Why Netflix and co should make sure their servers NEVER go down

Netflix went down for an hour or so the other night. At least I'm guessing an hour - all it took was two minutes of Netflix being down to make me realize that as an Amazon Prime subscriber I have access to Amazon Instant Video which includes all of the shows I would want to watch on Netflix anyway. Two minutes to make me question why in the hell I'm subscribing to Netflix, and cancel that subscription. I wasn't even aware that Amazon Prime included video streaming, I just had it to get packages delivered quicker. My girlfriend and I wanted to watch a show, loaded Netflix, found a blank screen, and then she says "Oh wait, is it on Amazon?"
 
That's all it took. I wonder how many other people realized they had Amazon Prime during that little shutdown.

Amazon instant video isn't pay per view though, you can watch all of your shows as part of having Amazon Prime, it's no added cost.

Rain

sharke
Amazon instant video isn't pay per view though, you can watch all of your shows as part of having Amazon Prime, it's no added cost.

I'll have to look into it - I always thought we had access to some selected content for free. Thanks for the heads up.

Amazon Prime = $99/year
Netflix = $120/year
 
Both give you free unlimited streaming of TV shows and movies, plus Amazon prime gives you free 2-day shipping. 
 
I've also just noticed that you get unlimited streaming of music. If I find that it has a selection similar to Spotify, I'll be cancelling my subscription of that too. Although on second thoughts, I don't think it includes a phone app so maybe not....

Interesting. I gotta figure out whether Amazon does the streaming deal in Canuckerland. Doubt it though. Even their online shop is severely crippled up here. We have Netflix which I want to subscribe to but the monolithic cable providers (who essentially own our regulators that oversee them... the CRTC) have really gone out of their way to screw up the service so it's still not as good as in the US (but getting better).
 
Still $20 a month for a semi stunted Netflix service is likely a lot better than minimum $50 a month for basic cable which is essentially a massive pile of crap that I would NEVER pay for even if I had an endless cash supply.
 
Edit: The latest ploy recently was to force Netflix to comply with CanCon (Canadian Content) regulations. I can kind of understand the supposedly "altruistic" reasoning behind it BUT it really had nothing to do with that. They are just trying to throw yet another monkey wrench into the works for Netflix in Canada because everybody is sick of the cable providers bullshiz and alternatives like that mess with their stranglehold on content delivery.

That's encouraging because supposedly NFlx has gotten a lot better in that time (more titles are being allowed through and the internet providers lost their case over extra bandwidth charges).
 
I'm thinking their movie section would be cool to have access to. I don't watch enough movies.

Beepster
That's encouraging because supposedly NFlx has gotten a lot better in that time (more titles are being allowed through and the internet providers lost their case over extra bandwidth charges).
 
I'm thinking their movie section would be cool to have access to. I don't watch enough movies.

Netflix is sneaky better than 1st glance when it comes to movie. Like cable, there's  a lot of fluff thrown in with a few decent blockbusters. The real value are the less noticeable hidden gems. 

I remember watching a lot of documentaries on NF back in Canada - they had plenty of stuff related to WW2, Hiroshima, the Vietnam War, and a couple of interesting ones about Russia.
 
That and old Godzilla movies.
 
I usually don't care much for blockbusters either, though I'm a sucker for silly comedies - all those Will Ferrell movies, the SNL and Judd Apatow stuff which always feature the same bunch of fellows, like Seth Rogen and the rest of those guys. They often have the older ones on NF.

I get most of my documentary rocks off on youtube. Whole pile of awesome docs of all types on there.
 
You do however have to sift through some of the more wackaloon tinfoil stuff but BBC, PBS, History channel (which unfortunately gets a little tinfoily itself) full docs and cool releases from actual universities/brainiac orgs are endless. I get sucked into the sidebar blackhole of docs. I'll just search "BBC documentary" or something, see what's new, watch soemthing and then just follow the related links for weeks or months (I just never close my youtube documentary tab in my firefox session).
 
Totally free, loads quick, always there. Shaweeet!