I had a gold membership with Xbox Live for several years, but I cancelled it about a year or two ago, mostly because I tend to alternate between using my PC, PS3, 360, and Wii, and felt that I was wasting money whenever I wasn't playing on my 360. I think that a gold subscription is essential if you only play on the 360, but if you play on multiple platforms, it's difficult seeing the worth in subscribing, at least for me.
As far as online play performance, I really do not notice much of a difference between the 360 and PS3, although I'll admit that I usually play different online games on the consoles (e.g., I'll play fighting games on the PS3 or PC, and shooters on the 360), so I personally cannot compare the online experience of a particular game between each console.
I will say that the subscription model is one of the major factors that I will be basing my decision on whether or not I will be an early adopter of the next Xbox or Playstation console. If online play is restricted to a premium account on either console, then I'll likely wait until there are a ton of exclusives out for each console before adopting, so I'm looking forward to seeing whether Sony continues with their current direction with PS+, or moves toward Microsoft's model (I'm hoping for the former).
With that said, I would like to see a gold membership offer something similar to PS+, such as free games and discounts.
