No Closed Captioning with Unbox?

+1 It’s probably more of a question for Amazon actually...but TiVo should be able to exert some pressure.

I actually wrote to Amazon about this a while back. My e-mail and their repsonse can be found here.

 

I got the same response from Amazon. I am NOT happy about that. I can't enjoy any of the free NBC previews because there aren't any captioning. I think this is a ridiculous because when TIVO puts movie/TV previews in TIVO Central...it's always captioned!

Something needs to be done about this

 

+1.

This is a big drawback.

 

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+2; neither my wife or myself can use it without closed captions

 

+3

It means that I won't be using the Unbox for any movies costing more than $1.

 

Between no captions, and no HD, it's just a waste of time.

Which means all the NBC previews will go unwatched. I'll wait for the real deal to broadcast.

 

Unfair to Deaf/Hearing Impaired community!!

 

I agree with most of the above posters, however, I will say the Amazon's response is canned at best (with the obvious exception of the first sentence). It's not at all encouraging. I refuse to download any more content from Unbox unless it's free.

 

I rented my first and last movie on unbox. No CC means no unbox for me.

 

I'm not hearing imparied, but I do prefer to watch my shows with captions turned on.

 

This an ongoing problem with more webisodes, slingbox,unbox basically streaming media in general. Part of it is because there's no standard for CC in Computer Media Players (WMP, Real Player etc).

Like tv, I think most companies are only gonna change when mandated.

 

Congress ought to pay some attention to this problem; this is probably about the only kind of legislation which can be passed with the next presidential election so close.

 

Actually, there are several, including SAMI, SSF, SRT, and .SUB. I get files from the UK all the time that have captioning on them. US producers just don't seem to care all that much.

 

It's also unfair to people who can't understand strange accents and rely on closed captioning to decipher what those people are saying.

 

That too!

 

But the non-standard problem is right there, everyone has their own standard. WMP looks for SAMI files, Real Player looks for a RealText file etc.

But I agree, producers wont even include captions in any format.

 

Perhaps it would be good for everyone concerned to write to Amazon? The more feedback they get, the more pressure they should exert on the suppliers.

They do a pretty good job of burying their contact URL...but here it is…

Amazon Customer Help/Contact Web Page.

You just need to sign in and then express your opinion. I used "Recommendations" in the drop-down list but “Other services” might be appropriate as well.

 

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.