So now that digital distribution is more viable, can Santa Claus be plausible?

[pppppppppppppppppp]

Hey guys, I had the strangest thought today: That with the popularity of digital distribution, Santa Claus could be totally plausible to children again!

Think about it, in the somewhat near future where most kids will want something digitally transferrable and not everything can be put under the tree, we can tell them Santa Claus has a big factory in the North Pole where he sends kids their movies, games, songs, and ebooks across the world with his supercomputer. Since data can be transferred near-instantaneously across the world, this story is a lot more possible and fits the digital age we're moving into.

We can say the parents give the physical gifts under the tree, and Santa gives you the stuff on your computer. Everybody wins!

Do you think this makes sense? And for added discussion, how did you perceive the whole Santa Claus story as a kid?

EDIT: Oh, and I forgot to mention you could probably do the same thing with mail-in orders from places like Amazon, but addressed as from Santa Claus. In fact, I'm betting there's already a service that does this...

 

[DJDarque]

What are you going to tell them when "Santa Claus" starts sending them emails for penis enlargement and other spam?

 

[pppppppppppppppppp]

What are you going to tell them when "Santa Claus" starts sending them emails for penis enlargement and other spam?

That's easy. They must have been naughty all year. Good kids get movies and games, bad kids get Enzyte samples in the mail.

 

[Super Six One]

You can digitally distribute a bike? Or a remote controlled car? No, this changes nothing about Santa. How many parents bother with downloading games for their kids anyway, i'm sure they would rather give the pyhsical copy, gives the kids somthing to unwrap on the day.

 

[Melon Hunter]

You can digitally distribute a bike? Or a remote controlled car? No, this changes nothing about Santa. How many parents bother with downloading games for their kids anyway, i'm sure they would rather give the pyhsical copy, gives the kids somthing to unwrap on the day.

Wait, I've got it! Some day in the future, all houses will have 3D printers! So, on Christmas Eve, the printer 'magically' produces the physical objects it normally couldn't possibly reproduce, but only for good children who go to bed early and leave out an SD drive for the digital reindeer.

 

[RatRace123]

I'm gonna be honest, that's kinda depressing.
It's a great idea, but damn... thinking about it, digital distribution could really kill some of the magic of finding a present under the tree.

Of course I prefer the ol' fashioned ways, and hard copies of games so I'm understandably a bit biased.

And now for some reason all I can picture is a legion of elves sitting at computers downloading games into kids consoles.

 

[Megacherv]

What do you mean 'can he be plausible'? Santa Claus exists...

...shut up!

 

[teqrevisited]

What are you going to tell them when "Santa Claus" starts sending them emails for penis enlargement and other spam?

I nearly choked on a muffin then. I have to agree though. A kind old bearded guy who flies around in a magical sleigh with flying reindeer is a hell of a lot less creepy than a faceless old man who sends gifts to children online.

 

[GamerKT]

You can digitally distribute a bike? Or a remote controlled car? No, this changes nothing about Santa. How many parents bother with downloading games for their kids anyway, i'm sure they would rather give the pyhsical copy, gives the kids somthing to unwrap on the day.

Wow, did you even read?

 

[ZeroMachine]

What are you going to tell them when "Santa Claus" starts sending them emails for penis enlargement and other spam?

I nearly choked on a muffin then. I have to agree though. A kind old bearded guy who flies around in a magical sleigh with flying reindeer is a hell of a lot less creepy than a faceless old man who sends gifts to children online.

I see NOTHING wrong with...

Spoiler

... Ooooooh...

 

[Hipsy_Gypsy]

[..]

EDIT: Oh, and I forgot to mention you could do the same thing with mail-in orders from places like Amazon, but addressed as from Santa Claus. In fact, I'm betting there's already a service that does this...

Aye, my Mort book by Terry Pratchett came yesterday and one of the wee leaflet/offer thingmajigs was "Send a Letter from Santa" (nspcc.org.uk/santa). Mind you, it is just a letter.
Funny, when I bought "Mogworld" and a uni-directional microphone, I think it was, I got a £50 voucher for wine.

 

[Super Six One]

You can digitally distribute a bike? Or a remote controlled car? No, this changes nothing about Santa. How many parents bother with downloading games for their kids anyway, i'm sure they would rather give the pyhsical copy, gives the kids somthing to unwrap on the day.

Wow, did you even read?

Um yes, did you read mine?

 

[Zen Toombs]

Do you think this makes sense?

I'm not sure that it makes Santa more plausible to a child, but you present an amusing argument nonetheless.

Also, I may do this when I'm a parent....

 

[Aiedail256]

The IRL version of Sheldon Cooper will be scarred for life when he tries to say hi to Santa by IP tracking and hacking and such.

 

[Insobriety]

So only kids with computers get gifts from Santa? That's sad..

 

[Esotera]

What do bad gamers get in their stockings for Christmas instead of coal, games that can require an Origin account or something?

And what happens if Santa's steam account was compromised? Christmas is ruined

 

[emeraldrafael]

This is assuming every gift a child gets its a digital one.

Personally, id keep santa as the physical man. why would santa suddenly switch to digital distribution anyway.

 

[KeyMaster45]

What do bad gamers get in their stockings for Christmas instead of coal, games that can require an Origin account or something?

They get copies of E.T. for the Atari 2600, or Superman for the N64. It depends on if they left whole or skim milk for Santa.

OT: Why does Santa need to be plausible to a child? You want to know what makes Santa plausible to a child, magic. It is the end all be all explanation for Santa when it comes to children. For those of you inevitably going to show up with your superiority complex of "I was never stupid enough to believe in Santa," we thank you for your statement and would ask that you leave and stop sucking the happy from the room.