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

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 …

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…

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

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.