russotto
join:2000-10-05
Collegeville, PA
|  Death of broadband predicted, no stream at 11
Nothing will kill broadband faster than billing by the byte. People hated dialup billing by the minute, but at least then you could pretty easily determine what you were being billed (X minutes = $Y). With broadband, not only do you have that feeling of being on a toll call all the time, you don't know what the rate is going to be until the bill comes. |
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b_zen
Premium
join:2002-07-24
Saint Louis, MO
clubs:
 ·TTNet
| I disagree...
With up-front rates, you'd know exactly how much you'd be charged before ordering.
The main difference in your Telco's analogies in relation to getting knocked out by the monthly bill, is that broadband allows you to check how much one thing costs you in real-time. So you always have the option to order or not.
A low "broadband" or higher speed connection as a basic service + the option to go higher only when I choose to, would make me feel very comfortable because I'd be in control.
Also, how much of your current 1.5Mbps or 3Mbps do you actually use per month? Simply put, there are not many online services (i.e. DVD quality video streaming, 24-bit DVD audio, Virtual Reality based services and more) available currently that would use up your bandwidth. Furthermore, as a typical user, you are being pinned down by rigorous TOS' designed to prevent a few heavy loaders from going "overboard", it (TOS) is a preemptive action  and we *ALL* end up paying for it.
As a "metered" option, a user will pay a primary connection fee, and be responsible for his/her own extra bandwidth usage via a throttle-like or burstable service; no more whining, no more blaming, you're now in control...
My 2 cents...
[text was edited by author 2003-09-17 18:59:30] |
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russotto
join:2000-10-05
Collegeville, PA | reply to russotto
You'd know how much you were going to be charged per byte. But do you really know how many bytes you transfer? Every time you click on a link or download a file, you'd know the meter was ticking, but not necessarily how much. |
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b_zen
Premium
join:2002-07-24
Saint Louis, MO
clubs:
·TTNet
| I think as long as you brainstorm and ponder the issues, solutions can be found...
An example to browser based byte consumption, your ISP could offer a small IE Toolbar download (i.e. Google Search Bar) with Real Time KB consumption and corresponding price, or credit left...
For other usages such as gaming or streaming, it would be trickier but likely do-able...
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Just Be!
[text was edited by author 2003-09-18 07:17:02] |
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Nimdae
@direcpc.com
| Not necesarily. Windows already keeps track of transferred data. It would actually be more efficient to attach a program onto this function, and possibly have it sync up with the isp maybe once a day or upon request for info such as next reset date, and actual bandwidth consumption. Why would actual bandwidth consumption be different from what your computer tells you? If I were an ISP implementing this, I would add exemptions to sites such windows update, the isp servers (so updating itself would be free as well, and possibly email use if you use the ISP's email service), and other operating system update sites.
If done correctly, metered service would be a lot more beneficial than timed or tiered. |
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b_zen
Premium
join:2002-07-24
Saint Louis, MO
clubs: | Too Bad You're Un-Registered...
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Just Be! |
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