Cons
Amazon Instant Video:- subscription fee is hefty
- library could be organized better
- advertisements
- finding content can be tricky
- no new releases
- personalized results could be more personal
Pros
Amazon Instant Video:- Has new releases
- Can buy or rent content
- Full seasons without commercials
- TV episodes available the day after originally aired
- full series/seasons
- Lots of family friendly content
- Full seasons with no commercials
Internet Television (ITV) is being able to watch TV online. The top three sites that provide this service are Amazon Instant Video, Hulu/Hulu Plus, and Netlix and each has it’s pros and cons for content, price, and devices. This review will present the features for each to provide a basis for deciding what site will best suit a user specific needs/wants.
Amazon Instant Video:
Available Content
AIV has the new releases as soon as they hit stores. Seasons of TV shows are added a month or so before the new season begins. The pervious season of ABC’s Once Upon A Times was added at the end of August in preparation for the new season that started in September.Price
Amazon Prime is $99/year, but isn’t necessary to watch movies and programs. The Prime subscription comes in handy for discounts and viewing content in the Prime Library for free that other people have to pay for. However, the subscription doesn’t begin to pay for itself unless customers use most, or all, of the features. Along with buying videos there is the option to rent; this allows the user to have the movie for 48 hours for $2.99-$4.99.Layout
Devices
Smartphoneskindle Fire
tablets
PC and Mac
Hulu/Plus:
There are three key difference between Hulu and Hulu Plus1. Hulu can only be streamed on computers whereas Hulu Plus can be streamed on a multitude of devices
2. Video Quality - Hulu Plus is better
3. Hulu typically only has the latest five episodes there were aired, Hulu Plus has all episodes of seasons and even complete series.
Available Content
The great feature on Hulu is that users can stay current on shows even without cable or basic TV. Hulu uploads popular shows online the day after they are aired. So if friends s are talking about the cool move on NBC’s Dancing with the Stars, you know what they are talking about. It also provides a wide variety of movies and not so main stream shows.Price
Hulu/Plus: Basic Hulu is free. Hulu Plus is $7.99/month.Layout:
Hulu also has a search bar but I personally find it hard to locate as it tend to blead with the background. New and popular videos can be found on the homepage. There aren't any genres up front but there are TV, Movies, and Kids menus. Devices
tablets
PC and Mac
Netflix:
Available Content
There used to be a ‘new releases’ tab, but it was changed to ‘new arrivals’ because the movies listed were by no means new. It can take a year or more for Netflix to put up ‘new releases’. Many times I’ve held off on buying a movie waiting until it’s posted to know if it’s worth paying the asking price. Eventually I’ll break down and purchase the movie only to have it show up on Netflix a week or so later. Netflix did recently sign and contract with Disney and now has many of the classic family movies and well as many of the latest Marvel movies.Price:
The basic plan is $8.99/month for unlimited streaming. There are other plans as well that include DVDs shipped to the house. Layout:Layout:
Neflix's layout can be great and frustrating at the same time. The search bar is in a good location and easy to see. Being able to search by person, i.e. director or actor, is great as well. There large banner at the top that scrolls through different new additions is great if a user is interested in any one of those, if not, it's just taking up space and requires scrolling to get the the wanted content. The "Recently Watched" area seems a bit pointless. "My List" is in a good location. The following section s would be fabulous is they actually reflected the interests of the user. Hitting "Not Interested" on a selection in one categoriy should carry over to other categories, it doesn't. The genres that appear in the drop down menus can also be confusing. It took me a while to realize that the options on the right weren't subheadings of those on the left but in fact genres of their own. If the user know what they are looking for , than Netflix is designed well enough. If the User is bored and looking for something to remedy that, than Netflix could use some serious upgrading. Devices
Smartphonestablets
PC and Mac
on TVs that have internet access
on a Nintendo Wii that is contacted to the internet
Overall I would say that this post is getting to where it needs to be, content-wise I feel that you have everything that I would ask for when looking into buying one of these ITV programs. What it might lack would be a couple pictures, you could just post a picture of the main page to these sites and it would be a little bit clearer to people if they were at the right place.
ReplyDeleteVisually this site needs a couple adjustments. First I would stray away from using a bolded text as it becomes very tiring on the eyes. Also for the organization of the content, I think it would make a lot more sense if you had four different sections. The first three sections being a short review of the three different ITV and then in the fourth section you tie it all together and review and compare the 3 together. With a couple clear headings in before these sections you'll have some very good hierarchy and it will be a lot stronger of a composition.
I worry that this is too much to take on -- a huge comparison of three services. Wouldn't it be easier to evaluate one service and compare that service with its competitors? Otherwise I think this would get too long.
ReplyDelete