I recently switched to Charter high-speed--by the way, NEVER, EVER, EVER go with Clearwire Wireless unless you want to be royally screwed by horrible speeds and a mafia-like contract. Shysters, crooks...Anyway!
Even with Charter I couldn't easily download 75 gigs. For me, the bigger problem would be the storage space. I mean, how many 500 gig hard drives do you want on your system? My guess is that it'd take a lot of processor and memory just to handle that kind of storage. I'd much rather have content that I don't use on a regular basis stored on removable media. Then again, I do tend to be a packrat when it comes to data; never want to delete anything. I have hundreds of DVD burns here with backups and so on that I will probably never look at again.
Also, I agree with Bill about the movie ownership thing. There's something to be said for buying a DVD and having that film permanently in your collection, particularly if they've done a good job with the packaging and extras. Plus there's the benefit of pretty much being able to watch that DVD just about anywhere; I mean, if you don't have a DVD player in 2008 c'mon! Even my grandparents finally made the leap, and I thought they'd be committed to VHS forever (they still have many movies they recorded off their satellite TV back in the 80s! Great fun watching the recorded TV for the commercials).
The problem with the virtual solution...well, many problems. For one thing, somebody else has your data--how secure is that? I wouldn't feel comfortable with someone going through my hard drive; I even have a sort of tacit understanding with my wife that we don't use each other's computers except in emergencies or with permission. Under no circumstances would I want her going through my hard drive, and I wouldn't do that to hers either. I know I'm being a hypocrite to some extent because I use gmail and google docs, etc., but that's one thing--I don't want, say, the RIAA or what have you getting access to my mp3 collection. I also always feel funny about buying any mp3s that aren't totally free (such as the ones Amazon sells now). I don't want to have to buy the thing again at some point down the road, no matter what.
Then again, I can certainly agree about the clutter issue. I am now feeling more positively predisposed towards buying CDs, but I'd still worry about having towers of CDs everywhere.
Egads, it does seem silly to have about 300 years worth of music in various formats sitting around here. It's not as though I'd ever get to listen to all that, much less play all the hundreds (thousands???) of games sitting around that I haven't played. I was trying to play all the MAME games I had downloaded, but even that got to be so incredibly tedious that I gave up. I couldn't even get through all the NES or SNES games that way--after awhile you realize that there's a damn good reason why most of those games are forgotten.
Really, I can see the benefits to having a limited but superior selection. Maybe I'd be more inclined to enjoy a game I'd just spent $60 for, since I doubt I'd be able to buy many games for a console and thus would be forced to play fewer games but play them more often.
Then again, right now about 90% of my gaming is dedicated to World of Warcraft. Really, guys, you should try it out! I am on the uther server with two alliance characters (Algon, Pipple) and now a horde character (Anaximander). We're doing voice chat when possible. There is a free trial, but you won't get access to voice chat unless you buy the game. BTW, if you're going to buy it, go for the battlechest, since it has a hint book you'll find useful and the full expansions.
Damnit, I want more Armchair Arcaders in the game! Then we can start our own guild. C'mon, Bill. :P
I recently switched to Charter high-speed--by the way, NEVER, EVER, EVER go with Clearwire Wireless unless you want to be royally screwed by horrible speeds and a mafia-like contract. Shysters, crooks...Anyway!
Even with Charter I couldn't easily download 75 gigs. For me, the bigger problem would be the storage space. I mean, how many 500 gig hard drives do you want on your system? My guess is that it'd take a lot of processor and memory just to handle that kind of storage. I'd much rather have content that I don't use on a regular basis stored on removable media. Then again, I do tend to be a packrat when it comes to data; never want to delete anything. I have hundreds of DVD burns here with backups and so on that I will probably never look at again.
Also, I agree with Bill about the movie ownership thing. There's something to be said for buying a DVD and having that film permanently in your collection, particularly if they've done a good job with the packaging and extras. Plus there's the benefit of pretty much being able to watch that DVD just about anywhere; I mean, if you don't have a DVD player in 2008 c'mon! Even my grandparents finally made the leap, and I thought they'd be committed to VHS forever (they still have many movies they recorded off their satellite TV back in the 80s! Great fun watching the recorded TV for the commercials).
The problem with the virtual solution...well, many problems. For one thing, somebody else has your data--how secure is that? I wouldn't feel comfortable with someone going through my hard drive; I even have a sort of tacit understanding with my wife that we don't use each other's computers except in emergencies or with permission. Under no circumstances would I want her going through my hard drive, and I wouldn't do that to hers either. I know I'm being a hypocrite to some extent because I use gmail and google docs, etc., but that's one thing--I don't want, say, the RIAA or what have you getting access to my mp3 collection. I also always feel funny about buying any mp3s that aren't totally free (such as the ones Amazon sells now). I don't want to have to buy the thing again at some point down the road, no matter what.
Then again, I can certainly agree about the clutter issue. I am now feeling more positively predisposed towards buying CDs, but I'd still worry about having towers of CDs everywhere.
Egads, it does seem silly to have about 300 years worth of music in various formats sitting around here. It's not as though I'd ever get to listen to all that, much less play all the hundreds (thousands???) of games sitting around that I haven't played. I was trying to play all the MAME games I had downloaded, but even that got to be so incredibly tedious that I gave up. I couldn't even get through all the NES or SNES games that way--after awhile you realize that there's a damn good reason why most of those games are forgotten.
Really, I can see the benefits to having a limited but superior selection. Maybe I'd be more inclined to enjoy a game I'd just spent $60 for, since I doubt I'd be able to buy many games for a console and thus would be forced to play fewer games but play them more often.
Then again, right now about 90% of my gaming is dedicated to World of Warcraft. Really, guys, you should try it out! I am on the uther server with two alliance characters (Algon, Pipple) and now a horde character (Anaximander). We're doing voice chat when possible. There is a free trial, but you won't get access to voice chat unless you buy the game. BTW, if you're going to buy it, go for the battlechest, since it has a hint book you'll find useful and the full expansions.
Damnit, I want more Armchair Arcaders in the game! Then we can start our own guild. C'mon, Bill. :P
Matt Barton, Managing Editor
Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA
Email: matt@armchairarcade.com