I was checking out various offers and ideas for what dads might want to do for 2009, and I stumbled across BookSwim, a site that lets you rent books and give them back when you’re done. It’s like Netflix for books, which seemed pretty cool to me, and further, they had children’s books. If you’re like me, you have mountains of books in your collection, and some are, let’s say, never going to be read more than once. Maybe renting’s a way to save a bit of loot?
The other services that I use like that are Blockbuster and Netflix for movies, and I really think that the GameFly video game rentals are a great idea, too. It’s rare that you play a game after you solve it (maybe with the exception of things like Super Mario Galaxy and similar for the Wii), or Halo 3 for Xbox 360. So why not rent?
There are plenty of things worth owning, but with books and video games, it makes sense to just rent them and give them back when you’re done.
What do you think?
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The main problem with a subscription service like Netflix or Gamefly is how it lulls you into a sense of irresponsibility regarding either watching the movie or playing the game. Weeks, even months, can go by and your movie or game is still sitting in its paper envelope. Only when you notice that new movies or games are out do you get motivated enough to either watch/play, or you send it back to the service without watching it, just so you can get another movie/game.
I keep the Netflix subscription because of their new integration with the $99 Roku box and now the Xbox 360 to play “instant streaming” of movies and TV shows (content is still lacking, but the idea is there).
With Gamefly, I don’t play video games consistently enough (and sometimes I don’t even finish the games) to justifty the monthly subscription. If I got it, I’d likely be playing one game for a month or more, and the cost would almost approach the cost of the game.
The BookSwim seems interesting, but if you want to just borrow books it’s pretty easy to just visit your local library.
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The main problem with a subscription service like Netflix or Gamefly is how it lulls you into a sense of irresponsibility regarding either watching the movie or playing the game. Weeks, even months, can go by and your movie or game is still sitting in its paper envelope. Only when you notice that new movies or games are out do you get motivated enough to either watch/play, or you send it back to the service without watching it, just so you can get another movie/game.
I keep the Netflix subscription because of their new integration with the $99 Roku box and now the Xbox 360 to play “instant streaming” of movies and TV shows (content is still lacking, but the idea is there).
With Gamefly, I don’t play video games consistently enough (and sometimes I don’t even finish the games) to justifty the monthly subscription. If I got it, I’d likely be playing one game for a month or more, and the cost would almost approach the cost of the game.
The BookSwim seems interesting, but if you want to just borrow books it’s pretty easy to just visit your local library.
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Renting books??? Isn’t that what the public library is for? ..AND.. it’s FREE! (unless, of course, you return them late.)
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Renting books??? Isn’t that what the public library is for? ..AND.. it’s FREE! (unless, of course, you return them late.)
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I use Gamefly and Netflix and between them both I’ve probably saved thousands. I’m not sure I understand the logic of Keith Shaw’s comment, at least insofar as his comment about not finishing games goes. That right there to me is a good reason to use a service like gamefly. If I’m not finishing games I just send them back. I’m not out $60 for a game I don’t enjoy and gamefly puts my next game in the mail. I think it’s the best way to stay on top of all the new releases without going to the poor house and an obvious service for anyone who has more than one console.
What’s also nice about gamefly specifically is their keep it feature. This is the perfect “try before you buy” option. Add to that that games are marked down significantly and, as a member you end up with additional discount options and you can often buy a brand new game for 20%-30% off retail and they send along all of its packaging and manuals for you to boot.
Given the cost of video games these days gamefly is the only way I can actually get all the stuff I want to play and the stuff my kids want to play.
The holidays are a great time to try the service out as they always run great promos and offer discounts on gift certificates. You can get the first month for $6.95 right now for the 1 at time plan or $9.95 for the 2 at a time plan. Get Santa to give you a gamefly gift cert and you can try it out on his dime for a few months.
http://www.gamefly.com/giftcert/giftbuy.asp
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I use Gamefly and Netflix and between them both I’ve probably saved thousands. I’m not sure I understand the logic of Keith Shaw’s comment, at least insofar as his comment about not finishing games goes. That right there to me is a good reason to use a service like gamefly. If I’m not finishing games I just send them back. I’m not out $60 for a game I don’t enjoy and gamefly puts my next game in the mail. I think it’s the best way to stay on top of all the new releases without going to the poor house and an obvious service for anyone who has more than one console.
What’s also nice about gamefly specifically is their keep it feature. This is the perfect “try before you buy” option. Add to that that games are marked down significantly and, as a member you end up with additional discount options and you can often buy a brand new game for 20%-30% off retail and they send along all of its packaging and manuals for you to boot.
Given the cost of video games these days gamefly is the only way I can actually get all the stuff I want to play and the stuff my kids want to play.
The holidays are a great time to try the service out as they always run great promos and offer discounts on gift certificates. You can get the first month for $6.95 right now for the 1 at time plan or $9.95 for the 2 at a time plan. Get Santa to give you a gamefly gift cert and you can try it out on his dime for a few months.
http://www.gamefly.com/giftcert/giftbuy.asp