Online subscriptions are the gifts that keep on giving.
Posted by : Stephanie Mahfood
Even in smaller families, the gift list can be overwhelming. Not only
are there the usual nuclear-family suspects, but cousins, aunts,
and--oh, yeah--those friends of yours. A growing trend that helps handle
it all is online gift certificates through places like
GiftCertificates.com or that workhorse of online shopping, Amazon.com.
But, as some bemoan, gift certificates can feel impersonal, and online
versions are no exception.
Fear not. There's a way to combine the easy shopping offered by online
certificates with the personal touch: Give gift subscriptions. Because
they renew month after month, subscriptions aren't the cheapest present
for under the tree. But they do show that you've thought about the gift,
and are ready to fork out a little bit extra for the film buff or music
lover in your life. Also, with the range of expenses that people have
nowadays, getting a subscription is something your gift recipients might
not do for themselves.
Monthly subscriptions are becoming more popular online, as the
entertainment realm expands its digital reach. Here are a few ways you
can make someone's holidays a happy one.
Movie time
Although the field was first dominated by Netflix,
online movie rentals are now the place to be for major retailers.
Blockbuster and Wal-Mart have jumped in, and Amazon is due to follow soon. Some analysts
have predicted that all the competition will drive down prices and
increase the number of rental companies. This is good news for you and
your gifty ways.
The king of the hill, though, is still Netflix, which boasts $17.99 per
month for unlimited rentals--recently reduced from $21.99 in the face of
growing competition. Its gift subscription is available based on number
of months, so it's easy to give Mom a full year at $215, but your
co-worker just a few months for $35.
Netflix's competitors come pretty close to this price, with Blockbuster
currently at $17.49 per month, and Wal-Mart at $15.49. All have a
mechanism for giving the service as a gift, but Wal-Mart offers only
three-month gift memberships, so if you want to pop for a year, you'll
have to remember to renew manually.
If you don't want to be one of a few million members and prefer that
shop down the block feel, check out Cafe DVD, which
specializes in independent and art-house flicks. The company prides
itself on titles that are hand-picked by staffers who love hard-to-find
movies and turn their noses up at "mainstream releases of questionable
quality."
Name that tune
Ah, online music. Just as some people can't imagine life without
computers and DVD players--not to mention cable TV--there's a growing
contingent of folks who can't envision what they ever did with those
portable CD players. Just one 75-minute, skip-prone CD at a time?
You're kidding.
You can feed that love of all things MP3 by tapping into music sites for
either subscriptions or gifts based on number of songs. Currently,
Apple-run iTunes has songs for 99 cents each, a
rate that's being met or undercut by other such song selling services as
Wal-Mart, Yahoo's Musicmatch, MSN Music Store, and
RealNetworks Rhapsody.
With such a wealth of services, the variety of direct buying and
subscriptions varies. The Virgin Digital service, for example, has both song downloads and a
music club subscription service, streaming radio, and support for more
than 50 portable devices.
Buying subscriptions for music services is trickier than it is for movie
rentals, but you can always make it easy on yourself by simply getting
online certificates. Many of the services are trying to tout their
advantages as gift stores by promoting gift-giving more prominently and
making redemption easier. At Musicmatch, certificates can be purchased
in amounts ranging from $10-$100.
And why not throw an MP3 player into the mix, just for good measure?
(Mom and Dad: A silver iPod mini would be an ideal stocking stuffer...)
Game crazy
Since it reflects an area of more specialized tastes, online game
subscriptions should be navigated only with the guidance of the gamer in
question. But he or she would undoubtedly be thrilled for advice on such
a topic.
Online gaming is very hot, and growing in popularity as game companies
bring more titles to the online, multiplayer realm. For most games, it's
necessary to buy the packaged game and then pay for the subscription,
but if your gamer chum already has the game and simply wants more time
online, that's possible, too. For example, The Sims Online is a boxed
game available at places like Circuit City, with a one-month free
subscription. After that, it's $9.95 per month.
But if the gamer in your life already spends way too much time at The
Sims Online, why not reduce the financial burden they face in running
their virtual neighborhood? The site offers The Sims Online GameTime
cards for $29.95 so cousin Billy can click for three more months if he
likes.
Other services simply replicate the Netflix model, letting you rent a
handful of games at a time and returning them at your leisure. See
Gamefly, Red Octane, GPlay, NumbThumb, and Gameznflix.
Keep on giving
Other subscription opportunities are available as well, depending on
interest. A good one for the literate darling in your life is Salon, which offers free day passes in exchange for ad
viewing, but there's only so many times you can watch a BMW ad in return for
content.
Another alternative is an online newspaper subscription. Just about
every daily newspaper, from the New York Times on down, offers subscriptions to a full, ad-free online
edition. The perfect present for a relocated pal might be a virtual
subscription to his or her hometown daily.
As any gift giver has found, the Web is rife with opportunities to give
interesting and well-appreciated gifts. With subscriptions, you can
simply keep giving long past the holidays. And that makes everyone
merry.
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DVD titling; and digital audio, Adobe Photoshop CS3 extended, Adobe illustrator CS3,Adobe indesign CS3,Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional, Adobe Flash CS3 Professional, Adobe Dreamweaver CS3,Adobe Contribute CS3,Adobe Fireworks CS3,Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional, Adobe Premiere Pro CS3,Adobe Soundbooth CS3,Adobe Encore CS3,Adobe OnLocation,Adobe Bridge CS3,Adobe Version Cue CS3,Adobe Device Central CS3,Adobe Stock Photos, Intel Pentium 4 (1.4GHz processor for DV; 3.4GHz processor for HDV), Intel Centrino, Intel Xeon, (dual 2.8GHz processors for HD), or Intel Core, Duo (or compatible) processor; SSE2-enabled processor required for AMD systems Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise (certified for 32-bit editions) 1GB of RAM for DV; 2GB of RAM for HDV and HD; more RAM recommended when running multiple components 10GB of available hard-disk space (additional free space required during installation) Dedicated 7,200 RPM hard drive for DV and HDV editing; striped disk array storage (RAID 0) for HD; SCSI disk subsystem preferred Microsoft DirectX compatible sound card (multichannel ASIO-compatible sound card recommended),1,280x1,024 monitor resolution with 32-bit color adapter Blu-ray burner required for Blu-ray Disc creation OHCI compatible IEEE 1394 port for DV and HDV capture, export to tape, and transmit to DV device QuickTime 7.1.2 software required to use QuickTime features Broadband Internet connection required for Adobe Stock Photos* and other services
