When It Comes to Streaming Movie Purchases; Measure Twice, Cut Once

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My father-in-law Mark is a contractor (yup, he is a Jewish carpenter) and he lives by the maxim “Measure Twice, Cut Once”. After all, once you cut a board there is no going back so it makes sense to double-check the before you saw. It is good advice when cutting wood, but it also applies if you have a subscription to Hulu+ or Netflix. Here’s why …

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The other day I was in the mood to watch a movie while I did some work on the computer. I went to iTunes and saw that the 2011 movie The Double had just been released for rental. Being a current release I figured the only place I would get it would be on iTunes or, perhaps on Amazon. I spent my $3.99 and watched it. (The rating are low but, quite honestly, I kinda liked it.)

Thing is, when I checked Netflix…

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The movie was right there, and I could have watched it for FREE thanks to my subscription.

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And that’s the point. For the most part Hulu and Netflix have slightly older films and shows; once in a while, though, you’ll find something brand new available on one or the other. It is worth spending a few seconds to make sure the video you want to watch isn’t there before you spend money on iTunes. Had I done so I would have saved myself $4.

A rather inexpensive lesson, but a lesson none-the-less. And one that I would have learned back in November had I paid attention to this post on my favorite website. Yes, the service CanIStream.it searches across services to check if the program or movie you want is available.  It would have saved me some cash.

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About the Author

Dan Cohen
Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. Dan is married to Raina Goldberg who is also an avid user of Apple products. They live in New Jersey with their golden doodle Nava.

1 Comment on "When It Comes to Streaming Movie Purchases; Measure Twice, Cut Once"

  1. Daniel McNutt | February 20, 2012 at 12:26 pm |

    We did that the other night. Kids wanted to catch the first Spy Kids while browsing iTunes. Quick check on Netflix and there it was. 

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