Amazon Prime Now Lets You Download Videos!

“Do you know how many Video division employees I made cry at their desk with this download option? ALL OF THEM! HA!”

In a bold move on the streaming video front, Amazon yesterday announced that users of its Amazon Prime Video streaming service (which is part of a Prime annual subscription) can now download videos to mobile devices.  They’ve also dropped the word “Instant” from their video offering–perhaps as a nod to the ability to watch a video without streaming it that moment.  Downloading videos is currently supported on both the iOS and Android Amazon Video apps but will not be supported on laptop and desktop computers.  Not every title will be available for download but Amazon original series (Transgender and others you haven’t heard of) and several key properties that Netflix is about to lose (such as Hunger Games, 24, and Star Trek Into Darkness) are all downloadable today.

Netflix has been the industry leader in the streaming video space for years but Amazon has been pushing back hard both on the pricing option (comparable by itself but there are other benefits to Prime such as free shipping and streaming/downloadable music) and the original programming front.  Now that Amazon is pushing the functionality gameboard piece, we will have to wait and see if Netflix responds.  Netflix has always said that they would not support downloading content but they also didn’t have a major competitor offering downloads.

Will Amazon Prime Video’s new feature make it attractive to travelers and influencers?  Are you more or less likely to use this service now?

 

Non-Geek TV From The Geek Perspective: Bosch

There’s a lot of TV out there, and some of it isn’t part of a cable package.  Streaming services have original programming too to entice viewers into subscribing to their respective systems.

And so, here’s a cop show called Bosch from Amazon Prime.

That’s Not Really How It Works!: Civics And The Fictional Presidency

We all know the story about the timing of the issue that featured this panel, right?

I greatly enjoy DC Comics’ Showcase Presents series of black and white reprints.  Sometimes they feature obscure characters, or just stories that would be far too expensive to hunt down the original comics in order to read, and at the price of below $15 each, the 500+ pages are generally worth it.  Besides, sometimes there’s some outright screwiness going on.  Take the original appearance of longtime foe of the Aton the Floronic Man, Jason Woodroe.  At the end of the issue, there’s a quick courtroom scene where a judge states that he is going to be handling certain procedures before Woodroe can be hauled off to a federal court for the crime of attempting to take over the world.

This tickles me for the very implications of what that panel suggests, namely that in that universe, the United States Congress proposed, debated, voted on, and passed a bill outlawing attempted world conquest.  Said law was then signed by a president.  I am sure for the juvenile readers of the original stories, this doesn’t seem too wild, but really, that’s the sort of thing that really catches my attention.

That said, let’s look at some fictional presidents.

The Truth Is In Here: The X-Files to Return?

This isn’t a conspiracy theory worthy of investigation by the Lone Gunmen.  It is looking like Fox is revisiting the X-Files!

Following the success of Fox’s 24 limited series, the network is looking to bring back another iconic drama series, The X-Files. Fox TV Group chairman Gary Newman today confirmed chatter that the network is in talks for a new installment ofChris Carter’s cult supernatural drama, which starred David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. Newman went on to say he was “hopeful” about the outcome.

With the network mining old hits like 24 and X-Files, why not a remake of Briscoe County Jr?

Source:  Deadline