First Look at Amazon's Movie Download Site?
A reader told me to search on Google for "Amazon Digital Video" site:amazon.com. There was a lot of excitement earlier this month when AdAge reported that Amazon was launching an ad-free movie download service, so I started poking around.
I believe that this is the first peek at the upcoming Amazon Digital Video Service:
Very few of the menu options work, and the page is gone from the Amazon site (it's only available in the Google cache).
Note the menu options under the "Digital Video" tab:
Amazon Digital Video - The current page? Television Central - Will this be a link to the existing DVD/TV site, or a place to purchase episodes of TV shows? View Your Download Queue - Downloading movies, even over cable or DSL takes time, so this is probably a status screen and/or a digital locker. How to Get Video to Your TV - This is a huge problem, as very few people will want to watch movies on a computer screen.
At the bottom of the page there is one vendor listed: Lumiere. If you click through, you'll see a selection of movies with prices:
I checked Amazon's price for Napoleon Dynamite DVD, and it's $13.99, but $14.99 on the Lumiere page, so it might reference a digital version.
Does anyone else have any additional information about Lumiere or the Amazon Digital Video Service?
Update: I totally missed PaidContent's story and screen capture, which was the first to find the new Amazon site, before it was removed.
Well, the prices are still insane. $10-15 for movies. $2 for TV shows. Everyone talks about how online distribution will cut costs, but I don't see any savings for the customers. The files have far more restrictions on their use than DVDs. Who would be dumb enough to buy a DRM-infected file? This is just a sacrificial lamb by the studios. They offer us downloads, in a crippled form overpriced form that very few people would accept. Then, blame the poor sales on piracy. Add more DRM. Repeat.
Posted by: NetflixShill | August 17, 2006 at 02:18 AM
I love me some Amazon, but there's no way in hell that I'm going to pay $10 or more to download a movie I can 1) buy cheaper on DVD elsewhere or 2) download for free without DRM using BitTorrent.
Posted by: Scott | August 17, 2006 at 05:41 PM
3) Watch on Showtime or HBO - especially OnDemand.
Posted by: corey3rd | August 17, 2006 at 09:22 PM
[ Returning from Truck enforced exile ]
[( wires taken down by a careless driver ) ]
No competition -> Prices High
Lots of competition -> Prices Low
Welcome to the free market
Posted by: WeaselBuddha | August 22, 2006 at 04:06 PM
It needs work - a lot more work. I tried it and the system is caught in a loop or something. I DL the Unbox, installed it and tried to DL a TV episode. I was prompted to DL Unbox again. I cancelled and tried again. Once again I was prompted to DL the Unbox. After several tries I gave up. The TV episode never downloaded and I was charged five times for a download that never came through.
I emailed Amazon customer service so I'll see what happens.
Posted by: rcm999 | September 09, 2006 at 01:13 PM