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Thursday, September 4, 2008

Unbox Now Amazon Video on Demand

Hulu, Netflix, and iTunes have another competitor in the digital download arena. Unbox is new and improved with a revised name that more accurately describes what it is. While some have applauded the new look, others have found the Amazon viewing experience less than enjoyable. "Amazon bridges current offerings from iTunes, Hulu, and Netflix, though it’s important to note that, like iTunes, none of its content is ad-supported. It beats iTunes on TV because it has NBC, and it beats Hulu on movies because it has far more of them. Netflix’s movie service, meanwhile, only provides streaming for PCs." We are clearly in a learning mode with rapid change of these players. The average viewer is still trying to get the hang out of VOD and DVR on their cable box, but internet viewing will surely grow extremely quickly as more players emerge and more marketing reaches the masses.

Comcast and Fancast better watch out. As a Comcast user I wonder, how many shows can I watch before I hit my limit. Competition in streaming will only get more intense and your customers will not put up with slow downloads and jerky pictures, especially if it is determined that the cause is their ISP and not the web page.