So, I have a little idea at the weekend. Why don’t I get nice, HD quality episodes of Community? Got them already but not in HD, so I should show the love, shouldn’t I?
Of course, Community is only available on import DVD box set in the UK and not on Blu-Ray at all, so that means turning to the iTunes Store. You want to have a guess how much the entire first season of Community costs in HD on the iTunes Store?
Go on. A season of Heroes on Blu-Ray costs £35 and that’s 1080p, not 720p like on the iTunes Store. So how much do you reckon?
£62.25. I kid you not.
Now I love Community. I’m one of its biggest evangelists. But £62.25? FRO.
Now, this isn’t the only act of heinousness in terms of pricing on the iTunes Store in the UK, particularly when it comes to HD. Renting a HD movie costs £4.99. When you can buy a HD movie at all, you’re looking at £12.99. A little cheaper than Blu-Ray, but when you consider you don’t get many extras in those iTunes Extras and the resolution is lower than Blu-Ray, that’s not great.
Now let’s turn our attention to SD. You want to buy an entire season of Wonder Woman on DVD? Yes, Wonder Woman. That’ll be £30.99 – reduced to £5.99 on Amazon. That’s about right, huh? How much on iTunes? £19.99. Ouch. Yes, you’re spared the inconvenience of storage and having to wait a day or two (okay, a fortnight by Royal Mail at the moment), but £14’s worth of inconvenience? I can wait.
So this week’s question is:
Is iTunes pricing mental? Are the TV companies and Apple in a fairyworld of their own devising if they think people should be paying these kinds of prices? Or are they actually reasonable prices for what’s being offered?
As always, leave a comment with your answer or a link to your answer on your own blog
