xrobertcmx
Premium
join:2001-06-18
Sterling, VA
clubs: 
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Comcast
| reply to biggbrother
Re: No Free Lunch
Funny that you mention XP, I just installed it and noticed that no longer is anything included with it except exactly what microsoft wants to include to shut out there compitition. I have IE, Windows media, and a couple other waste of time programs. If I want to watch a DVD on my computer (No TV in my room) Pay for it. IF I want CP to look as if the user of the computer is older then 6 and does not have a crayola fixation, pay for it. If I want to listen to MP3's download it, or pay for it. Microsoft is keeping things free only to kill the compition, then they will make you pay for it. |
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alex4life
Alex4life
Premium
join:2001-06-22
Delta, BC | reply to gomer1701ems
lol, good one! |
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totamak
And they call me nuts?
join:2000-10-24
Los Angeles, CA
 ·DSL EXTREME
| reply to mags2
With cable TV, you're paying for the 'transport' of said channels. Also the cable (and DSS) pay a nominal fee for each network carried (not all ask for the fee, some are more than willing to go on for free).
The premiums are subscriber paid, note that HBO doesn't have commercials and therefore must generate revenue by subscriptions through the cable/DSS provider.
As for online, most content online isn't worth a dime, I don't bother with streaming video from most sites I visit even when I have the bandwidth (at work I have access to DUAL T-1's!).
The real killer is the price of bandwidth itself, until it gets down to reasonable, I don't see any content oriented business able to sustain itself through subscriptions (even if advert padded) unless it's extremely desirable and almost impossible to get elsewhere. |
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gomer1701ems
join:2001-08-23
Minneapolis, MN
| reply to biggbrother
said by biggbrother:
Or maybe UPN will start charging me to watch Enterprise every week?
Yeah, they'll probably charge 2 bars of gold pressed latinum per episode. 
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Sprint DSL saved me from AT&T Broadband...... |
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mags2
Agent Provocateur
join:2001-07-19
SoCal
| reply to biggbrother
It is ridiculous to have to pay for every single thing we read online -however- as always, there is the bottom line. Look at cable tv. We *still* have to pay to get the line for basic content and pay even more still for the premium channels such as the HBOs, etc. I think that is the model the web will emulate provided the market will support it.
[text was edited by author 2002-03-18 12:03:52] |
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biggbrother
Premium
join:2001-11-07
Providence, RI
| reply to mags2
Funny that while I was reading the article portion regarding CNN, I thought to myself, "I guess I'll be using MSNBC now...", and then the article brought up that same issue!
I will be using MSNBC now. I figure video on that site will stay free for a while, with Microsoft funding it and all. That is one thing no one can complain about MS. I paid $90 for friggin' Windows XP, but at least MS keeps stuff free such as IE, Windows Media, PowerToys, and Streaming Video. I like WMP better than RealPlayer anyway.
If we were to pay for all the stuff these companies want us to pay for, most of us would be broke with over $100 a month going to our broadband ISP, and the various online subscriptions they want us to pay for.
What's next, ALL traditional over-air radio going subscription like XM Radio? Or maybe UPN will start charging me to watch Enterprise every week? Or maybe the friggin Red Sox will start charging me $1.00 per game I watch on TV and still not win a World Series...
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"Well informed people know it is impossible to transmit the voice over wires and that were it possible to do so, the thing would be of no practical value." - Editorial in the Boston Post (1865)MSN MESSENGER HANDLE: JMSYLVIA |
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