7 Comments »

• fortt3 says:

  September 20, 2007 at 7:05 am

  Here is my comment to Amazon:
  “I have been an Amazon customer since 1997 and am an owner of two TiVo DVRs both network-connected. I was excited to learn of the Unbox downloads for TiVo. However, both my wife and I are hearing impaired, and we require Closed Captioning in the shows we watch. We have tried some of the Unbox offerings, movies and shows (”Dreamgirls”, “Bionic Woman”) but unless the actor is looking directly at the camera, speaking clearly and with no background noise or music, we can’t make out what they are saying.

  Please do not reply with the canned response that you have sent others. I’ve heard the line about how Unbox content depends on your agreements with the content owners and you are working to improve those agreements. Hogwash. That is pure “spin”.

  If the content owners are not providing you with media files that have CCs, when everyone knows the content is CCd for other media (broadcast and DVDs) you should let them know in no uncertain terms they are not providing the full value of the same content and you won’t pay what they are asking for it. Then you should discount non-CC media to your Unbox customers.

  I believe Amazon would score a major public relations coup with the deaf and hard-of-hearing community by announcing that your Unbox downloads for PCs and TiVos will now be Closed Captioned and non-CCd media will be discounted.

  As an electrical engineer, I understand there are multiple format for Closed-Captions in streaming media. However, since your downloads are basically WMV files, the SAMI format seems to be the leader, and it is a simple matter for your content providers to convert their existing captions to SAMI.

  If in the long run, Amazon cannot get content provider to supply CC media files, then you at the very least should provide to Unbox purchasers a transcript of the content.

  Again, I’ve seen your canned response. Please address the issues I’ve raised.
  Unless you are able to get CCd content for Unbox, or Transcripts, my family won’t be purchasing Unbox titles.”

  We will see.
• Paula Rosenthal says:

  September 20, 2007 at 7:33 am

  Hi,

  Is this a copy of what you wrote to Amazon Unbox? I think it’s great and hope that many others join us in expressing their frustration with Amazon.

  I made some noise about Apple’s iPhone non-compatibility with hearing aids and cochlear implants over on the Apple support forums last week and to date, 650 people have viewed the discussion with 26 replies in the topic thread. You can see it here after you log to Apple:

  http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1125819&tstart=45

  It goes to show you how the Internet can help raise awareness of the issues facing deaf and hard of hearing consumers. We need to be heard in order to bring about change.

  Thanks for posting!

  Paula
• fortt3 says:

  September 20, 2007 at 7:11 pm

  Yeahm that was what I sent them. Here is their reply:

  “Thank you for writing to us about subtitles and Amazon Unbox videos.

  Unfortunately our content providers do not offer subtitles at this time. The availability of content through our Amazon Unbox service depends on our agreements and arrangements with various content owners. We are constantly working to establish and improve these agreements so we can offer the largest range of content possible.

  If the original movie does not have subtitles as a part of the film itself, the Amazon Unbox version will not include subtitles. Customer service is not in a position to make changes to our agreements and arrangements with content owners. Likewise, we cannot make promises that other departments will make changes at our request. I will however pass your feedback along to the correct departments for consideration.

  It is always important for us to hear how customers react to all aspects of shopping at Amazon. Strong customer feedback like yours helps us continue to improve the selection and service we provide, and we appreciate the time you took to write to us.

  While we may not currently offer a service that completely meets your expectations, we hope to be able to better serve you in the future.

  Thank you for your interest in Amazon Unbox video downloads on Amazon.

  Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question.”

  Typical.
• Karen Wilson says:

  June 11, 2009 at 1:50 pm

  I too am very hard of hearing and not being able to watch a broadcast on any medium such as a dvd or tv show without closed captioning makes watching it useless. I feel our complaint is falling on ‘deaf ears’ and until enough people speak up loudly and often, nothing will change. Apparently amazon unbox does not see showing closed captioning as a benefit for enough people yet. Let’s change thier minds by speaking up!!
• Maneesh says:

  June 23, 2009 at 9:54 pm

  I have emailed Amazon twice about the subtitles or closed captioning with movies. Once when the service was first released, and more recently, but both times they responded with a similar reply. It really is frustrating to have movies with no subtitles or captioning. Someone needs to figure out how to create live digital captioning devices, that has been trained on the nuances of at least one language…(something at lease 10x better than Dragon software)… (Yes I understand it may undermine the jobs of closed captioners, but technology is rapidly approaching a point where this is feasible, if it isn’t already).
• amit says:

  November 26, 2009 at 5:54 am

  It is of no use if they don’t provide subtitles and closed captioning with the movies. The interest comes when we watch movies with subtitles.i would surely e-mail them and make them aware that their customers would only see their movies once they provide us the option to watch movies with subtitles and cation option.

  I prefer watching movies in <a href=\"http;//www.emagine-entertainment.com\">Michigan movie theaters</a> with high definition screen and quality sound.
• amit says:

  November 26, 2009 at 5:56 am

  It is of no use if they don’t provide subtitles and closed captioning with the movies. The interest comes when we watch movies with subtitles.i would surely e-mail them and make them aware that their customers would only see their movies once they provide us the option to watch movies with subtitles and cation option.

  I prefer watching movies in Michigan movie theaters with high definition screen and quality sound.

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