| reply to pabster
I agree to some extent. I agree that the average Internet user won't delve in to the nitty gritty details about download times, unlike broadband report readers. I do believe most prefer faster page loads and the ability to look at family photos or videos posted to sites like photobucket. However, should the big ISPs (telco & cable) point to this as justification for raising their prices through various schemes,there's one very important caveat they need to consider, especially given the economic straits that we're in at present. Internet service isn't an essential service, unlike food and energy, and it needs to be affordable. Given the current inflationary trend, the average consumer cannot continue to sustain increased prices on all goods and services---they're to the point of having to make decisions about which non-essential services to drop (or at least choose a more cost-effective alternative). We're almost to double digit inflation when looking at the real figures that factor in energy and food costs--the term the government likes to brandish, "core inflation," is simply a term of art developed under the Nixon administration to keep the calculation of the CPI artificially low for purposes of keeping annual increases to government entitlement programs low. |
