File Sharing and Burning CDs - Essay Example

File Sharing and Burning CDs My cousin is a software engineer. We used to be childhood friends and spent a lot of time playing together. However withthe passage of we drifted apart. The time came when he went to pursue studies in a well know university. His majors were computer science. In vacations he used to visit my home and tell me about his university experiences. In his house he had setup a large computer system. It is state of the art Pentium desktop with a five in one DVD burning jacket.

Using this he can burn up to 20 DVDs in an hour. This has really changed his image for all of us who used to know him as a child. He is now known as the media man. All the videos and movies in our circle of friends come from him. He writes freeware software for us, whenever we need any and then posts them to us. He has all the latest movies and videos that we could want. He however became very possessive about his computer system and didn’t allow others to enter without his permission. Once I tried to log on to his computer without his permission and there was an outbreak from him.

He was really upset and called it ‘invasion of privacy’. I however apologized and explained that it was totally unintentional. This experienced opened up a new world of computers for me. Prior to this experience I had always considered computers as a tool which was used to perform work. The closeness that my cousin felt towards his computer created intrigue towards this feeling. I wanted to learn and understand this feeling. The first step was setting up a personal computer which was similar to my cousin’s, only less powerful.

Using a fast internet connection I downloaded some movie and share them using torrents. It was indeed a magical experience. There were thousands of people who downloaded from my link and gave thank you notes. Some of them went ahead and asked for other movies which they really wanted to watch.I was flattered this experience gave me an insight into the personal side of file sharing. This practice does not only give you sense of purpose but also gives great joy. The reason for people to engage in this practice is indeed different for different people.

Some share file just to earn money through advertisement. This is a hefty amount and many take it up as a full time job. Others however find it joyful to be of service to other and to be liked. It all depends on the psychological contract of individuals. The feeling of sharing and finding a connection with thousands of people all around the world is indeed priceless. Many people find it relaxing to collect. Therefore they burn CDs with software and movies. They pride themselves on their collection and find purpose in doing so.