I have an Xbox360.
Granted I don’t use it all that much, there are some games I really like. Most of those are first person shooter games.
Ok, I’ll admit I really like the violence… so what?
Anyway, this morning I realized it had been a while since I’d fired the beast up. (Yes, it’s a beast the thing howls like a banshee when it’s running.)
As it comes up, it starts talking to the network and downloading all kinds of stuff. I’ve also noticed that the “Dash Board” is different from the last time I really paid any attention.
I’m curious to know what the heck the system is downloading and that’s when I notice I can’t seem to find any place in the console that displays that bit of information.
There used to be a nifty little thing called the download queue where you could see what was going on. For the life of me I can’t find it on the system.
As I noticed all the other changes, including the commercials peppered throughout the dashboard I thought wait a minute! Then I got taken to a notification that the Terms of Service on Xbox Live had changed and that I needed to accept another legal document before I could use a service that I’d already paid for by virtue of Microsoft automatically billing me.
So let me get this straight…
1) You’re going to push advertisements to the gaming console, That I own…
2) You’re going to make me agree to a NEW TOS in order to Use that gaming console, THAT I OWN…
Most games cost $65 or more and REQUIRE connection to Xbox Live. So Microsoft is essentially holding me hostage and FORCING me to accept whatever their TOS says so that I can play my non-refundable game on my non-returnable game console after charging me a non-refundable amount to maintain my yearly Xbox Live account?
After an hour of unknown network activity from the game console, I logged into my xbox live account via the internet to find out what the game console in my living room was actually doing. I’m not exactly sure why… but that bothers me. I guess I feel like I should be able to ask the device making use of the network what the hell it’s doing!
Obviously I’m just old fashioned…
Then I heard myself saying…
“That’s Microsoft”
As if that explains it. Of course I’ve also caught myself saying “That’s Apple” in the same way.
Does anyone else see the flaw here? Does the consumer really have ANY option other than acceptance of the agreements?
This is the same as iTunes letting you purchase music then making you accept the licensing agreement in order to play the music you just purchased.
Remember the good old days?
You know… when you purchased a product AND YOU WERE DONE? I miss buying an LP, or a book, or CD, or VHS Tape or even a DVD, and it was mine to do with as I pleased.
I recently found myself waiting for a BluRay disk to start playing a movie.
All I saw on the screen as “Updating Content” After 10 minutes with no change, I was performing network diagnostics because the movie still hadn’t started playing, Excuse me???
Understand… I had a BluRay disk spinning in my BluRay player, the movie was there and available. All the player had to do was START PLAYING IT.
But the movie wouldn’t start because the content that the player was updating was the load of trailers and commercials that Sony, or Universal, or whoever wanted me to see BEFORE they let me see the movie I’D fucking purchased!
I powered the player down, disconnected it from the network and restarted the whole process. This time without the commercials streaming from the internet I actually got to watch the movie I wanted to watch as soon as the player powered up.
It took me 20 minutes from the time I first dropped the disk in the player until the movie actually started. It was certainly NOT an auspicious start to the relaxing evening I’d planned with family since I’d had to diagnose what was wrong with the technology in the first place.
My point here is that as consumers we’re loosing our ability to just purchase products
Then use them without all kinds of strings being attached. When I buy a movie on a physical media and plug it into my player it should start playing immediately. I shouldn’t have to be assaulted by the latest trailers for the largely crappy movies coming out of Hollywood all downloaded for my inconvenience.
If I buy an electronic book I expect it to remain on my ebook reader. I don’t expect to have to click on an “Accept” button acknowledging that I understand I might be offended by the material contained in the book or magazine and will hold the provider of the book or magazine blameless. I sure as hell don’t expect to be reading the book one night, then have it removed from my ebook reader the next morning due to a contract dispute.
I’m amazed at how accepting we’ve become of ever increasing complexity, and how we just write it off as a given from the companies whose tendrils reach so deeply into our lives.
There are some things that are… or were, simply understood… I buy something, I own it.
End of story.
