Do I have to have a paid account just to navigate stuff like YouTube? So far, that seems to be the case. I think that is fairly ridiculous.
What am I paying for? The website? The hardware? The Internet service? None of the above. Any amount of money is too much.
The platform and ease, I suppose. I've paid Gold for the last few years just because it makes watching basketball games so easy with the ESPN3 app on XBOX.
^Pretty much my take on it. Plus i've hardly ever had a problem with the service. In that regard it's always been well worth the money......especially when compared to the PSN which had the huge security breach around this time last year.
If you just want something to use for Youtube/Netflix/etc., you could just keep making trial accounts. Quick research says that may be capped at three, though (not sure if that's per email? or maybe they do track by system, but I'm not sure how.). And obviously it has to be a new gamertag for each.
It takes infrastructure to run xbox live, even with internet and the individual services sometimes being hosted elsewhere. Ya, it sucks but it is what it is.
But if I'm not playing Xbox games online I'm basically giving Microsoft money to use a machine I own and a service for which I pay Comcast in order to access a free website owned by another company. I guess I've just gotten used to my money being spent on goods and services, not access to my own resources.
Sounds like what you need is a Apple TV box, then jailbreak it. Was thinking of canceling cable for this very reason,
1. I pay nothing for my PS3. 2. I have AppleTV....curious as to jailbreaking it....what does that afford?
you aren't paying just to use Youtube on it. You are paying for everything that comes with Xbox Live. If you choose not to use everything it offers, that is your choice.
OK. I would have no problem paying money to play games online using Microsoft's server. They would be giving me something in exchange for that charge. I paid hundreds for a machine that has wifi. I pay an ISP for Internet access. YouTube doesn't charge to access their site. Why then, should I be required to pay Microsoft to use my wifi enabled device, use my Internet service, and access a free site? Xbox live should be a gaming service, not permission to access the Internet. Also, YouTube does not "come with" Xbox live. They have no affiliation with Xbox.
I guess I just see it as an all or nothing type of issue. You pay for everything, regardless of whether you use it all, or you pay for nothing. Personally, I would not pay for Xbox Live if I only wanted to use it for Youtube. Do you need a Gold membership to watch it? And honestly, I think they charge because they can. People obviously still buy it, so why not charge?
so what exactly are you wanting to do with youtube that you can't do on your PC that's even bringing this into question? i ask because a lot of DVRs these days, mainly newest generation allow you to watch youtube video on your tv or if watching them on the tv rather than the PC is the main point, you could always connect your computer to your tv and do it that way
I basically just want to watch yankeefanintenn's YouTube videos on my TV. Yeah, I could hook my PC up to my TV, but that's kind of a hassle when I already have a wifi enabled device wired to it. Just annoys me that they want to charge me for a very basic feature that they aren't even providing. Not sure why they restrict web access like that.
They are providing a service. When you use youtube, crackle, or whatever, you are paying for the user interface. Could you watch it on your PC with no additional cost? Yes, but you are paying them to port it to one device and provide a service that makes it convenient to do so.......thats how I look at it anyway.
I would think that was pretty well covered when I purchased the Xbox. Seems like Toyota charging you to use your Camry's radio.
When you purchased the xbox, you purchased the ability to play xbox games on it and the ability to use online capabilities at an additional cost. The car and radio comparison isn't a good one IMO. A better one would be that you bought a big screen HDTV but have to purchase a HDTV programming package and rent a HD receiver to be able to take advantage of HD programming. When you buy the xbox, that doesn't mean you are purchasing online content.
You pay a cable company for HD and cable just like I pay them for my Xbox's internet. The only way your comparison works is if your TVs manufacturer charges you another fee to access the HD content your cable company is providing you.
