Monday News: Amazon losing billions on video streaming; Your genes determine whether you are a night owl
Publishing NewsAmazon / science18 Comments
Amazon Stops Testing $7.99 Monthly Option for Prime – About two weeks ago, Amazon announced you could join Amazon Prime on a monthly basis for $7.99. As of November 16, 2012, Amazon has discontinued this service saying that it was just a test and the test is now done. There is something more afoot there but we don’t know what it was. Perhaps complaints of existing prime customers or the fact that it doesn’t make economic sense? AllThingsD
Netflix CEO Says Amazon Losing $1 Billion/Year on Streaming Video – Netflix CEO estimates that Amazon is losing between $500 million and $1 billion per year on its streaming video. There are thousands of movies and television shows that Amazon Prime members can access for free. An Amazon Prime member pays $79 per year for this access as well as two day delivery. Netflix charges $8 per month for unlimited streaming access to movies and television shows. AllThingsD
Hastings says he generated those numbers based on the value of the content deals that Amazon won when the two companies competed head to head. He says he thinks Amazon’s costs are split evenly between its U.S. operations and Europe, where it operates the Lovefilm streaming service
How one law student is making Facebook get serious about privacy – One Austrian law student is challenging Facebook’s privacy laws and making it safer for all of us. Under EU law Facebook must provide a complete accounting of all of the data it retains of a user within forty days. Max Schrems made this request and received a 1000 page PDF in return. In the PDF, there is evidence of multiple privacy violations. Schrems filed 22 formal complaints in Ireland (where Facebook is headquartered for tax purposes) prompting Ireland to ask for changes by Facebook.
US really needs a comparable law that allows individuals to request all the data compiled about oneself. Companies allowed to continue data mining without any checks or balances will result in even larger privacy breaches than we currently have. Ars Technica
Image via BigStock Photos
Gene Helps Predict Time of Death – According to new research released in the Annals of Neurology, a human’s internal body clock determines when a person is most alert and the heart is most efficient. Moreover, based on the circadian clock, researchers believe that it can predict the time of death (although perhaps not the day). The research has found a genotype that can predict if you are a night owl or an early riser. HMS
“This particular genotype affects the sleep-wake pattern of virtually everyone walking around, and it is a fairly profound effect so that the people who have the A-A genotype wake up about an hour earlier than the people who have the G-G genotype, and the A-Gs wake up almost exactly in the middle,” explains Saper, who is also the James Jackson Putnam Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School. Also, expression of the Period 1 gene was lower in the brains and white blood cells of people with the G-G genotype than in people with the A-A genotype, but only in the daytime, which is when the gene is normally expressed.
As an aside, I watched Prometheus for the first time this weekend and those were the dumbest group of scientists ever. Ever.
I thought it was $79/year to join AMZ Prime?
Nadia, I believe you are correct.
I’d like to hug that law student. However, we’ve had suggested Fair Information Practices since 1973, but no laws to correspond to them. Incredibly frustrating.
Prometheus was the worst film I’ve seen in a long time. Not only did the characters’ actions not make real world sense, they didn’t make plot sense either, which is unforgiveable.
Sure, you can stream Netflix for $8 a month 24/7… if you can find anything you actually want to watch. The response to 95% of my searches was “Sorry, no. But we have it on DVD for an extra $8 a month!” Want to stream a movie that was released in the past 3 years? Hahaha ha. You so funny.
Amazon, on the other hand, has invested in CONTENT. Screw the Prime benefits. I’d pay $8 a month (more, even) solely for streaming access to their library.
If you thought Prometheus was bad, you’re going to like this: http://www.the-editing-room.com/prometheus.html
Prometheus taught me that scientists touch all things, all the time.
We saw it in the theatre, and about 45min in we agreed that that the future has done away with logic completely and that the government has made scientists the new street-sweepers as a way to get rid of undesirable people who cannot function in daily jobs. The movie actually makes sense that way.
@Nadia Lee: Yes, sorry.
@Ren: What you said is absolutely right on!
@Brie: I want to kiss you for that! As a fan of the original Alien and Aliens (the rest were shite), I was so pissed when I walked out of the theater. More shite. No cohesive plot, WTF moments, and a blond Michael Fassbender, which should be a crime in itself. Then I picked up the DVD case in Walmart a few weeks ago to inspect the “extras” and sure enough a shiny silver sticker proclaimed “Questions will be answered”. My head nearly exploded on the spot. Like I needed another reason to be aggravated in Walmart.
@Ren: Maybe I’m missing something but it doesn’t seem to me that movie studios are offering Amazon better streaming options than Netflix. The most popular free streamable movies on Amazon (included in the $79/year or $7.99/month options) are all also availble on Netflix.
What Amazon offers is newer streaming selections for an additional rental fee (generally $3.99/movie or $1.99/tv episode) and a 48 hour time limit. I guess it’s up to you whether that’s a good deal or not but I find there are easier and cheaper ways to rent movies than becoming a Prime member.
@Ren: The studios want Netflix to die. The Cable/Satellite Companies want Netflix to die. I keep paying for it in addition to Prime because I want to give big media as much heartburn (and as little of my money) as possible.
We have both netflix and amazon prime. We get prime mainly for the free shipping and a few other perks, but we use it for the streaming sometimes. Netflix seems to work better with the TV we have using the Roku (streams smoothly), but both are equally good on a computer. I don’t know how the kids (and my husband) have the TV set up downstairs. There are so many gadgets attached to it I can’t figure out how to play a DVD on it, much less access amazon streaming or netflix. It’s rather pathetic, really. :::sigh:::
@Lada: I don’t have Netflix anymore, but last I checked Amazon was adding more newer content to Prime than was available through Netflix unless something’s changed.
The pay to rent and buy options for Amazon digital video have nothing to do with Prime. You don’t need a Prime membership to rent/buy digital videos, just for the “free” streaming titles.
One thing the Netflix CEO leaves out is how big a check Netflix cuts to Amazon for use of their Amazon Web Services. In other words, Netflix pays its biggest competitor for hosting space. Nice for Amazon if they need $$ to fund their investment in streaming; not so great for Netflix, I’m thinking.
“As an aside, I watched Prometheus for the first time this weekend and those were the dumbest group of scientists ever.”
Pretty much, yeah.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolpinchefsky/2012/06/20/5-scientists-share-their-baffled-reactions-on-the-bad-science-in-prometheus/
http://digitaldigging.net/blog/prometheus-an-archaeological-perspective/
I just bought an early birthday present for myself-PS3. Sadly I couldn’t get amazon to stream, it just kept pausing. However I had no problems with Netflix. Looks like it is a common problem on the Amazon forums. I had fun watching old Cadfael episodes.
A single hour is the difference between a lark and a night owl?? I don’t think so.
We watched Prometheus twice. The first time was on a giant screen in 3D and the plot holes were not as noticeable while we were enthralled with the spectacle of feeling as if we were in space, or on a new planet. Of course there are coincidences to further the plot. Just like in scary movies when the heroine always opens the door or puts herself in danger, because if she just hid under the bed like most of us would, the movie would be over. Watching it the 2nd time on our TV was not as impressive and the plot inconsistencies were more pronounced, but it still was entertaining. Yes, the scientists made dumb decisions. But sci-fi fans have to take what we can get, and most sci-fi movies are few and far between.
That being said, I do like have the major player in the movie being a female. And a strong one, who doesn’t run around half-naked all of the time.