I grew up when most of the world was analog, especially its video content. If I wanted to watch something on TV, we had three snowy commercial networks and PBS terrestrially from Boston. There was no cable in Wendell NH in the 1960's. Everything on the tube was synchronous and required being in a chair at the time the networks decided to air a program. Oh, my! Now I've got the satellite receiver / PVR to catch anything from my 50 channels on its hard drive. It makes little sense to have a premium package with more channels than I could ever watch. As well, of course, there are between 13,000 and 14,000 titles on Netflix at the moment that only require a click to view. I can even stream television content from stations across the world. I try to keep up on the Sinhalese-language pop videos. Also, did I mention YouTube? There are just so many options and such vast choices; however, there's so little time.
Furthermore, of course there is audio, both portable and home based. First, I have a list of about a dozen podcasts to which I subscribe. They come from sources such as the BBC, CBC, NPR, PRI as well as bits from the likes of Scientific American. Moreover, I do normal, traditional radio over tunein.com from anywhere in the world, or create my own mixes in Pandora. Lastly, I have also uploaded over 11,000 titles to Google Music Beta. And wouldn't you know it, now Spotify comes along!
I have opted for the free version only but simply don't have the time to devote to finding and collecting all the music I like. The social functions might be fun. Having such a vast collection of music at my fingertips does make me feel like a kid in a candy store. I would definitely like discovering new music by sharing playlists with friends. Yet depending on one's view, either fortunately or unfortunately, I don't have any Spotify friends. The whole situation is all rather moot anyway. Unless we can add a few extra weeks into every year, I haven't the physical time to listen to it all!