Top Chef prices increased

Just noticed that iTunes is now charging $23.99 for the season. I wonder how high it will go. Seems like in most cases, the older a product is, the cheaper it gets. Not so with iTunes. I guess in the tv subscription case, it is like the drug model. Give a free sample to get them hooked, then charge exorbitant prices later.

Censored by Apple!

Since I still don't subscribe to cable, and I had a $15 iTunes gift certificate, I decided to finally try out the iTunes "Season Pass" subscription model for the latest season of Top Chef (Season 7). To my disappointment (and maybe I should have done more upfront research before buying), I found out that even as a paid subscriber, I do not gain same-day access to episodes. I, like everyone else, have to wait until the next day. Maybe it's not Apple's fault. Maybe it is entirely Bravo's fault. But either way, I'm upset. If I'm paying, shouldn't I get added benefits, relative to non-paying customers? I mean, that's how it works when you subscribe to cable. You pay (indirectly to Bravo) and you get it live, or DVR it and watch whenever you want. One might argue that I'm more valuable than a cable subscriber, since Apple has more personalized data on me than the cable company would.

I could subscribe to Comcast for $29.99/mth on a promotion (though when I look now, it is $39.99/mth) and get way more content. If I work the numbers on the Top Chef Season Pass, it is ~$20 for 16 episodes (based on Season 6). Assuming that is one episode a week, it'd be 4 months worth of programming, so $5 per month. I guess the question becomes, would I get 6X-8X more programming or value from a cable subscription? In my case, probably not, as I don't watch that much tv anymore.

So, why the title of my post? I tried to leave a review on the Top Chef Season 7 iTunes page, basically saying what I did above (but more emotional and more of a rant). So far, my review has not appeared. Granted, my review was more a critique of iTunes than of the show. And there is a disclaimer that the review is subject to editorial review by Apple. But hey, it's not like I was using profanity or saying anything inappropriate. In hindsight, after cooling down for 5 days and now writing this blog post, I realize that for my particular case, it is probably better to do the season pass. It's just hard to justify early in the season because I can watch for free (legally) on Hulu right now. I know later on, Bravo will stop offering free episodes and then I'd have to either resort to illegal downloads, paying (either cable subscription or iTunes), or waiting until the season comes out on DVD.

Just planted (and removed) my first tree

I finally got my free fruit tree from the Albany City Share; a bare root nectarine. They also had bing and ranier cherries as well as some peaches, but I didn't want to get greedy. So, I just grabbed a nectarine tree. I thought it might be harder to chop down the existing tree (both physically and emotionally), but with the time pressure of limited light, I just got to it and it was quite easy to do the entire process. Now I wait until Sept. Guess I should go test my soil soon, if I'm gonna.

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