Why on Earth would I want to lend money to Google for six months?

[andrewducker]

Google just emailed me, telling me that I could order "The Force Awakens" on Google Play for £9.99. And that they would email me the moment they knew when it would be released.

Let's leave aside the stupidity of spending £10 to "own" something in a digital format that's dependent on someone else's servers, and can only be watched using software that they supply, and cannot be watched offline on laptop.

Instead let's focus on the fact that the majority of movies on Google Play are £3.49. And that there are _none_ that cost more than £9.99.

So I'm incredibly unlikely to be saving money by buying the movie now. Instead I am handing Google money now so that I can get access to a film that won't be out for six months, in exchange for an expected saving of...nothing.

I don't know what the marginal utility of a tenner is, over a six-month period. But it's not _nothing_. So I really can't imagine a single reason why I anyone would do this.

Am I missing something?

Comments

[rmc28]

Is it not like pre-ordering DVDs or ebooks, where the money doesn't get taken until the goods are dispatched? In the latter case, by a push to the device I chose plus a reminder email.

[andrewducker]

Aaah, it is.

So you're not doing anything other than setting up a payment for the day it comes out.

The win for Google being that you're more likely to spend the cash with them. The win for you being you don't have to remember that Star Wars is coming out on DVD. Or something.