Monday, March 14, 2011

Facebook Releases First Film


Warner said on Tuesday that it would allow Facebook users in the United States to rent the film “The Dark Knight” directly on the social networking site, and pay for it using Credits, Facebook’s virtual currency. If other studios make similar moves, Facebook could tap a significant revenue stream, bolstering its Credits currency as it seeks to create a rival to PayPal and other payment systems. (...) The rental costs $3, or 30 Facebook Credits.

A month ago I was making fun of people who bought Facebook gift cards at the grocery store. Using real money to buy virtual fruit on Farmville was just about the dumbest thing I'd ever heard. I guess it looks like I'm the dumb one. Facebook's inevitable transition from virtual goods into digital goods will make their gift cards as useful as any iTunes or Amazon gift card. You can read the whole article on the NYTimes website.

On a side note, big thumbs up to the whole 'credits' concept instead of directly associating cash with transactions. I can't speak for everyone else but usually when I go to fairs and have to trade in cash for tickets to purchase food/rides I tend to forget how much I'm actually spending, haha.

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