Simone Adler writes The Skeptic, Reelist’s column for anyone who suspects they’re being played — and would like the receipts. She treats a product launch the way an investigator treats a press conference: politely, and with a notebook full of questions the marketing hopes you won’t ask.
Her premise is that most of what we buy in home entertainment is priced by psychology, not value — that the tier everyone “just gets,” the size everyone assumes they need, the subscription bundle that looks generous, are usually engineered to extract a little more than they’re worth. So she does the math out loud. She is cool, not cynical — happy to tell you when the expensive thing is genuinely worth it, because that verdict means more coming from her.