Things you Need: Apple iTunes Store
As part of a running series, I’ll talk about some things that we pretty much couldn’t live with during our stay here in Australia. I would say that the first in this list is my Kindle — it lets me get my U.S. periodicals here down under and it lets me buy books that I don’t have to put in boxes to take back.
Next on the list is the Apple iTunes Store. Face it: Australian television is pretty bland. The highlights:
- Four episodes of “Two and a Half Men” every single day. This is Australia’s hottest comedy. Charlie Sheen is pretty cool and all, but c’mon.
- Since the other cable network is Fox, you can be sure to find The Simpsons. Seeing as how they’ve been making that show for 20 years now, there’s a lot to see.
- “The Mentalist” — oddly enough a television show about a San Francisco detective who uses his powers of observation and occasionally hypnotism to solve cases in a wacky fashion is high drama. This is only because it has an Australian Star.
Add to this the fact that TiVo only recently made its first appearence on these shores, and only works for some channels, and ‘Pay Television’ costs a pretty penny and doesn’t get much, and you can see why I’m a big fan of the iTunes Store.
With the aid of a DVI -> HDMI cable and a television that can handle it, we just plug our laptops into the TV. We can download and play episodes of House, Lost, and Ugly Betty for about $2.00 US each (Note: Apple tries to direct you to the HD versions. They cost 50% more and take twice as long to download. You don’t need them.) You’re also going to need an American credit card and American mailing address. I can talk about that later.