
Google and Amazon are punishing their own customers in a bitter feud - gridscomputing
https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/5/16738752/google-youtube-amazon-punishing-customers-feud
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alexc05
> Amazon has just responded to Google’s decision to remove YouTube from all
> Fire TV products

I'm sorry - is amazon prime video available on my chromecast now and I've
missed it?

These guys are bloody hypocrites.

(edit: meant to say 'prime video' on chromecast, previously it just said
prime)

~~~
kuschku
> I'm sorry - is amazon prime available on my chromecast now and I've missed
> it?

It used to be (well, Amazon Prime itself not, but they were working on it, and
the Netflix app on Kindles did support it), until Google started constantly
changing the (proprietary) protocol to prevent anyone else from implementing
it.

Currently, the only way to stream to Chromecast is with Google’s proprietary
library, which they only license under the Android OEM terms (meaning you have
to ship ALL Google apps, set them as defaults, and can’t run your own App
Store).

This has also completely killed all open source projects that tried to support
the Chromecast protocol.

~~~
bubblethink
>Currently, the only way to stream to Chromecast is with Google’s proprietary
library

At some point the cast extension became a part of the browser. It also stopped
working with chromium around the same time. However, it started working again
a while later. My chromium on ubuntu can use the cast button. I wonder if it's
falling back to chrome's proprietary bits (as in flash, widevine etc.) or if
it's actually in chromium. The cast button in the browser is not the same as
native chromecast support, but it's something.

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dingo_bat
I'd been debating which one to get, Amazon stick or Chromecast. This settles
the debate. I'll download and watch, as before.

~~~
tkris
This is why I got a Roku device

~~~
xedrac
I recently bought a Roku, since it was one of the few devices that had an app
for Twitch.tv. Little did I know, Amazon recently bought Twitch and yanked
their app from the Roku channel list. They are clearly trying to redirect
people to their own streaming devices. Yet another content provider with a
conflict of interest...

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prepend
Is this going to trouble Google’s antitrust problems in Europe? “You better
carry nest or we pull YouTube.” Seems kind of similar to Microsoft’s 90s era
“You better only carry IE or we cut you off or charge you a lot more.”

~~~
mankash666
How? "You better install Amazon's app store, or no Amazon Prime Video". "You
let us access YouTube on Fire devices, but we won't sell Chromecast & Google
devices on Amazon.com" \- Coming from the monopoly in online retail, looks
very much like an anti-trust case.

~~~
lostmsu
Prime video example does not fit, as Amazon does not have a monopoly neither
on video, nor on App Store. It would only be illegal, if Amazon App Store
would be a monopoly, and its installation would require additional
installation of Prime Video app (hello, Google).

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prepend
I think these are different issues over different products.

Google should take the high road and keep YouTube available as broadly as
possible. YouTube shouldn’t care about Nest product availability.

This would be similar to CBS blocking Wal-Mart mentioned in shoes because they
wouldn’t sell Westibghouse TVs.

The reprisals aren’t similar.

The scary bit is that it reenforces that Google doesn’t view the internet as
open. Could you imagine YouTube blocking the Opera Browser? They shouldn’t try
to bundle services unnaturally.

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Jyaif
In other words, Amazon is about to start selling thermotasts.

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TheCoelacanth
This is the kind of thing that regulators need to crack down on ASAP. This
balkanization of the Internet is terrible for consumers.

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symlinkk
this kind of shit is why i just download all of my media. music, tv shows,
movies, they’re all easy to download and then i can play the back on whatever
device i please with no restrictions

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who_is_firing
This kind of behavior is why I recently steered a friend to a Roku. With any
of the streaming devices (Amazon, Google, Apple) you risk losing out due to
dueling between the major tech companies.. The major players tend to leave
Roku alone since it's a 3rd party service that doesn't compete with them.

So I'm throwing my bet towards Roku since it's the only device that can
survive a pissing match between all the tech companies.

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AznHisoka
Is this also why Amazon refuses to sell the Google Home?

~~~
RickS
Yes

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jsgo
I know this is probably more of a shared bad behavior situation, it really
frustrates me as Google did more or less the same thing against Microsoft.
Dunno, feels like if they could silo their services away from every other
platform at this point without hurting themselves, they would.

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hedora
The YouTube block is surprising at all. Google did the same thing with Windows
Phone.

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londons_explore
While this is framed as a feud, I don't think that's actually the case.

Nest products have had a lot of public criticism, and I suspect amazons
internal numbers might show high return rates and high levels of user fraud.

It could also be that amazon wanted a higher margin on the devices than Google
was happy to give.

~~~
richev
Either of those would be understandable reasons for Amazon not stocking Nest
products. Given that they have not publicly explained their decision it seems
fair to assume their behaviour is as claimed in the article.

Children squabbling.

