Cheap Media. Loving It.

Recently I purchased a game for my iPad: SandSlides. It cost me $2.

The game is simple but incredibly fun and addictive. Different colored sands fall from spouts at the top, and you must build slides to get the sand into the appropriate funnels. I played it for about a hour and half last night, completely absorbed.

But the last half hour wasn't quite as fun-- I figured out the secret to the game, and I was just plugging away at my strategy. It was no longer challenging. I'd share the strategy with you, but that would ruin the game for you too.

I started thinking about my $2. The game now has no replay value. Should I not have bought it?

Then I checked myself. Often pinball games cost $2 to play once. It's the price of a cup of coffee. Both things I enjoy for less time than I did SandSlides.

So, yes, it was a great purchase. I got much more than $2 worth of fun out of it.

I'm amazed at the world of plenty that we live in. Discover Your Inner Economist by Tyler Cowan talks about how we are "cultural millionaires," with access to cheap or free art in excess of what Emperors of the past could experience. Just the other day I got the entire poetry collection of Emily Dickinson for my Kindle for 99 cents. It boggles my mind.

Just reminding you to appreciate.

Pictured: Sandslides screenshot. Go ahead and buy it.