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

Comments

[ciphergoth]

Signalling your brand loyalty.

[pseudomonas]

ah, ah, ah, but what if they RUN OUT of copies of it, you'll be glad that you got your order in early then...

[drplokta]

With advance orders on Amazon, they don't actually charge your card until your order is dispatched (or ready for download, for a digital purchase). Is Google not the same? Do they actually take your money at the time of the order?

[andrewducker]

A good question which I am not spending a tenner to discover the answer to.

[hatter]

UK (and I'm assuming EU) law says vendors aren't allowed to charge credit cards for goods prior to dispatch, unless it's a custom-made item, so I'd assume google are conforming. Also amazon and some other vendor will charge you less if a preorder item drops in price while you're waiting - no idea if google do though. Still your other point holds, there doesn't seem to be a strong incentive to buy now, rather than when it's available, and it's not going to go out of stock.

the hatter

[andrewducker]

Yup, that seems to be how it works.

Which is less odd. But still seems oddly pointless.

[f4f3]

No one ever went broke underestimating the public's tendency to apply the old model of ownership and fear of scarcity to a digital age.

[gonzo21]

That's almost as bad as the cinema chains that have been charging a £2 surcharge on tickets to see Star Wars. Just because they can.

[a_pawson]

That seems to be pretty much all of them which, makes me wonder if it is the distribution companies that are charging the cinemas more. It's also not just Star Wars. I know Odeon have been charging "blockbuster" prices for a few films over the past few months. The prices then seem to drop after 3 weeks or so.

[gonzo21]

I haven't been to the cinema in ages. With the 3D surcharge though, that must mean some cinema tickets are now more expensive than buying the Blu-Ray?

[a_pawson]

Not sure what a blu-ray costs but it cost me £12.75 to see Star Wars on Thursday. I suspect it would be more in a city centre or in London.