Honestly, we don't know that yet. The talk has gone from multiple "family" playing the same game at the same time to only one "family" member can be playing a shared game and the other nine are screwed. If it's the later, than clearly, this solution isn't as nifty as I originally thought. I don't see why all ten "family" members can't be playing ten different games at the same time.
True. I agree with you. As a consumer this isn't exactly the best set of circumstances. Why do I have to pay for Gold to watch Netflix on my 360 when I can watch it for free on my Western Digital Plus that only cost $99 anyway? I get the idea that it is annoying, but I don't pay for Gold to watch Netflix, I'd pay for it anyway, so in the end it has zero impact on me or anybody else that would already be paying for Gold.
Cross game party chat, for one. Which, all the Sony fans will be very happy to find out they finally have the ability to do so if the purchase a PS4. I can be doing God knows what, while Azbat is playing Red Dead Redemption and NavNuc is playing Crackdown and we can all be in a party chatting back and forth. Sure, we could just be talking on the phone, but that would be annoying because I don't want Azbat to have my phone number because I don't like him that much.
Its things like cross game party chat that Live offers that actually make the game playing experience better, even though it doesn't really impact the game itself. That's what I think people are completely failing to realize. That all of these "extra" functions and functionality of the One that aren't strictly "game related" in terms of IQ, AI, etc.. make playing games a more fulfilling experience. Cross game party chat, for example, doesn't make playing Borderlands any more fun directly. But the fact that I can play Borderlands and talk to people who are playing other games, makes the entire gaming experience far more enriching.
