Managing / Untethering from Your Media?

[Rameses]

With the advent of streaming (i.e. Spotify) and perhaps sometime in the future a UK equivalent version of Netflix for online streaming of Movies. Is there a need for users to pay/download content?

I feel like I'm tied down to the vast collection of iTunes media / 7Digital media that I've paid for and downloaded. TV shows, Movies, MP3s etc.

I personally have a Mac Mini & Drobo V2 4x1TB DAS connect via FW800.

I know external HDDs are a must for many people out there as their collections grow but isn't it time we stopped downloading and stream instead with our ever increasing internet connections?

Even mobile internet is becoming more and more affordable and more and more used as a daily way of accessing the internet.

Clearly a lot of it is down to the copy-right owners and how they agree to sell their media to people, but storage (for me personally) is becoming an issue.

I'd really like to 'cut the cord' and buy a laptop but there is only so much storage and if connected to a device then it isn't really mobile any more and I might as well stick to my desktop computer.

Does anyone understand what I'm trying to say?

How do you manage your media?

Do you have a solution that works for you?

Or am I just waffling and should go to bed?

 

[Cycrow]

if you want to stream your own media, u could setup a media server on your home connection, and allow your laptop to stream.
althou with limited upload, it wouldn't really work for hd

thats how i have all my media atm, althou im only streaming them to htpc's on the lan.

i do stream some movies online thou, LoveFilm has a new online viewing of movies.

 

[TruffleShuffle]

Whilst HD might not work wirelessly. You could do what i have done and buy a couple of Powerline plugs. One for the TV in the lounge and the other one goes to my router in the Study.

The PC is wired up to the router so i have no problem running HD movies from it onto the TV. The TV also has VieraCast which has 'AceTrax' on it (some kind of Film streaming service, although i havent tried it yet).

Of course everything will be 'in the cloud' within the next 10 years. I forsee a Napster'esc future where you pay a monthly subscription, and can stream as much as you want. However you pay extra if you want to actually download something.