I’ve already talked a bit about the Kindle I got earlier this year, which has led me this year to read more than I have in years. One thing I love about it, which has led to part of my reading renaissance, is that I can look at books, sample a bit of them, and then instantly buy them and start reading them wherever I am, 24 hours a day. It’s nice to be able to finish a book, find myself still in the urge to read, and then just buy another book and keep going.
Similarly, iTunes changed how I bought music. Back when I worked my first retail job at Circuit City, I bought CDs like they were going out of style (and, of course, now they are). I still have over 2,000 CDs at home, thanks to employee discounts and disposable income back then, but nowadays I’m more selective, and I just do it all right on the computer. iTunes launched the store for PCs in October of 2003, and that has been my primary place to purchase music (and, more recently, TV shows) ever since.
One area where this has been less exciting has been movies. Options for buying movies has always been more limited. You can go to a store and buy a movie, or you can order online, probably save a couple of bucks, but wait.
iTunes lets you buy movies, and Netflix allows unlimited streaming, but quality varies on bandwidth and format options, so it’s a mixed bag. In the Netflix case, you only can watch them as long as you’re a subscriber, so it’s not always the best replacement for a purchase, unless you plan on subscribing indefinitely.
So I like what Amazon has done recently, which gets rid of the biggest annoyance of ordering a movie, including Blu-Ray, online: the wait. With a service called Disc+ On Demand, you can order participating DVD and Blu-Ray discs, and while you await the arrival of your shipment, you can watch the streaming version.
This allows the instant gratification itch to be scratched, while still allowing for the ownership of a high-quality copy of the movie to view later on that hot new TV you get for the holidays. Best of all, the Amazon viewing feature works where Amazon On Demand works, including computers, the Roku box and compatible TiVo devices.
This is a nice move by Amazon to smooth out the disc-buying process. While the title selection is limited, that will certainly grow. This is a cool feature for those who just can’t wait for UPS to deliver the latest shipment.
