This is a slightly random thought and I warn you now that it’s not likely to go anywhere, but I was grumbling the other day about Amazon’s somewhat random choices on Amazon Video about what is available to rent and what isn’t, as well as the pricing structure.
I was looking for the original Pink Panther film but it was only available to buy for £7.99 while its sequel was available to rent for £2.49 (both on the Amazon Video streaming platform). I thought that I’d leave it for the moment in the hope that the original would become rentable since I only wanted to watch it once.
What got me thinking though, was that I’d happily pay £7.99 or more without blinking for a book that I might only ever read once. Why do I think that a film isn’t worth paying that much for, but a book is?
I’ve always loved books and since I’ve had a disposable income I’ve enjoyed buying and owning books, even ones that I don’t reread, and although bought films were as rare as bought books in our household (we used the library and video rental store a lot when I was young), I value the books more.
In saying that, buying a new book is still A Thing and not something I would do on a whim, so I wouldn’t just sit down of an evening and buy a film like this in the same way.
Still, I do wish that I could rent a film from Amazon that they have available to buy on the streaming platform.
