As I write this, it’s Friday, November 7, 2014. The season/series finale of the 8th season/series of Doctor Who is tomorrow. Or, rather, it’s a couple of days away. I’ll be watching it on Sunday morning after downloading it from iTunes.
This will be the third year in a row that I’ve watched Doctor Who through legal means. I haven’t had cable in a long time, and for a few years, I found ways to watch the show as it aired rather than waiting for it to come out on DVD. I realized, as many people do, that I would gladly pay for a hassle-free way to watch this (and other) shows.
Just to be clear: Waiting until Sunday morning to watch this show on iTunes or Amazon sucks. In the case of Amazon, it really sucked this year, because their season pass was going to force me to pay an unknown price for not just the actual episodes, but also for all the bonus materials. Still, I’m on board with paying for something I want to watch and having a frictionless method to get it.
That’s the same reason I pay for Spotify and why I’ve bought old games on Steam that I’ve already owned on CD-ROM and why the thought of being able to subscribe to HBO GO intrigues me.
As this post gets published, it won’t be long before the Christmas special, and I have to solve the problem of how to watch it all over again. Convenience matters. Convenience sells.