Amazon and Netflix as a streaming serivce

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/netflix-vs-amazon-prime/

Cohen, S. (2019) Netflix vs. Amazon Prime Video | Which Streaming Service Is Better? | Digital Trends, Digital Trends. Available at: https://www.digitaltrenDesigntechnica CorporationDesigntechnica Corporationds.com/home-theater/netflix-vs-amazon-prime/ (Accessed: 20 September 2019).

(Cohen, 2019)

My notes from this research:

About Netflix:

-Netflix is the most popular; both in the U.S and Internationally.

- It offers Add-free movies and t.v shows, with some original exclusive content. (For example stranger things).

- Netflix offers 3 types of service, 'basic', 'standard', and 'premium'. 

-  Child-friendly pg mode

- Smart Data makes it promote/recommend shows if thinks you will like.  

- The company has mastered the art of adjusting its level of video compression to match your internet connection speed

About streaming:

 -Streaming is competitive, but they offer different things. 

- It's normal for homes to contain more than one subscription to platforms. 

- Streaming sites are compatible with many technologies

- Some of the content they stream works with Dolby Vision, giving a cinematic experience.

About convergence:

-'One feature trivia lovers will appreciate is Amazon’s X-Ray. It lets you access cast photos, bios, filmographies, soundtrack info, and trivia, without leaving your playback screen.' Amazon Isn't just a streaming video site, it includes music and information about the show you are watching, Allows shopping and free delivery, and includes kindles- reading books.

- Compatible with multiple technologies such as gaming consoles, mobile devices, tv ect.

'These channels often offer the option of watching shows live, as they would normally air over cable or satellite, plus you can access all of the content on-demand after the initial air date.' This enables broadcasting to continue to exist but in a new way.

QUOTES
When it comes to on-demand streaming video services, there is none bigger than Netflix. It’s far and away the most popular service of its kind both in the U.S. and internationally. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only option. As the market for these services matures, more competitors are emerging all the time. One of the most compelling for a lot of people is Amazon Prime Video, simply because so many people already have a relationship with Amazon.

And yet, as much as these two services both compete for our entertainment dollars, they’re radically different from each other in several areas including price, content selection, and extra features.  We’ll kick it off with one of the biggest differences: How much you’ll have to pay if you want to watch. Netflix’s pricing model is very easy to understand: There are three tiers of service, called Basic ($9 per month), Standard ($13 per month), and Premium ($16 per month). All three give you access to Netflix’s entire catalog of ad-free movies, TV shows, and specials. The only things that change as you pay more are the quality of the video and the number of devices that can be used to stream simultaneously. Basic, as the name implies, gives you a single stream and limits you to standard definition (480p). Standard gives you a second simultaneous stream, and both are available in HD (up to 1080p). Premium lets four devices watch at the same time, and content can be streamed in up to 4K Ultra HD with HDR, as well as Dolby Atmos (when the show or movie is available in these formats).

Amazon Prime Video is even more straightforward. A $119 annual Amazon Prime membership gives you ad-free access to the full Amazon Prime Video catalog, plus several shopping-related benefits that Amazon throws in for that price (and even Amazon’s music service). This annual membership lets you stream in the highest quality that your TV, streaming device, and internet connection can support, including 4K Ultra HD with HDR, as well as Dolby Atmos. As with Netflix, this will vary by movie or TV show. All Prime Video memberships let you stream up to three titles at the same time, but you can only stream the same title on two devices at a time.

Even Netflix’s most affordable price plan is about the same as Amazon Prime Video, which means that on a purely financial basis, Amazon Prime Video wins this round.

Having a streaming membership doesn’t make much sense if it isn’t compatible with the devices you own. Amazon Prime Video is compatible with a wide variety of devices and platforms, including web browsers on a PC or Mac, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon’s own Fire TV and Fire devices, iOS, Android, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 & 4, Nintendo Wii U, various models of connected Blu-ray players, smart TVs, and Google’s Chromecastand Chromecast Ultra.

Netflix, as the progenitor of the streaming media space, has the most device compatibility of any service. With support for all of the same devices as Amazon, as well as several others including Nintendo 3DS and Windows Phone, we’ll hand this one to Netflix. But now Amazon and Google have buried the hatchet and Chromecast has been added to the list, it’s closer than ever.

Netflix has thousands of licensed Hollywood movies, TV shows, documentaries, and specials. But over the years, its Netflix’s original productions, like House of Cards, Stranger Things, and The Umbrella Academy, that have been stealing the spotlight and increasing Netflix’s desirability. The only content creator that consistently beats Netflix in quality is HBO — fans of shows like Game of Thrones, Veep, and Barry know exactly what we mean.

In fact, over the years, Netflix has been steadily reducing its catalog of movies as it increases its TV show arsenal, and its originals are a big part of that growth. Unfortunately, with the imminent launch of the Disney+ streaming service, Netflix is slowly being stripped of some of its most popular movies. In the coming months, it’s expected that all new Marvel, Disney, and Star Wars franchise installments will become Disney+ (and/or Hulu) exclusives, and it’s unknown how long Disney will let Netflix continue to license existing titles, like the massively popular Avengers and Star Wars movies.

If you’re purely looking at Netflix as an alternative to renting Blu-rays or going to the theater, this might not sound like a good development, but even stripped of these titles, it’s hard to beat Netflix’s offerings if you value high-quality entertainment from virtually every genre.

Amazon has a much larger total library of movies and TV shows, according to a recent report from Reelgood — more than 12,000 movies in fact 

One feature trivia lovers will appreciate is Amazon’s X-Ray. It lets you access cast photos, bios, filmographies, soundtrack info, and trivia, without leaving your playback screen.

Netflix, meanwhile, has one of the most consistent interfaces, with only slight changes from one device to another that are usually designed to embrace the strengths of a certain platform, like its mobile-optimized apps for Android and iOS. You can have multiple user profiles, each with its own unique recommendations, a kids-only profile to keep things perfectly PG-rated, and if you get tired of browsing the wide range of categorized content, an excellent search function is never far away.

Video and audio quality on Netflix is superb. The company has mastered the art of adjusting its level of video compression to match your internet connection speed, so unless you intentionally set the video quality to a lower level to conserve data, you should get crystal-clear picture and sound — especially if you’re on the Premium plan. As with Amazon Prime, 5.1 Dolby surround is available for most movies and shows, unless Dolby Atmos is offered as a higher level (assuming your A/V gear supports it).

It’s worth noting that Amazon Prime Video gives you access to two types of premium content not included in the $119 annual Prime membership. There’s a rent or buy section that provides a good selection of both newer movies and classics, at prices as low as $4. There’s also Amazon Channels, which is a way of subscribing to third-party cable networks like HBO, Epix, Starz, and CBS All Access. These channels often offer the option of watching shows live, as they would normally air over cable or satellite, plus you can access all of the content on-demand after the initial air date. The prices vary, but the à la carte arrangement can be attractive for those who simply want HBO in their lives and don’t want to create a new subscription in a separate app to do so.

Finally, even though it has nothing to do with watching video, you shouldn’t overlook the fact that a Prime membership does come with some other nice perks, like free two-day shipping on many Amazon products, Prime Music, which is a decent if not stellar music-streaming service, and unlimited photo storage, just to name a few.

There’s a reason Netflix has more subscribers than any other streaming video service — and by a very wide margin. It’s a fantastic way to watch ad-free movies and TV shows, and the company’s investments in both licensed and original content mean there’s always something worth watching. If having access to the best selection of video content, delivered via a well-thought-out and consistent interface, matters to you, we think it’s the best choice.

If you’re not sure which to choose, we’d say both. These days, having a few streaming services (at the least) is pretty standard, allowing you to dabble in all manner of movies and TV shows for a great entertainment experience right from your living room.