007: Quantum of Buyer's Remorse

On a lark I cancelled my Amazon pre-order of the new James Bond movie on Blu-Ray, and downloaded the Apple iTunes “HD” version instead.

I put “HD” in quotes because, well, so should Apple. 3.5 gigabytes of data downloaded off the internet is in no way able to replace 25 or 50 gigs served off a silvery platter.

The iTunes version looks pretty good. Better than DVD, truth be told. But if this is what Apple calls Hi-Def, then they’re going to have to offer a better price. A much better price. I’d rather have paid $24 for the Blu-Ray and gotten real HD, than the $20 I paid to Apple for the faux version.

If you haven’t yet blown $300 or more on a Blu-Ray player, but have spent nearly that much on an Apple TV unit (I believe I’m addressing an audience here nearly in the double digits), then Apple’s not-really-HD would be a step up from your regular fare. Everybody else? Don’t bother. Spend the extra four bucks on the Blu-Ray, and buy yourself 20-45 GB worth of extra picture and sound.