Itunes: A Curse?

Some say maybe, others say yes
an editorial

Am I the only one that is wary of Itunes selling movies?

The thought of not having to move to buy and subsequently watch any number of movies should be an awe-inspiring one. But it is not, for exactly that reason. I will more than likely spend more money than ever on these ease-of-use movies.

And at what price?

I will be less hesitant to buy them because of the ease of the sale, less frustrated at opening the package and less upset at having to return a defective DVD. Those might seem like odds in Itunes favor but I disagree. The ease of purchase devalues the movie by making it so easy to obtain (no driving to the local DVD store to find that it is sold out). The packaging allowed the watching of the movie to be a reward. The more tightly wrapped the movie, the more I want to watch it (and especially with the extra security features on the DVD case, I might have to watch it twice). Returning a defective DVD made me upset at the provider of the DVD but it also allowed me to go through the experience of driving to the store and unwrapping the DVD a second time.

Now I am no neo-luddite but this new technology scares me. I have already bought several movies and I do not see an end in sight. Hooked right to my checking account, I do not even need to open my wallet and that spells trouble. Sure, you say that I don’t have any will power but if I know anything about anything, I know I don’t really even have a choice thanks to advertising and the general American (i.e. lazy) attitude I was raised with. (While writing this, I was briefly distracted by a colleague expressing her distaste for the new Itunes. Granted, she was not commenting on the new movie section, but her point remained closely tied.)

In conclusion, try to resist this new Itunes feature. I know I can’t, but hopefully someone can. I’ll just go see if they have any new movies up yet…