Amazon may raise Prime prices.

[wizwor]

Amazon is just passing on the increased cost of shipping and adding content to their libraries. Netflix has done this and Comcast does it a couple times a year. While I do not see the price increase ($1.67/month) as a key factor in deciding to use or lose Prime, it does remind people that they are paying for television.

We cut the cable nearly five years ago. With 40 broadcast stations in our market, there is a lot of programming to choose from. Cutting cable reduced my recurring entertainment bill from $170/month to $53/month. That $53 pays for an ISP and Netflix. The ISP's rate is guaranteed for life.

Since cutting the cable, we have saved ~$7k. That presumes that my rate would not have risen in seven years -- which is a silly presumption. We've spent about $2k of this on infrastructure -- a new router, two antennas, an amplified combiner, an amplified splitter, five set top DVRs, five blu-ray players (which streamed Netflix), six Rokus, and PlayOn/PlayLater with HD plugins.

I recently put four Simple DVRs in my basement which collect broadcast television on 2t usb disks. I can stream the collected programs or live tv from any one of these to as many as five devices which may include Rokus, tablets, or PCs. This works on my LAN or remotely. I streamed from my antenna to a Roku at my mother's house. That cost ~$600.

We mostly watch broadcast television. There are the national affiliates (CBS, ABCx2, NBC, Fox), the local independents, national syndicators (RTV, MeTV, ION, Cozi, Bounce), movie channels (This, Fox Movies, getTV), and PBS (Prime, Kids, Explore, World, Create).

When I have a hankering for nudity or curse words, we watch Netflix -- either live or time shifted with PlayLater. We watch some programming via PlayOn (Hulu, Food Network, CBS and Fox Classics) and some via Roku channels (Fox News, Amazon Instant, History, Lifetime, and A&E). All of these account for less than 10% of our viewing.

I have been tempted to switch from Netflix to Prime. We do a lot of shopping on Amazon and all have Fires, so there is some additional value. In the end, I prefer the Netflix catalog, plan my purchases, and content myself with my own ebook library.

We have looked at Hulu, but most of the content is available over the air or on Netflix, so that's not appealing.

The fact that Amazon has increased their free shipping threshold from $25 to $35 has had a greater impact on our relationship. I have postponed or passed on purchases due to shipping costs. Often, Wal-mart or Best Buy are competitive since I can pick up items on my way home from work.

The bottom line is that there is a cost and a value associated with every purchase. Each person has to determine when cost exceeds value. For me with Pay TV, that ship has sailed.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Hell, 90-seconds is longer than most of my commercial breaks ever last to begin with!

Isn't the first Hulu commercial (per episode) a full 90 seconds? If not, then whatever that time is, that's what you get. It just shows you a nag instead of the commercial.

Again, I haven't watched Hulu in a while, I could be off about random anythings.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Isn't the first Hulu commercial (per episode) a full 90 seconds? If not, then whatever that time is, that's what you get. It just shows you a nag instead of the commercial.

Again, I haven't watched Hulu in a while, I could be off about random anythings.

I don't know. It's all moot anyway as I don't watch Hulu+ with a Browser, so Adblock Plus isn't really a viable option.

I watch Hulu+ with its Roku channel: I get a very quick opening commercial (30 seconds or less) with later breaks that consist of 2-3 commercials that are usually less than 90 seconds in total (each break).

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by CRussel

The Amazon.ca web site is still pretty lame, and they won't do second day to my location regardless of Prime or not, so I've passed on Canadian Prime. OTOH, I love my US Prime, since I have a mailbox in Washington state. And it really helps being able to predict when the stuff will get there so we don't need to overload the poor Pony Express guy.

Pardon me if off topic, but how do you get things from your US Box to where you live? Not being nosy, If it was practical cash-wise I would do it.

Helen

[ManosHandsOfFate]

Originally Posted by wizwor

Cutting cable reduced my recurring entertainment bill from $170/month to $53/month. That $53 pays for an ISP and Netflix. The ISP's rate is guaranteed for life.

Wow! Where do you live that you get such cheap internet that's guaranteed for life?

[wizwor]

Originally Posted by ManosHandsOfFate

Wow! Where do you live that you get such cheap internet that's guaranteed for life?

I live in Danville, NH USA. When I quit Comcast, they wanted $80/month for internet ("You might as well keep Basic Service as it is only a few dollars more than internet alone."), so I called around and found Fairpoint Communications which purchased Verizon's northern New England infrastructure. They wanted $50 per month. A few months into the relationship, they called and offered to lower the price, increase the bandwidth, and guarantee the rate for life. No catch. I kind of love Fairpoint.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by wizwor

Amazon is just passing on the increased cost of shipping and adding content to their libraries. Netflix has done this and Comcast does it a couple times a year. While I do not see the price increase ($1.67/month) as a key factor in deciding to use or lose Prime, it does remind people that they are paying for television.

We cut the cable nearly five years ago. With 40 broadcast stations in our market, there is a lot of programming to choose from. Cutting cable reduced my recurring entertainment bill from $170/month to $53/month. That $53 pays for an ISP and Netflix. The ISP's rate is guaranteed for life.

Since cutting the cable, we have saved ~$7k. That presumes that my rate would not have risen in seven years -- which is a silly presumption. We've spent about $2k of this on infrastructure -- a new router, two antennas, an amplified combiner, an amplified splitter, five set top DVRs, five blu-ray players (which streamed Netflix), six Rokus, and PlayOn/PlayLater with HD plugins.

I recently put four Simple DVRs in my basement which collect broadcast television on 2t usb disks. I can stream the collected programs or live tv from any one of these to as many as five devices which may include Rokus, tablets, or PCs. This works on my LAN or remotely. I streamed from my antenna to a Roku at my mother's house. That cost ~$600.

We mostly watch broadcast television. There are the national affiliates (CBS, ABCx2, NBC, Fox), the local independents, national syndicators (RTV, MeTV, ION, Cozi, Bounce), movie channels (This, Fox Movies, getTV), and PBS (Prime, Kids, Explore, World, Create).

When I have a hankering for nudity or curse words, we watch Netflix -- either live or time shifted with PlayLater. We watch some programming via PlayOn (Hulu, Food Network, CBS and Fox Classics) and some via Roku channels (Fox News, Amazon Instant, History, Lifetime, and A&E). All of these account for less than 10% of our viewing.

I have been tempted to switch from Netflix to Prime. We do a lot of shopping on Amazon and all have Fires, so there is some additional value. In the end, I prefer the Netflix catalog, plan my purchases, and content myself with my own ebook library.

We have looked at Hulu, but most of the content is available over the air or on Netflix, so that's not appealing.

The fact that Amazon has increased their free shipping threshold from $25 to $35 has had a greater impact on our relationship. I have postponed or passed on purchases due to shipping costs. Often, Wal-mart or Best Buy are competitive since I can pick up items on my way home from work.

The bottom line is that there is a cost and a value associated with every purchase. Each person has to determine when cost exceeds value. For me with Pay TV, that ship has sailed.

Don't do it, I mean, switch from NetFlix to Amazon Prime.

I cut the cable like 4 months ago. I also returned the provided Comcast modem and setup my own; now I get 70 Mbps download speed (peaks), when I actually pay for 50 Mbps. Old Comcast modem was crap.

We have Netflix, Aereo, Hulu Plus and prime, but Netflix beats Amazon on movies. Hulu is a good complementary service because it focuses on TV shows that my wife loves. But I'm keeping Prime mostly because shipping, as I order a lot.

I'm a huge Amazon fan, but to me, Amazon Prime content still is in develop. Not enough for having it alone.

By the way, I pay 53 bucks with taxes for Comcast blast. AT&T is not good and fast enough for what I need, as I do gaming too. So I need fast Internet with low latency, which can only be provided, unfortunately, by Comcast, at least in my area.

Now, to the topic. 99 per year for Prime is still a bargain. It's around 8 dollars per month. I can't imagine any person in USA, with a decent job, that can't afford that. Of course, you can argue that and say you have different priorities, fair enough, but still, 8 dollars a month is not a very expensive proposition giving the case of the added value: free shipping, access to movies, some ebooks free to rent, online music storage.

[whitearrow]

The ads on Hulu Plus wouldn't be so bad if there were only one or two breaks per one-hour (42 minute) show, but some shows have as many as 4 or 5, same as broadcast, and I just find that extremely annoying. Not to mention they repeat the same ads in the same show, even more annoying. I have a real problem with ads being on a pay service -- you either get me to pay or get to show me ads, but not both, thanks.

[pidgeon92]

My biggest problem with the Hulu Plus ads was that they would constantly get stuck. I don't know if they were buffering, or if there were other issues, but it would make a 15 second ad a several minute long torture device.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Pardon me if off topic, but how do you get things from your US Box to where you live? Not being nosy, If it was practical cash-wise I would do it.

Helen

1. I live relatively near the border.
2. I regularly have work that requires me to go to Washington state.
3. Even when I don't have work down there, I'll collect a bunch of orders and then drive down and stay overnight.

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

Try this:

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20.../#.UyJt9FGsUW8

Thanks for this tip, pidgeon!

[Fluribus]

Originally Posted by jocampo

8 dollars a month is not a very expensive proposition giving the case of the added value: free shipping, access to movies, some ebooks free to rent, online music storage.

I have slow internet, so no movies. I have plenty of my own stuff to read, so I'd probably never get to the loaners. I bought my mp3s through them, so I've got the storage anyway.

So, for me, it's all down to shipping. Is Prime shipping worth the $100 premium over standard free shipping?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Fluribus

I have slow internet, so no movies.

How slow is slow? You can stream standard-def movies with a download speed of about 1.5MBit/sec; high-def with about 3MBit/sec.

[John F]

Originally Posted by jocampo

...

Now, to the topic. 99 per year for Prime is still a bargain. It's around 8 dollars per month. I can't imagine any person in USA, with a decent job, that can't afford that. Of course, you can argue that and say you have different priorities, fair enough, but still, 8 dollars a month is not a very expensive proposition giving the case of the added value: free shipping, access to movies, some ebooks free to rent, online music storage.

... fair enough, but still, 8 dollars a month is not a very expensive ...

There are a lot of cheap services available, if you buy a lot of them, they add up. Simple math.

... free shipping ...

They already have free shipping, you don't need prime for that.

... access to movies ...

I don't think you need Prime to access Amazon movies.

... some ebooks free to rent ...

Here in the U.S., there are no free rentals. If you have a Kindle (or Fire?), they have some additional benefits.

... online music storage ...

Why would I consider this a plus if I don't use it. And I believe it is limited?

I'd imagine a lot of people with a decent job won't be getting Amazon Prime?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by John F

I don't think you need Prime to access Amazon movies.

You can of course rent or buy them without Prime, true. It's a matter of weighing up whether you're likely to exceed $8/month in doing so.