I’ve talked about A Charlie Brown Christmas before and how its message decrying the commercialization of Christmas resonates just as much today as it did when the special first aired in 1965.
It is then ironic, to say the least, that you may now purchase this:
Yes, you can buy a plastic replica of the humble tree Charlie Brown picked out–the only real tree in the lot where he and Linus went looking.
It’s only $8.62 U.S. That’s just over $10 Canadian, a bargain for those looking to simultaneously pay tribute to and mock the message of A Charlie Brown Christmas.
EA recently updated the iOS version of Bejeweled. I bought the game awhile back and spent an unhealthy number of hours playing it. I previously chronicled that it had finally loosened its grip on me.
Thanks to the new update I’m not only free of my addiction, I’ve uninstalled the game altogether. Why? In a word: greed.
The update adds one genuine improvement: the game loads faster. However, the animations now run in a jerky manner that’s just noticeable enough to be annoying. If you read reviews of the current version you will see a number of people complaining about this.
There’s also a new game mode called Poker. It’s fairly dull, probably the weakest mode they’ve added. And you need to pay $2.99 to play it more than three times.
The price is a bit of a joke for what you get, but at least the new mode is easily ignored.
More insidiously, the update also added ads–and plenty of them. EA doesn’t care if you already paid for the game, you’re going to see the ads–unless you pay $2.99 to remove them. This is a move best described as a slimy money grab.
I didn’t remove the ads. Instead I removed the game from the iPad.
I now have more time to read at night. Thanks for being greedy, EA, you’ve helped improve my quality of life a tiny smidgen.