Downloading vs. Streaming

Here, from theverge's Gabe Newell interview, is a quote from him about streaming games from the Internet;

"I spent a bunch of time when [OnLive] first started coming out, saying at the end of the day that trying to do that over [the internet] is the wrong idea. It’s the nature of how you build distributed applications; it’s why AT&T lost and the internet won. AT&T said "let's put all the intelligence into the network and at the center of the network." This is a battle that’s been fought many times."

Which option do you prefer?