Watching The Girlfriend Experience Using Money from Google Opinion Rewards

I have an app on my phone called Google Opinion Rewards. It asks me a bunch of questions maybe once every three days. Whenever I answer a question, it gives me about $0.50 worth of Google Play credit. I accumulated about $18 and decided yesterday to rent a movie to watch. After some careful consideration, I watched The Girlfriend Experience, directed by Steven Soderbergh.

I enjoyed watching this movie because I’m curious about the escort business, not because I want to be an escort but I imagine it would be nice to hire escorts not just for sex but also for companionship. In the movie, men would pay for a dinner date with escorts. The escorts are not just providing sexual services. They provide companionship and conversation. Most men like to have someone to talk to about their lives, so an escort provides psychologist services as well (or therapist).

New York escorts catering to men who work on Wall Street may charge a lot. I’d imagine a dinner date followed by sex would cost around $3000. While this seems expensive, it needs to be compared to the price of a wife, which I don’t think is cheap. Furthermore, escorts are found not just in New York but in cities all over the world, and escort in some cities may be cheaper.

It’s nice watching movies again. I haven’t watched movies in a while because I’ve been watching YouTube. Now that I have Google Opinion Rewards, I can effectively watch movies for free.

The Girlfriend Experience only received a 5.5/10 on IMDB, but I believe it was quite a good movie, one I would rate 9/10. I was quite engrossed by the movie, and I think the main actress Sasha Grey is really hot.

Google Retail Store is a Good Idea

I was at Myer today buying wedding gifts. While there, I walked by an Apple Store and looked at all the iSheep inside playing on iPhones, iPads, and iPad minis. I then remembered news that Google will one day had retail stores just like Apple. I think this is a great idea. The reality is that Google products like the Nexus 4, 7, and 10 are great products but because most people don't buy things online and like to touch and feel things in their hands, there needs to be a physical presence. Once people touch and feel the Nexus smartphones and tablets, realize that these are excellent products that are a fraction of the cost of the equivalent iPhone or iPad, there is a good chance they will buy. Why get the $350 iPad mini with dual-core CPU, 0.5 GB RAM, and low-resolution screen when you can get the Google Asus Nexus 7 with Tegra 3 quad-core CPU, 1 GB RAM, and high-resolution screen for only $200?

Some people say Google starting its own store is just a copycat move by Google to get in on Apple's turf. But Apple did not invent the store. They have existed since ancient times. Selling things in a shop is not new.

Update 15 March 2013: Google have confirmed that they will not have retail stores, which is disappointing.

Google Releases the Nexus 4

A few days ago, Google released the Nexus 4 smartphone and the Nexus 10 tablet. These can simply be purchased online via Google (just click on "Play").

The Google Nexus 4 is now made by LG and has a quad-core processor, a 4.7 inch screen, 2 GB of RAM, 2100 mAh of battery capacity, and a 320 ppi screen. If these numbers mean nothing to you, the bottom line is that this phone is brilliant. It is fast, powerful, and the display is excellent. Compared to, say, the Apple iPhone 5 made by Hon Hai Precision Industries, the Nexus 4 is about two times better according to most performance metrics. For example, the iPhone 5 has a dual core-process, only 1 GB of RAM, a 4 inch screen, and 1440 mAh battery capacity. The iPhone 5 still continues to have excellent screen resolution at 326 ppi.

However, Apple's iPhone 5 cost around $800 to buy outright. The Nexus 4 only costs $350.

Why in the world would Apple create a clearly inferior phone and charge high amounts for it?

Apple's business model is completely different to Google's. Google wants as many people using its Android phone operating system as possible so that users will continue to use Google. This allows Google to make money from advertising. Apple's business model, however, is a traditional business model that focuses on keeping costs low by making sure hardware is cheap (hence the weaker hardware) but making sure demand is high through excellent marketing and reliance on brand loyalty.

Apple's brand loyalty is such that it can get away with taking a mediocre product, slapping an aluminium case with a shiny Apple logo on the back, and double the price.

There are only two main problems I can think of with the Nexus 4: the first is the phone only has normal 3G data transfer speed whereas phones like the Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2, and iPhone 5 have 4G LTE; and the second problem is that, unlike the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, the phone does not an in-built stylus. The number one phone at the moment, therefore, is the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

Youtube Subscription Bar

I do not like Youtube's new subscription bar that appears when you try to view your subscriptions. It gets in the way of all the other buttons you need to press. It's unfortunate that Youtube didn't give users the option to turn it off.