Fixed. I said per annum.

MS can convince people to pay by continuing to pump out lots of content for live.

The money they make goes into improving the servers and such for increasing the amount of content.

Developers love live because if they had to use their own servers for their own games, then it would cost them money, the fact that everything is paid for by Microsoft (the user) makes it much easier for everyone.

I've always hated pay to play concept... I mean buying software for $50 and then spending $12 a month to enjoy said software... oh man... Microsoft took it one step further and sold a piece of hardware that keeps taking your money.

I can't wait for peer to peer maintained connections, use some for of progressive coding to maintain the stability and call it a day, Hell Wii could do that or even a PS360 if you left them on... just use them similarly to how Folding @ Home works.

it's a bit different - but it would be amazing and best of all free.

Its amazing how I have the wii and PS3 sitting next to my 360 with their free online service...and I don't mind paying for microsofts. Sounds really wierd to me but its true...

 You get into a few games, you get a few online friends to hook up with to play multiplayer online with and then you can't do anything but renew the subscription. They asked for money, but it made them think - "What do we have to do to make it worth something to people?" and thats probably the reason why the service works so damn well.

The only people who compalin about the Xbox Live subscription are PS3 owners, a strange but true fact...... Most Xbox owners are happy to pay and play(they know what they are getting and why they are paying a small fee) so if you own a PS3 don't worry about Xbox Live just play your games on your free service and we will all be happy.....

I think Microsoft has a choice to make.

Option 1:
Earlier, larger price cuts leading to a larger userbase and better stead for next generation but just missing lifetime profit on the Xbox 360.

Option 2:
Later, smaller price cuts leading to a smaller userbase and a more difficult next generation, but making the Xbox 360 profitable over the course of its lifetime.

They have to report every dollar they receive or they are heading for massive trouble with the SEC. Don't forget though that they haven't made the billions yet. The OP is projecting that they will over the course of the 360's lifetime.

 Yep, thats exactly it. then this leads to multiplatform titles being bought for the 360...