![]() ![]() You can buy downloadable video, audio-only, or DVDs directly from them. The Great Courses is all or most of their content as an own forever option and seems to follow the radio story / early VHS justified obscene pricing strategy. TGC state that lectures, where visuals are "essential" to appreciate the lecture, are not available as audio-only, but I can't find an explanation of how they define "essential". Audible is just content (without video) acquired as part of your Audible subscription. So far I see they have The Great Courses ('') ($50 to $400 an episode), The Great Courses Plus ('') ($20 a month), The Great Courses Signature Collection ('') ($7.99 a month), and The Great Courses Audible ('') ($14.99 a month). I like the idea of this, but I am a little confused by their options. If you consider yourself a lifetime learner, listen to lots of TED talks, etc. You will enjoy them and you will learn from them, but at times you’ll wish the lectures were more condensed or that the lecturer would be less idiosyncratic in their presentation. Don’t expect these to be wildly entertaining. Some lecturers are clearly not comfortable on camera. * The lecturers are knowledgeable, but like many college professors, they are not necessarily gifted entertainers. Even a course like “Traveling to Greece and Turkey” which would greatly benefit from excellent visuals, is saddled with pretty pedestrian video and still photography. ![]() My greatest criticism of the Great Courses is that they have their origins in tape and CD format and the company has never really learned how to make a great video course. This can be very dull and it is so much less than what it could be. “Video” in this world means you see the instructor in front of a podium delivering the lecture with an image or video clip thrown in as if they were presenting off of a Powerpoint slide. * While the content might make it critical to buy the Video version of the course, NONE of the video courses I’ve purchased really takes advantage of the visual format to present the materials. Likewise, there isn't a particularly good reason to buy "How to Appreciate Great Music" as a video course when the important content is all audio. A course on the "Art of the Renaissance" isn't all that good if you can't see the artwork the lecturer is discussing. For some courses, the video format is a must. * Almost all courses are offered in both audio and video formats. Having said that, I think it's fair to say that there will be courses that you'll only enjoy once and I don't think you'll play any of them more than a few times in your lifetime. This is one upside to buying vs subscribing. If at some point the Great Courses goes out of business, I still have access to the courses I've purchased. * While I find it most convenient to stream video to my Roku, buying the "Instant Video/Audio" courses also give you the ability to download the files to your computer in MP3 and M4V format. Audio files get played on your phone or iPod or even on your computer if you desire. You can steam these to your computer or iPad, or view them on your TV if you have Roku. The "Instant Video" or "Instant Audio" options are less expensive and more versatile. * I think you'd be insane to buy the physical media (CD/DVD) nowadays. Realistically, you're paying about $1.50 per lecture, or put another way, $3/hour for entertainment. On sale you're more likely to pay $19-$69 for a course depending on whether it's audio or video and the number of lectures in the course. ![]() Wait and the course will be on sale soon enough. There is no reason to buy at full retail price. * Full retail prices for the courses are usually $200-$500, but this is a price anchoring strategy to get you to believe that you're getting a great deal when they're on sale - which is pretty much always. Of the 73 courses I've purchase, I only regret buying 3 of them. * Overall, I've found the content to be very, very good and equal to what one would get in a college level course at a good university. * Selection is enormous, art, music, science, history, philosophy, religion, literature, self help, technology. There are a few that have 12 lectures and some that have as many as 48 lectures. * Most lectures are 30 minutes long and a typical course has 24-36 such lectures. The below refers to my experience using "The Great Courses", not the other variations. For those interested, here's information and my perspective on the Great Courses As others have commented, the company has made it very confusing for users by offering different ways of accessing the content - The Great Courses, The Great Courses Plus, The Great Courses Signature Collection, Great Courses on Audible etc. ![]() I'm a heavy user of the Great Courses and own 39 video courses and 34 audio courses. ![]()
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