What is the real power of bittorrent? Is it the fact that we can get blazingly fast download speeds? How bout the fact that it’s completely decentralised and thus that much more difficult for the copyright gestapo to shutdown? Maybe, it’s the awesome communities that have developed throughout the private tracker world? I know! It has to be that fact that it’s free, the ability to get something for nothing right? Well actually it’s none of these. They’re all well and good in their own right, and each incredibly beneficial to all of us. But none of them is the real power behind bittorrent. BT’s real power is in your head. It’s in you, it’s in me and it’s in anyone who consumes content.
In order to really get this concept we have to examine why we watch movies, read books, listen to music and consume content in general. We do so because that content elicits an emotional response within us. Movies make us laugh, they make us think and some even make us cry. The music we listen to inspires us and the books we read give us the freedom to be almost anything we want. Regardless of the content choice, one thing is for sure. It’ll make us feel something. And, it provides a little bit of an escape, something that most people in this day and age desperately need.
As kids, we are totally in touch with our imaginations and we can do anything. A cardboard box becomes a fort or the ground below is molten rock and you’ll die if you touch it! That set of Mom’s old couch cushions can be made into a rocket that’ll fly you to the farthest reaches of outer space! We could do it all, and without even trying. But eventually we grow up and, as adults, we lose that ability. Now, the closest things we have to help us get back there are the movies we watch, the songs we listen to and the books we read.
Recently, I’ve had the privilege of joining a tracker that’s helped me get back in touch with my imagination and, in turn, my childhood. In case you don’t know, Cartoon Chaos is a niche tracker that is, as the name states, dedicated to tracking animated content. Recently I’ve snatched a number of series packs that allowed me to be a kid again. Some of these shows I haven’t seen in easily two decades, so it was quite an awesome experience to get my hands on them. While they’re playing, all the pitfalls of adulthood seem to melt away. It’s been a rough year, and being able to rekindle those feelings was exactly what I needed.
That experience is why we download. It’s the joy and memories that those torrents bring. When I double-click that episode of Thundercats, I’m back in pre-school and life is simple again. That’s the true power of bittorrent. So to Cartoon Chaos and mkdgraham I say thanks and keep up the good work. Let’s keep those memories coming.
-ryedawg