I should not be allowed to go shopping for electronics. There are certain things that my wife should not be allowed to go out shopping for too, and course things you don’t want to send your kids out shopping for (like toys), but when it comes to places you don’t want to let me loose in with permission to purchase something, the electronics store is probably number one on that list.
Let me begin by saying, in advance, that I do not want a Blu-Ray player. I do not like HD television, and watching things in crazy amounts of high definition looks very bad to me. I am told that this is something that you get used to, but when I watch a movie or a television show and it looks as though I am actually in the room with the characters, well, that sucks. I want to feel like I am in the room with them, not have it look that way. I like a little polish on my visuals. Where I think HD really works is sports, because that is a case where you do want to actually be sitting in the front row at the game, but since I do not watch sports I have no use for such things. And aside from the HDness of Blu-Ray, I guarantee you that in 5 years (or less) we will all be buying movies digitally anyway, so I’d rather skip the expensive in-between step.
But I digress. The point is, our DVD player broke. It worked fine on Tuesday morning, and on Tuesday evening it wouldn’t read a single disc, even after having been cleaned, blown into, shaken violently, and pounded on. Weird. So obviously we had to get a new one. We are having people over to watch movies on Saturday!
Luckily, DVD players are super cheap. I remember, because a year ago, when our DVD player broke, I went out and bought this new one for $20-$30. So off to the store I went, to get another new one. Hooray! Armed with my small budget and a lust for all things new and shiny, I arrived at the store with my children in tow, ready to shop frugally.
There it was. The cheap-o model DVD player, waiting for me to purchase it. But wait…I bought the cheap-o one last time and it broke in a year. For $10 more I could get a better one, and isn’t that worth it? For $10? It sure is!
So I got the better one, happy with my new investment. But wait…look over there! For $10 more I could get a Blu-Ray player, and isn’t that worth it? I mean, I actually have a few Blu-Ray discs that I have acquired over the years, and it just seems like, for $10, how could I not get the Blu-Ray player? Right? Even though I don’t really want it…
So I picked up the Blu-Ray player and was ready to go. Except… for $10 more I could get one that streams Netflix! Yes, we already have a Wii that streams Netflix, but what if it breaks? What if I could watch Netflix more easily? And I already watch Netflix all the time, so for only $10, isn’t it worth it to make this investment? Of course it is!
I swear that I had the thing in my cart and was walking away when I turned my head. Right there in front of me was a Blu-Ray player that streamed Netflix over Wi-Fi! It was only $10 more than the other one, and man, that sure would be a lot easier in terms of set-up if the thing was wireless. Was it worth $10 to not have to set up wires running around my living room and television? Obviously!
As soon as I had purchased my new DVD player I went out to the redbox and rented a Blu-Ray disc to watch that evening. It was in stunning high definition. I hated it. I am an idiot. From now on, my wife is in charge of buying electronics. She definitely would have gotten the cheap-o one. In fact, next time we need a DVD player I will pay her $10 to shop for me. It would save me about $50. Totally worth it.