio, Outerwall's chief executive officer, talked up his company's ability to excel with its core abilties and to scale its automated retail services to meet demand despite the struggles of its Redbox division.