Digital Convenience vs. Physical Ownership

I've owned this since the 80s. Respect mine.

I've owned this since the 80s. Respect mine.

Most of my enjoyment as a kid came from tangible things - my cassette tapes,  my books, and my video games.  I could smash, lose, sell, trade, and do whatever I wanted with them - I owned them completely after purchase.  The big negative was that they took up a ton of space, and my small house combined with a mother who loved order meant that I couldn't get everything that I wanted. Also, we did not have infinite money. Or a ticket oak.

Nowadays, many of these tangible assets have been mostly replaced by digital.  The convenience of being able to own as much as you want without worry of physical space is balanced out by the loss of total ownership. You often own a license to access your content, which falls under strict rules behind how you can trade or sell your digital assets. Companies are still struggling to find the proper balance between convenience and ownership.

This issue is very hot in the video game space. Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4 are new systems coming out later this year that are slowly marching toward digital gaming. Microsoft recently announced a reversal of proposed policies to restrict how games are shared and traded.  Check out the discussion below between me, the ladies of Nerdgasm Noire, and a few other friends on Twitter.