[westernmostcoy]

Amazon has a very bad track record of integrating with other services: do you think you'll be able to watch this on a normal Android phones? or an Apple TV? or a Chromecast? will they let other places on the internet embed videos easily? how will they be substantially better on copyright/DMCA complaints?

On top of all that, I think this needs a nice clean discoverable UI for this type of thing to be successful and they've really struggled with that in the past.

I'm also sad about what keeps happening to Prime. This has a benefit that I wouldn't consider strong enough to sign up for while the rest of the business continues to sneakily weaken the shipping benefit I did sign up for.

[exhilaration]

This. I still can't take advantage of Amazon prime video streaming on my Android phone without 1) allowing app installs from third parties and making my device insecure 2) installing the Amazon app store 3) THEN installing the Prime video app.

Proof: http://www.amazon.com/gp/video/splash/sd/t/appstore

Everything they do is to drive traffic traffic to their properties first, and serve paying customers second.

[ecobiker]

Back when Kindle launched, it was very common to see the story of Kodak being floated around (film vs digital) to claim how Amazon is flexible. Fast forward a few years, Amazon video and music services are the worst in terms of cross platform support. The primary reason I don't buy/rent anything from Amazon Digital is because I can't stream it to my Chromecast. Considering the adoption for Chromecast I would have expected Amazon to support. Instead they ban it from Amazon.com.

[netule]

I initially thought the problem was with my network and device setup at home. So I upgraded my router to the best I could afford, got the latest Chromecast incarnation and thought I was ready to go.

I can cast any tab from Chrome to my TV without any issues with the sole exception of Amazon Video. It's the only site that stutters like mad when casting.

[hatred]

Well I think Amazon just played the tit for tat card here. Historically, Google took the first slab by banning Amazon from it's app store: http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/11/google-removes-amazons-app-...

No wonder Amazon is now reciprocating by explicitly disallowing chromecast devices on its own site.

tl;dr; Google ain't a saint/good citizen either. No one is.

[westernmostcoy]

Google removed Amazon's app for violating the ToS, which clearly states that you may not sell your own app store through Google's.

This is still entirely on Amazon's bad behavior.

Also, your theory sort of excuses Amazon but does not explain why they also banned Apple TV.

[sciurus]

Surprisingly their Fire TV devices can act as a Chromecast receiver, so you can cast from an Android phone to the Amazon set top box.

[Bombthecat]

Good question. But when I think about that.... No I do t think so.