Prime (US) price increase. Ouch!

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Apache

When Amazon buys Paramount Pictures you can watch the Clint Eastwood musical western Paint Your Wagon.
Apache

And when Amazon buys the world, we're all doomed

[Quoth]

I have "Paint Your Wagon" on DVD.

Nothing is free on Amazon Prime. Things are INCLUDED in your subscription. They are gone when you cancel or if Amazon delists them.

Twenty years ago the promise of Video on Demand (Streaming) was that when it was solved and people had fibre, there would the long tail. Ability to watch old stuff as well as new. But the costs of the servers is high, so they mostly only make available popular and recent stuff.

I'll buy the stuff I really want on CD, DVD and BD. I gave up subscription TV and rental libraries long ago. You end up paying more. All the incentive and Dark UI at Amazon Checkout is to sign up to Prime, because subscription services are "lock-in", hurt competition and a bigger profit than sales.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by bullet

Not to mention Lee Marvin in a musical:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTym...eLightPictures

Wait, here comes Lee Marvin! He's always drunk and violent!

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Twenty years ago the promise of Video on Demand (Streaming) was that when it was solved and people had fibre, there would the long tail. Ability to watch old stuff as well as new. But the costs of the servers is high, so they mostly only make available popular and recent stuff.

Yeah, I wish Turner Classic Movies would launch their own streaming service or license their catalog to Amazon or Netflix. Finding (good) older, classic movies is very hit and miss. And they tend to get buried under whatever new hotness the streaming service is pushing this week.

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Yeah, I wish Turner Classic Movies would launch their own streaming service or license their catalog to Amazon or Netflix. Finding (good) older, classic movies is very hit and miss. And they tend to get buried under whatever new hotness the streaming service is pushing this week.

There is a TCM app on most streaming devices, and most paid tv providers allow a log in. I watch TCM from their web site on my iPad Pro.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

There is a TCM app on most streaming devices, and most paid tv providers allow a log in. I watch TCM from their web site on my iPad Pro.

I'm talking about a standalone service à la HBO Max/Netflix/Hulu.

The app you mention is for phones/tablets and requires to to have a cable subscription that includes TCM.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by issybird

Amazon raises Prime price

Does one also get Prime Video (edit: yes) and Prime Music (edit: unclear) included in that?

In the Netherlands stuff is different. We have Amazon Prime for €4 a month (if I'm correct; this is my GF's subscription because it has some series that Netflix doesn't have), but it's only video.

We can also get Amazon Prime from Germany, which includes Prime Video, but also next day delivery in the Netherlands, for something like €7.50.

Bol.com has a "Select" service, which is only €10 per year, but which gets you several nice things:
- You can choose your day of delivery.
- You can choose to get the package delivered after 18:00 (normally this costs something like €2,50, but with Select, it's free)
- All items ship for free, even if they otherwise wouldn't
- If you order early enough you have free same-day delivery (normally something like €3.95)

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

But he is probably right though (I haven't checked). In the Netherlands one of our big chains does a "No VAT" once a year for some items such as TV's. As the VAT is 21%, many people go like: "Yay! 21% off! Now I can get that €1000 TV for €790!"

Then they get to the store and the price happens to be €826,45.

Oops. And they don't understand.

The reason is that the price in store, including the VAT, is 121%, not 100%. (Because VAT is _added_ on top of the 100% price the store wants to make.) So to calculate the price without VAT is (price / 121 * 100), not (price / 100 * 79), which would be correct if you did get 21% off the "including VAT" price.

So the No Vat sale gives you 17.36% off of the regular "including VAT" price, not 21%.

Stuff's tricky sometimes, and can easily trip up people for a significant amount of money.

Originally Posted by Quoth

Fortunately nothing anywhere is made from bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I have a friend that has heavily partaken the Crypto Kool-aid. I worry about the wisdom of his decision, watching crypto prices fall.

One of my friends once asked me if I knew something about crypto, and if I didn't, if I knew someone who could help him to get set up.

I told him I had a former colleague who was very knowledgeable in this regard. He would be able to get that guy into crypto currency no problem... and then get him into debt restructuring and how to get deferred payment from the energy company as a follow-up, as he was very knowledgeable about that as well.

The real kicker is that I wasn't even lying.

IMHO, crypto is like a pyramid game: only profitable for the people who get in very, very early. (And even if you have lots of crypto, you'll also have to sell them somehow because you can't buy anything with it; at least not in the Netherlands.)

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

...And even if you have lots of crypto, you'll also have to sell them somehow because you can't buy anything with it; at least not in the Netherlands.

You can spend all your crypto on NFTs

[ottdmk]

Amazon just raised their Canadian prices for the first time.

25% increase. Ouch.