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> “A lot of the designers and coders who were in their 20s when we were creating these things didn’t have kids. Now they have kids,” he says. “And they see what

> “A lot of the designers and coders who were in their 20s when we were creating these things didn’t have kids. Now they have kids,” he says. “And they see what’s going on, and they say, ‘Wait a second.’ And they start to rethink their design decisions.” Consumer tech today is very individual-centric. Game consoles require individual accounts to log in and track game progress/ownership. If your family shares a PS4 connected to the internet, you can't just turn it on and enjoy your game, you have to remember to log out of whichever family member is currently logged in and then log your own profile in and then get to your game. Similar idea applies with Steam on PC since each game is DRM'd to individuals and you have to buy multiple copies of the same game if you want different people to be able to track their own progress. I also feel like music services also aren't really meant to be shared in a family. There could be an opportunity to make these services more group-centric. Maybe as developers (as according to one of the article's main points) get older these patterns will change.

Crespyl 9y ago
Steam is actually somewhat interesting because they've explicitly added a "Family Sharing" feature that allows Steam accounts on the same computer to access each others library of games. It still requires a relog cycle to switch users, but each user can track their own progress, cloud saves, achievements, etc. without having to buy multiple copies of the same game. Netflix took a slightly different approach, allowing multiple "profiles" under a single shared login, which works well for the embedded players in set-top-boxes and consoles. I'm not aware of anything similar for music services or other content, but it will be interesting to seem how other companies respond (or fail to).
- alexchantavy 9y ago
  > Steam is actually somewhat interesting because they've explicitly added a "Family Sharing" feature that allows Steam accounts on the same computer to access each others library of games. Huh, didn't know that, thanks
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > I'm not aware of anything similar for music services or other content Google has the “Google Play Family Library” which covers most types of content in the Play Store (but not all individual pieces of content. of the covered types), including Apps, Video, and Books, but not Music and Newsstand items. https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7007852?hl=en https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7007852?hl=en

Crespyl 9y ago

Steam is actually somewhat interesting because they've explicitly added a "Family Sharing" feature that allows Steam accounts on the same computer to access each others library of games. It still requires a relog cycle to switch users, but each user can track their own progress, cloud saves, achievements, etc. without having to buy multiple copies of the same game. Netflix took a slightly different approach, allowing multiple "profiles" under a single shared login, which works well for the embedded players in set-top-boxes and consoles. I'm not aware of anything similar for music services or other content, but it will be interesting to seem how other companies respond (or fail to).

alexchantavy 9y ago
> Steam is actually somewhat interesting because they've explicitly added a "Family Sharing" feature that allows Steam accounts on the same computer to access each others library of games. Huh, didn't know that, thanks
dragonwriter 9y ago
> I'm not aware of anything similar for music services or other content Google has the “Google Play Family Library” which covers most types of content in the Play Store (but not all individual pieces of content. of the covered types), including Apps, Video, and Books, but not Music and Newsstand items. https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7007852?hl=en https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7007852?hl=en