Cloud Particles

Should a digital copy live forever, eternally sustained in the cloud?  To be sure, everything wears out, even the magical cloud particles.  Our music and videos can have eternal life up to our ability to remember our passwords, remember where to look for the email reminding us of the password hint.  Can I prove that I own this junk?  Can I prove my identity?  Do I need to establish an alternate "media identity"?  Does the notion of permanent ownership erode the value of the art?  Eventually our membership with "the service" will prove intrusive.  My ability to watch and listen to my collection on every street corner and park bench will not liberate me.  Some people might get rich but I don't know why.  Art should not be subservient to convenience.

We're out in public, in our cars. Back at the office it's easy to observe the ebb and flow of emotion and communication. Bring ten people to a sixty-minute meeting. There's no problem unless someone starts snoring or yelling. Back on the highway it's a problem all the time since we can't use our vehicles to communicate. These things are not cell phones or web logs or Facebook entries. I can drift over into your lane or ride too close to your bumper. Can you tell when I did that deliberately? If you give me a bigger vehicle it's harder for me to see around the perimeter, know what's outside my field of view. If I drive more aggessively perhaps that will keep the innocents out of harm's way.