Amazon Unbox on Tivo is Bullshit
2007-07-24 11:17:05
I recently tried out amazon unbox on my Tivo. The basic idea is that you can rent movies from your Tivo. The setup process was reasonably painless, except I had to remember my Tivo account password, which I never use.
So I ordered a movie that I thought I would like. It was $4, but it said that it stayed on your Tivo for 30 days. It probably said more than that, but I didn't read all the fine print.
First buzzkill: you can't start watching the movie until it is completely downloaded. So I basically couldn't start it until very late at night, or the next day. So much for instant gratification.
A few days later, I decided to go back and start watching the movie. So this notice pops up, and says that the movie will be deleted 24 hours after I start watching it. So if I want to watch half of it tonight, and half tomorrow night when I start to fall asleep, sorry, no dice. And that is $4? WTF?
If I get a Netflix movie, it costs me on average about $3. I can watch it in pieces over the course of a week, or I can watch it four or fourteen times while I have it. Not only that, it shows up in about 1-2 days, effectively just as fast as the Amazon unbox movie.
How stupid are these people? Why can't they simply create a service that people would LOVE? Hey, here's the formula, hollywood dipshits: let me download a movie for $1, let me watch it as much as I want for a week. I'll download a movie every day. With your current formula, yay, you've got my $4, and that's all you'll ever get. Gah.