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Microsoft Backs Down, Lets OneDrive Users Keep Their Free 15GB of Storage
New submitter Farfetched619 writes: In November, Microsoft revealed that they would be reducing free OneDrive storage from 15GB to 5GB for all users, current and new. Microsoft mentioned that some subscribers were hosting movies and large files on the service, which has prompted the company to make this drastic change. Now, after community feedback, Microsoft is allowing free OneDrive users to retain their 15GB of free storage space.
No it isn't. Two reasons:
1) The whole "tragedy of the Commons" style argument, where people are irresponsible, greed-maximising cunts who only consider their own short term needs, does not pan out in reality, as people aren't so psychopathic. If you allocate people a shared resource, they tend to consider the needs of fellow consumers beyond what the law/contract allows, as humans are social creatures.
2) Anyway, people tend on average not to need to make maximum possible use of a resource 24/7. Businesses obviously plan accordingly, for otherwise everyone would be paying way more - and rather than charging by average megabyte usage per hour or something ridiculously complex, they provide a maximum reasonable allocation and predict average usage. Sometimes they get the calculation wrong, and have to adjust downward - see also Internet access, all-you-can-eat buffets, etc.