作者：J. D. BIERSDORFER
来源：The New York Times
Q. If I sign up for Amazon Prime, are all videos free to watch and do I need a Kindle Fire tablet to do so?
A. Not every video on Amazon’s site is free to view when you sign up for a $99 Amazon Prime annual membership, but you can still stream thousands of movies and TV shows from the Prime Video area of the service. Like Netflix, Amazon is now producing its own original content, some of which is exclusive to Prime members.
You do not need a Kindle Fire tablet to watch Amazon videos, although that is one type of device you can use. You can also watch in your computer’s web browser, and Amazon’s website has a long list of television models, set-top boxes, game consoles, Blu-ray players and digital video recorders that work with its video service. Apps to play Amazon’s videos are available for Android and iOS devices as well. Amazon also sells subscriptions for other premium video networks like Showtime and Starz to its Prime members, and content from those services can be viewed through Amazon’s app.
Digital videos on Amazon’s site that are not included with membership (easily identifiable by the lack of a Prime tag on the thumbnail artwork) can still be purchased or rented as downloads as with other online services like Google Play or Apple’s iTunes Store. Nonprime TV shows are available to purchase on a per-episode basis or by a season’s worth of shows.
You do not have to be a Prime member to browse the video content available to subscribers on Amazon’s site, so you can look around to see what is available before committing to anything. You can also sample the service with Amazon’s free 30-day trial membership offer, which includes other perks like free two-day shipping on physical purchases. In the end, though, if the things you want to watch are not included with Prime, you can buy or rent them from Amazon (or another online store) without having to pay the $99 Prime membership fee every year.
