Onlive is interesting to people who think cloud computing is interesting...

And don't realize that cloud computing is a fad that pops up as often as 3dtv.  Cloud computing was known as Application Service Providers, which died a horrid death in the dot com crash, and before that as grid computing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_Service_Provider

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_computing

Cloud computing will die as well and show up a few years from now with another name.

Fortunately, I think the ISP's are going to resist this one.  Fact is they're streaming high quality video, and that's a massive chunk of bandwidth coming from applications that used to be effectively offline.  Even presuming you can actually get sufficiently good service that Onlive is competitive with traditional gaming (as TheDarkKnight points out, that's pretty doubtful as is), all you'd need is for ISP's to implement a monthly bandwidth cap and Onlive is dead in the water in that region. 

Um...yes, I know that my friend. I'm not naive enough to think I own the rights to the game that the creators hold, I'm not 14. I'm perfectly right in thinking I own a plastic disk with Files On It that I can access how-ever, which is what I meant.

Technically it is centralized vs decentralized storage, so a "physical copy" is a pretty significant difference.

Physical media distribution also relies on an infrastructure which is many, many decades old, compared to Digital distribution  which is still in its infancy. Just take a look at Ubisofts DRM. Its secondary purpose is some kind of "cloud computing", which is at best highly unreliable at the moment. One reason is Ubisofts inability to maintain their servers, but another problem is that the Internet in its entirety just isn't stable enough for this. It is (IMO) just a matter of time until digital distribution will overtake "physical distribution", but at the moment the tested and proved way of distributing data through discs are here to stay for a while.

I'm not to worried about it personally. If it's a model that works for some poeple, good on them. I know for a fact that not everyone will be after this service. There will always be people like you and me who enjoy the PC platform in all it's flexibility, and others just want to switch on a console and play. I think onlive will affect console players more than PC players, and be honest, I don't think it's a platform that can comfortably give a great gameing experience to every genre of game.

So it does have it's limits.

One thing I will say that I really think they screwed up on is their priceing model. $15 or even $20 a month to play on the platform and have access to heaps on games is a good deal for those you want that, but having to play rental and purchase the game as well to play it, that's a different story.

I really didn't want this thread to degrade into another "Is it Really Possible?" thread. It would appear that we aren't ready with the proper infrastructure to handle a gaming system like this in most areas, but, the bottom line is that until any of us play it first hand and try it for our-selves, we honestly don't know if it's going to work or not. We're making educated guesses as best we can with what knowledge we have. I think we all need to remember that.

Granted, as with any "On-line" application or program there Are going to be limitations with the technology and infrastructure we have now. We all know that. There's really no arguing that. We've all experienced areas with limited or no connection. That's a Fact. So there is basis to surmise that this technology won't work. It has been tried in the past under different names, and until now it has been a "fad". Some fad's though, when the technology catches up to the idea, become a common reality. Take Ram-Jets for example. They've been around since WW2, but, because of the high temperatures involved in how Ram-Jet technology works, they've never really been a viable option....until the last five years or so. As some of you may know, the new US Space Vehicle, the "Space-Plane" that's replacing the "Space-Shuttle", uses extensive Ram-Jet designs in it's thrusters because they massively reduce the fuel consumption to thrust ratio. That is a prime example of Technology catching up to a old idea and making it a viable reality. The same is applying now and in the next few years to "Cloud Computing" and "Cloud Gaming".

The time WILL COME when this works, whether that time is now or some time a few years or more down the road. Even if it only works as advertised in some areas, those areas will generate enough income eventually that the profits can be used to upgrade further areas to support the gaming network so they can make More money.

Let us also not forget that a lot of parents don't like "wasting money" on video games and video game systems. The only difference between today's parents and the parents of the past 50 years is today's parents grew up playing video games so they are a little more likely to accept that they need to spend a moderate amount of money to do it. When the day comes that the Non-Tech savvy consumer can get a gaming experience that comes with a $2,000 computer or a $600 gaming console for $15 bucks a month, "Joe Blow the average gamer" will jump on that like white on rice to save all that money but still play the newest and best games. It's only a matter of time before this happens. When the technology works, it WILL happen, and any professional analyst who knows this market will most likely tell you the same. I'm willing to bet that's exactly what the analysts who work for OnLive are saying...right now.

Still, lets try to keep this conversation away from "Can it work" and instead think more about the ramifications of WHEN it works. Because sooner or later it will, if it doesn't already.

I don't remember ignoring your other post in the other thread, perhaps I just didn't see it or skimmed it and missed it. Also, don't get the impression that I "like" OnLive. I indeed hope it fails miserably. I still think though, unfortunately, when/if this works, people Are going to decide to use it rather then buy expensive hardware and I think that's a very "bad" thing. When people are pressed economically one of the first things to be cut from their budget is Entertainment, and many times hardware falls in that category. If something comes along (for sake of argument let's pretend it works by Magic like the OnLive people say), anyway, if something comes along that can deliver the same gaming experience as the top end hardware does for a fraction of the cost, people are going to snatch it up. It's that simple.

Things do not work exactly like that. For example, most governments have special laws and requisites for high-level secure data (bank information, health records,...). That requisites include most times physical access to the data, to know where it is, how it is stored, replicated,... In general, lots of things that are impossible to get with Cloud Computing.

Cloud computing is and may become useful for lots of things, but a lot of data is not going to live there in the near future.