Does the psn outage make you hesistant about a "cloud" future?

[yoda313]

I don't know how many of you here have a ps3 or use the psn network. It has been out since Wednesday. That means no online gaming and the psn store is down. It also means the newly created "cloud saving" feature is inaccessible.

Now the internet browsing and some of the individual applications like netflix and vudu and stuff apparently still work (I could at least access and browse vudu - I had not played a movie during this outage).

This is one thing that has me concerned about going to a total cloud future.

If you have everything floating in the ether and a service portal goes out you have no access to that content. Be it a document file, music or movies. Poof nothing.

The whole idea of the cloud is fascinating. No need for physical discs or whatever. Just logon and boom, theres your stuff. Just like that ultraviolet thingy the movie industries are trying to setup to have a digital locker of all the movies you already physically own.

I'm not against progress but I still want to have something physical to fall back on. At least right now when you buy something from itunes or zune or amazon etc you can still physically download the movie file. That way you still have access to it regardless of the internet situation. However I guess some might be really picky and still require an active net connection to watch the downloaded file - I don't know of any that do that would kinda defeat the purpose of downloading the file in the first place - aside from no buffering issues you might get with streaming - or 5.1 sound in the downloaded file for amazon since they only do stereo on streaming videos.

I guess my point is I wouldn't want to be tied to one "service" to watch or listen to my content. I have both a xbox 360 and a ps3 (I recently traded in my Wii - haven't used the thing in months and figured I probably never would so out it went). I don't like being limited to one avenue for my entertainment. I want to have choices of how to access it and when and where and pricing flexibility.

What if you put all your eggs in one basket and only had say a "super" netflix for movies, music and tv. What if a ddos attack like the psn outage happened? You would have no way to access content you paid for - either through a subscription or per video/song transaction.

Don't get me wrong I have streamed from netflix and liked it - i just dropped it to control expenses. I also like the concept of streaming. I just don't want to have that be the only way I get my media.

That is why I still buy dvds and blurays. I want it in my hands so I can play it whenever want without complications. I haven't bought as many cds but I do make backups of my music I download from zune or amazon. I can also copy that whenever I need to. I'm not dependent on one service for all of my entertainment.

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How about you?

Do you have any fears or concerns about migrating to a physical-less media future? Do you want to leave harddrives and cds/dvds/blurays behind and just have an uber-account with all of your movies and music ready to play without any physical backup?

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edit - I just thought of another thing - what about those that can't afford a decent high speed connection? Or those that live in areas without reliable high speed internet service? You can't do video - or at least high def - without a sizeable pipeline.

If you need to cut back on expenses and drop your high speed internet for dial up what then?

edit 2 - I don't believe this applies to amazons cloud as it stands right now. My understanding is you can upload your files to it but you still keep your files on your machine. And you can still download the music files (what you buy from amazon directly) and leave them on the servers. I don't mind that. I just don't want a cloud where you can't have a physical local file to play.

[yoda313]

Wow at least earlier this afternoon the psn network was STILL down!

I have actually joined the class action lawsuit:

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/712190/psn-class-action-lawsuit-filed/

There is a link to join at the bottom of the page.

This has been a wild ride for sure.

[yoda313]

I know nobody is responding to this thread but here is an interesting read on cloud security if you're interested:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-20058651-92.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0

[olyteddy]

The PSN outage (as well as Sony's continued efforts to squash fair use) have further convinced me that I have no need for Sony, at least...

[yoda313]

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/712657/psn-restoration-has-begun-online-multipla...re-are-active/

Wow they finally have it set to come back online.

I'm a bit peeved that New York and California get the updates before the rest of the country. Why not Kansas or Colorado? Why not Michigan hmm?? Aren't we important enough for them???

[Webster]

I'd see another possible problem with using cloud for streaming video (especially hi-def video) is the cap in bandwidth put up by the ISP.
For example, ATT is putting up a 150GB cap on their DSL. http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Exclusive-ATT-To-Impose-Caps-Overages-113149 So according to ATT 150GB is approximately equal to streaming 10 HD full length movie (or 20 SD). After you watched 10 movies your limit is reached and expect to pay more money to use their service.
So if you are streaming from the cloud, it may cost you more to see the movie you already bought and paid for online than having the disk at home.

[lordsmurf]

Cloud infrastructure is fine.

Cloud in addition to physical is fine.

Cloud instead of physical is NOT fine -- it's stupid.
Archivability, privacy and bandwidth are valid concerns.

Sony was hacked because they are fucktards when it comes to security.
And there's nothing new about that.

[El Heggunte]

VIABLE "cloud computing" == Skynet, The Matrix, or The Overmind

[yoda313]

@lordsmurf - couldn't agree more you are dead on.

@el heggunte - hmmm........

[yoda313]

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/712739/psn-password-reset-exploit-discovered-web...taken-offline/

holy crap you've got to be kidding me!?! Another exploit???

Seems like maybe Japan was right about not letting Sony re-launch psn just yet.....

[yoda313]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20067865-17.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0

This is half creepy and half hilarious.

I would be more intrigued by it if I didn't own a ps3 (which I do) and had been part of the shutdown. However I never play online on the psn so I still had my data out there but I didn't lose the service since I never used it (but I did play RED DEAD REDEMPTION single player while it was down and finished the main campaign - great game and can't wait to start the dlc UNDEAD NIGHTMARE - it was included on the game disc I have so I didn't need to download it.

What can they do? The ps3 has already been hacked. Anydvd and dvdfab have long since cracked bluray.

Are they going to post how to crack that bluray audio encryption cinevia or however its spelled?

Are they going to post blueprints for bluray 2 specs so toshiba could get the jump on sony and make it hd-dvd 2?

What can they really do to Sony that hasn't already been done to them?

[zzyzzx]

I prefer to do everything off of my hard drive whenever possible.