 
S_engineer
join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL | its almost time... to dump my cable, cell phone, and HSI!
Maybe I'll get to relax then....but what would I do with the extra money?
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Burn a tire, but make sure you buy that carbon offset! | |
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antdude
A Ninja Ant
Premium,VIP
join:2001-03-25
| Re: its almost time... said by S_engineer  :to dump my cable, cell phone, and HSI! Maybe I'll get to relax then....but what would I do with the extra money? Savings.  | |
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| | grandpinaple
join:2006-01-03
New York, NY | Re: its almost time... Use it to pay for the porn you won't be downloading. | |
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antdude
A Ninja Ant
Premium,VIP
join:2001-03-25
| Re: its almost time... said by grandpinaple :Use it to pay for the porn you won't be downloading. If he/she into that.  | |
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jgkolt
Premium
join:2004-02-21
Lakewood, OH
clubs:
1 edit | Tired of users freeloading off of your unsecured hotspot? Tired of users freeloading off of your unsecured hotspot?
how does metered help that.that will only increase with metered isps
This will hold back legitimate innovation while encourage illegitimate innovation (viruses, spam, etc) | |
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S_engineer
join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL | Re: Tired of users freeloading off of your unsecured hotspot? It really doesen't matter what they decide, just know that your bill will be going up!
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Burn a tire, but make sure you buy that carbon offset! | |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| said by jgkolt :Tired of users freeloading off of your unsecured hotspot? how does metered help that.that will only increase with metered isps Because when you get a HUGE bill in you'll finally be motivated to secure you hotspot. | |
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jgkolt
Premium
join:2004-02-21
Lakewood, OH
clubs: | Re: Tired of users freeloading off of your unsecured hotspot? even if you secure your router it still can be hacked. wpa wep. most people dont even know how to use a password | |
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Fox McCloud
Crazy like a fox.
join:2006-07-23
 ·Embarq
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Re: Tired of users freeloading off of your unsecured hotspot? your logic is exactly what I was thinking; people will just start freeloading off of each other and screwing over the person that owns that connection.
All in all, bill by the byte is a disaster waiting to happen....I can see billing by blocks of like 20-30GB (with the next 20-30GB being only a couple bucks more....nothing to fret over), but by the byte is going to be ick.....(please note that I wouldn't even support the 20-30GB blocks either; I'm for unlimited's true and canonical definition). | |
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KoolMoe
Aw Man
Premium
join:2001-02-14
Annapolis, MD
clubs:
 ·Verizon FIOS
·Speakeasy
| Re: as long as there is no minimum.... You know there would be a minimum billing rate, like for POTS. This wouldn't save anyone money. Maybe prices would come down a little to help sell the idea, but per/byte would hugely expand user's bills.
Look at the iPhone problems when folks don't realize it's communicating - multi-thousand dollar bills. Will ISPs really want to handle the irate users?
If we had true competition, I'd be all for some ISPs trying this per-byte method, as I predict the ISPs that don't so it would gain a huge following. BUT, since we have very little BB competition, once this is 'standard', I doubt anyone won't do it.
Ultimately, I'm against it until an ISP can absolutely guarantee me I won't be billed for any byte I don't specifically request. Don't like your neighbor? Send him a several hi-rez JPGs and listen to him scream when he gets his next ISP bill.
Way too many ways this would cause problems, although I do certainly see the point of pay for what you use (like most utilities).
KM | |
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S_engineer
join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL
 ·Comcast
| Re: as long as there is no minimum.... The people that would love this the most are the RIAA and MPAA. Kids, and adults, would curtail their piracy if they were truly paying for the product.
The thought of this however sets a very bad precedent!
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Burn a tire, but make sure you buy that carbon offset! | |
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| | | rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO
| Re: as long as there is no minimum.... Regarding piracy -- it would certainly curtail it but there are two things different now than in my youth that make piracy much more pervasive:
1) It's quick and incredibly easy to rip a CD.
2) Everyone has high speed connections to share files.
For the moment, let's assume 2 becomes expensive. We still haven't addressed 1.
In my youth we made 8-track (yes, I had a Radio Shack Realistic 8-track recorder!) and later cassette tapes of each others albums and 45rpm hit singles. Recording took place in real time. If you wanted to copy someones album, it took an hour to make the copy. There were some tape-to-tape decks that would copy at faster speeds but a tape copy of an album contains significantly degraded fidelity. At the very least, a tape-to-tape copy doubles the degradation. Bottom line -- it was a pain in the ass to share music.
Today even without high speed Internet connections, the digital age makes it quick and easy to copy music. With a thumb drive friends can share hundreds of albums with minimal hassle. It's even easier if the music is already in MP3 format because there's no rip time. Practically instant, perfect copies can be made. | |
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David
No,there is another.
Premium,VIP
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL
clubs:
 ·DIRECTV
 ·magicjack.com
·AT&T Midwest
| said by S_engineer :The people that would love this the most are the RIAA and MPAA. Kids, and adults, would curtail their piracy if they were truly paying for the product. The thought of this however sets a very bad precedent! I had this same thought about 2 years prior, and still think it's going to come to it. I can guarantee when one provider starts doing it, they all will.
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If you have a topic in the direct forum please reply to it or a post of mine, I get a notification when you do this.
Koetting Ford, Granite City, illinois... YOU'RE FIRED!!
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| | | | Ahrenl
join:2004-10-26
North Andover, MA | Re: as long as there is no minimum.... They wouldn't love it when all their online sales go "poof" because everything is now twice as expensive. | |
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| plat2on1
join:2002-08-21
Hopewell Junction, NY
clubs: | there would have to be a minimum, bandwidth isn't an ISP's only cost | |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| said by plat2on1 :there would have to be a minimum, bandwidth isn't an ISP's only cost the minimum = what you currently pay then add in what you use. its a WIN WIN for ISPs.
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You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth | |
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| Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL
| Re: Perhaps if they offered a two tiered model..... Not when we have big system updates that have to be download all the time. Vista sp1 may max out at 1gb. Also M$ killed off auto patcher so we not need to download the update on each system useing auto update / Microsoft update or set up a WSUS sever with is to much for a few system in a home And is just for you OS. Games and other apps now days have lots of big updates that you also need to download.
So this may push people to hold off on updates to keep under there bandwidth limits. | |
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kballs
@comcast.net
|  Re: Perhaps if they offered a two tiered model.....
$5 per megabyte.
Download 1GB in Windows Updates, that'll only cost you $5000.
DSL ISPs that have metered plans are usually more like $10 per gigabyte with a base price of say $20... so that 1GB of Windows Updates comes to $30... but if you have 3 machines: $50 plus whatever other bandwidth you use. Many users would regularly see bills over $100 for something that used to cost $30-40... and even grandma would incur extra costs because of updates, etc. that she doesn't even know is happening... which brings up botnets... so the power users would pay a lot because they are actively using the net, and the clueless users would pay a lot because THE NET is actively using THEM. | |
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redshift
Premium
join:2004-03-23
Beverly Hills, CA
| Re: Perhaps if they offered a two tiered model..... Having seen metered plans first hand in other countries, usually data like Microsoft updates or Linux distributions or other stuff like that can be placed on the ISPs server, and usually isn't metered. It saves the ISP a lot of bandwidth usage, and the customer some money. | |
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| Warez_Zealot
Rural land of the rising sun
join:2006-04-19
japan
| Internet isn't a phone line. The only reason there were long distance charges was because they were monopolies. If they try to do that format here, they would loose business. I for one would rather get unlimited dial up and a second phone line than pay double or triple for metered inet.
Only something like metered internet could happen in a backwards country like the USA. | |
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| | openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA | Re: Perhaps if they offered a two tiered model..... I love ignorant comments. How do you think ISPs buy bandwidth access in the first place? | |
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| | | Warez_Zealot
Rural land of the rising sun
join:2006-04-19
japan | Re: Perhaps if they offered a two tiered model..... Well they are secluded countries w/ relatively low populations where most of their fibre is run underwater.. What's the USA's excuse? | |
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| | | | openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA | Re: Perhaps if they offered a two tiered model..... What does that have to do with your comment about backwards countries and metered Internet access? | |
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| | | | | Warez_Zealot
Rural land of the rising sun
join:2006-04-19
japan
1 edit | Re: Perhaps if they offered a two tiered model..... Uh, yeah digging a hole? How many ISP's even have metered inet in Britain? I'm sure they aren't really any ISP's charging by the byte in London, Glasgow, or the other larger cities. I unless they have a ISP monopoly where you have the choice between cable, 1 telco, and a few resellers..
I heard that NZ, AU, and Argentina do, but that's because they are cut off from society, and the cost of running fibre cost a lot, so they charge up the ass to avoid upgrading.
Charging by the byte is going to halt the evolution of the internet in USA, Canada, not develope it quicker. | |
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redshift
Premium
join:2004-03-23
Beverly Hills, CA
| Re: Perhaps if they offered a two tiered model..... NZ and Au do charge by the gigabyte, but they have capped plans as well, just not that same as the North American ones. What they do over there is slow your internet down when you exceed your data limit for the month.
Bandwidth costs in Au/NZ are nearly 100X more than what you would pay for it in the US, primarily because of the fact that most of the bandwidth is controlled by a monopoly, or duopoly, and of course the bulk of the data is overseas, and therefore run through expensive underwater fiber/fibre.
That being said though they have access to pretty innovative technology such as ADSL2+/Annex M and most people can get 8Mbps dsl even in rural areas. So it doesn't necessarily halt innovation, but can actually drive it.
Compare that to say a place like the GTA in Canada. You'd be lucky if you could even get 5mbps DSL, with most people syncing at 3mbps...if lucky. And don't even start about the oversold Cable (Rogers) where they throttle everything including torrents,voip, so the extra "bandwidth" is a mute point. Of course they also have invisible caps, which Bell Sympatico also now openly admits (check out their plans). Also no residential FTTH providers like Verizon, so in that respect the US isn't that backwards. | |
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| | | | | | | Warez_Zealot
Rural land of the rising sun
join:2006-04-19
japan
| Re: Perhaps if they offered a two tiered model..... Wow, keep trying. The fact is, there is a generation of people from 14-25 who would never go on metered broadband knowing it's a scam unless it was their only option.
If you can't see that, I feel sorry for you.
P.S Are those the only 2 ISP's in all of Britain? lol... I'm sure their clients are the equivalent to that USA AOL subscribers.. | |
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| | | | | | | | | Warez_Zealot
Rural land of the rising sun
join:2006-04-19
japan
| Re: Perhaps if they offered a two tiered model..... Your not making any sense. Sure they may or may not be paying for inet now -- which is un-metered (by that I mean no surplus fees). One day those kids will eventually move out, and will not buy metered internet where you pay by the bite.
Either you are in China (where generations of families live together) or maybe you have nice parents who will let you live at home for the rest of your their life. If that's the case great for you. Just run up that pay by the bit internet cause they pay for it; but where I come from 99% of most parents kick their kids out by the time they hit 18 -19 let alone 25... | |
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Piggie
I Actually use Windstream
Premium
join:2005-11-23
Orange Springs, FL
·HughesNet Satellit..
·Windstream
| Re: Perhaps if they offered a two tiered model..... 90% of the problem didn't even start until the cable dsl bandwidth wars. Who can bring the most to your door for the least.
If cable and dsl companies would sell reasonable packages, at a price they need to charge, this would mostly end. If 512 would be in the $20 range, to replace dial up. $30 to $35 for 1.5 and in the $60 range for 3m. This would solve a lot of problems. If 99% of their customers are not bandwidth hogs, they could live easy on the lower speeds.
I have throttled my router to 512 to see what it would be like, and one can surf very comfortable. Just some longer movies on news sites and Utube take longer.
The bandwidth war was a dumb idea and now it's back to bite the consumer. Sad :@(
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| Speedstream 4200 Modem - 3m/384 plan | W98-W2KSP4-XPSP2 - All AMD | Buffalo WHR G54S with OpenWRT WR0.9 | 2 downstream switches feeding 5 total clients (no wireless) | Including the Data port on the side of my neck | | |
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| | hottboiinnc
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH | much like Canada as well. Many providers up there; charge per byte or after a certain amount of gigs its charged as overage. | |
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Jerm
join:2000-04-10
Richland, WA
1 edit | Here's the real problem with Metered Internet:
When ISPs buy in bulk, they get good per GB pricing. Common estimates range from $0.10-$0.20 per GB for the bigger ISPs. (cost from their upstream provider)
How much bandwidth does the *average* consumer use per month? You might be surprised - a large amount of $50/month highspeed users are pulling LESS than 1GB per month! The overall average has been reported in the past to be between 2-5GB per month (from cable ISPs with high speeds).
That's why unlimited internet works. The few users who do use 30-50GB a month are subsidised by the many who do much less. And the very rare > 100GB/month user probably does lose them $$, but this game is all about the numbers.
Why should we NOT go to metered 'net? Because there's no way ISPs would charge a reasonable (ie $0.50/GB) rate and quite simply - despite all the whining here on BBR, most of the time UNLIMITED INTERNET WORKS JUST FINE THE WAY IT IS! | |
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and dont forget
@tel-ott.com
| Re: Providers cost per GB? Try $0.10 per GB! the bond issues!
Some isp's fund their growth through bond issues. Stable predictable income is what investors want.
Not a unpredictable revenue stream that only pays in the cold months.
Its not feasible for the reasons you mentioned. Most people don't use their connections so it would probably reduce cash flow except in the coldest months of the year. | |
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| | | | openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA | Re: Providers cost per GB? Try $0.10 per GB! Minimum fee for service which includes a basic amount of traffic per month. Above that, you pay per byte. There would be no reduced income for the ISPs. In fact, they would see an increase in revenue. | |
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mpelle4456
Say What?
join:2001-07-21
Tacoma, WA
·Advanced Stream
| Metered Billing is a very bad thing... ...because it would stifle the development of new technology and prevent many of the most exciting prospective uses of the internet - like HD movie downloads and videophones and software delivery.
Metered billing is an insidious threat, in its own way, just as critical as Net Neutrality.
The Internet is fast on its way to becoming the most essential home utility - just as important as your lights or water or sewer. Soon all content - HD video, data and VoIP will come over one pipe.
When I hear assinine ideas like metered billing being tossed about, it only drives home the conclusion that Internet access is way to critical to leave in the hands of greedy private corporations.
How would it be if your electrical utility cut you off for over consumption? Or your sewer? (you crap too much!).
What we need is municipal broadband. Everywhere. Un-metered, un-filtered, and unlimited.
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He who hesitates is lost.
My Blog
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texans20
Weapons of Masturbation
Premium
join:2002-09-28
Texas!
clubs:
| Profits These companies are entitled to make a profit, and I think getting rid of flat-rate billing is one option. The broadband providers could do what the cell phone companies do, give you a big chunk per month and you pay the overage.
Hell, they could take it one step further and give people unlimited "off-peak" and I think that would benefit all parties. The person pirating off torrent/usenet could set the software to transfer only during off-peak times, and during peak usage Average Joe's youtube video will stream great. Joe never goes over because simply browsing the net, streaming music/movies, and checking email wouldn't be bandwidth intensive enough to go over the allotted "peak" GBs per month. Usenet pirate might have to wait a few hours to download that new porn DVD, but if he starts the download during the off-peak time he won't be charged with 4.5GB.
Any other constructive ideas?
--
The true patriot is motivated by a sense of responsibility, and out of self interest -- for himself, his family, and the future of his country -- to resist government abuse of power. He rejects the notion that patriotism means obedience to the state. | |
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| openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: Profits said by texans20 :Any other constructive ideas? The ISPs should bill like they are being billed if they want to make/save money. For example, when you lease space at a data center there are two common methods to pay for bandwidth usage; set amount of GB/mth + overage fees, and the 95th percentile (or an equivalent). What's even better is that you can have 100 Mbps or 1 Gbps connection and use it for whatever you are will to pay for. If people in this country really want 100 Mpbs synchronous connections, this is how to get there IMO. Fee for service, bill for usage. It works for other "utilities" why can't it work for broadband? | |
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Corehhi
join:2002-01-28
Bluffton, SC
| Re: Profits said by openbox9 :said by texans20 :Any other constructive ideas? The ISPs should bill like they are being billed if they want to make/save money. For example, when you lease space at a data center there are two common methods to pay for bandwidth usage; set amount of GB/mth + overage fees, and the 95th percentile (or an equivalent). What's even better is that you can have 100 Mbps or 1 Gbps connection and use it for whatever you are will to pay for. If people in this country really want 100 Mpbs synchronous connections, this is how to get there IMO. Fee for service, bill for usage. It works for other "utilities" why can't it work for broadband? Chicken and the egg. If ISP charge for more bandwidth they won't raise the caps or tiers. First problem is TV, you will have no choice but to have your TV provider be your internet provider if not your internet bill will be huge when HD TV gets to become standard. It goes on and on. | |
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| | | openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: Profits said by Corehhi :Chicken and the egg. If ISP charge for more bandwidth they won't raise the caps or tiers. First problem is TV, you will have no choice but to have your TV provider be your internet provider if not your internet bill will be huge when HD TV gets to become standard. It goes on and on. It's only a chicken/egg situation if you're talking about the fact that 100 Mbps connections aren't deployed to all consumers. In a bill for usage scenario, you won't have caps or tiers. I don't understand your comment about TV. Why would your TV provider have to be your ISP? What are your "on and on" problems? | |
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Corehhi
join:2002-01-28
Bluffton, SC
| Re: Profits said by openbox9 :said by Corehhi :Chicken and the egg. If ISP charge for more bandwidth they won't raise the caps or tiers. First problem is TV, you will have no choice but to have your TV provider be your internet provider if not your internet bill will be huge when HD TV gets to become standard. It goes on and on. It's only a chicken/egg situation if you're talking about the fact that 100 Mbps connections aren't deployed to all consumers. In a bill for usage scenario, you won't have caps or tiers. I don't understand your comment about TV. Why would your TV provider have to be your ISP? What are your "on and on" problems? 100 Mbs connections? I couldn't get high speed till 5 years ago and that was 1 meg down. I was upgraded for free to 3 megs probably a year and a half ago. I can't purchase a higher tier period. Unless I get a T1.
Just thought about it. I was thinking the TV might be sent over the internet as in movies. Movie on demand. If you had a different company as your internet provider those movies would send you right over any limit they set up. Same with VoIP. If you have company deliver everything it wouldn't be a problem but what if you order HD movies every other night> Usage would be huge. | |
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| | | | | openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: Profits The 100 Mbps connection is hypothetical. It really doesn't matter what the connection is as long as you have a connection. Where are you getting HD movies on demand over the Internet? Even if you are, time to start sharing that cost with your transit provider. I'll grant you VoIP consumes a portion of your bandwidth, but honestly, the requirements are so low that unless you use it 24/7, I don't think you'd have a problem. | |
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RayW
Premium
join:2001-09-01
Layton, UT
clubs:
·XMission
| I like the way Xmission does it Quote : "100 GB (combined up and down) of datatransfer in any 4 week period. Please note that bandwidth usage is only metered on weekdays, from 7 a.m. - midnight. If necessary, additional bandwidth can be purchased." Several years ago the limit was 10 up/10 down, so as they get better prices we get better service. Oh, and since I started with them on DSL, I think it was 5 years ago, I think the monthly bill has gone up about $2 a month but with the new 1 year plan I am now cheaper than when I started. (Qwest has actually come down for the access line too, surprisingly enough.)
Oh, and you can share your usage if you want, at least when I asked about it two years ago it was ok and the web page does not say different.
Even with a teenager who is heavy into anima and playstation music downloads, a weather web page, my gaming, and M$ updates, we do not get anywhere near the 100 GB.
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I am not lost, I find myself every time. | |
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jjoshua
Premium
join:2001-06-01
Scotch Plains, NJ | So now I can pay twice... I can pay once for the speed tier and again for the actual data. No thanks.
Who is going to pay for the continuous script kiddie activity hitting my firewall day and night? Not me. | |
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TechieZero
Tools Are Using Me
Premium
join:2002-01-25
Wesley Chapel, FL | Who Cares...Again... Like I wrote yesterday...who cares? It's their business, and network, and they can run it anyway they want as long as they do it legally. Any thing else is talking out of our a--. The consumer will eventually decide who is more sucessfull at it. | |
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jp
Premium
join:2000-05-18
Fountain Hills, AZ
| Unintended Consequences There would be a lot of unintended consequences with a bill-by-the-byte scheme. Two quick examples - I don't currently block ads - but if I have to pay for the bandwidth to display that ad, you can be sure I would block all ads. I think the gaming industry would suffer as well - Both for companies like Steam with its on-line downloads, and my own gaming habits with MMOGs.
Better to find a narrow-beam solution for those using "too much" bandwidth rather then the nuke option that hits all users.
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All that is gold does not glitter Simplycomp Solutions | |
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rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO
| How about metered LD? Haven't we learned our lesson? When my wife and I were dating, we spent two years apart while she finished college. I remember $200 and $300/month long distance bills. That's all changed now because anyone that doesn't have an unlimited long distance plan is either ignorant or never makes a long distance call. For that matter, how many of us with our cell phones even consider what's long distance or local?
Isn't the same true of unlimited LD plans? Don't the few use most of the capacity? Where is the outcry? | |
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expert007
join:2006-01-10
Buffalo, NY | Why Does It Have to Be One or the Other? Why not charge bandwidth 'hogs' a premium for going over the caps? Then the average Joe can go with a lower rate plan. | |
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| RayW
Premium
join:2001-09-01
Layton, UT
clubs:
·XMission
| Re: Why Does It Have to Be One or the Other? said by expert007 :Why not charge bandwidth 'hogs' a premium for going over the caps? Then the average Joe can go with a lower rate plan. But according to certain industry apologists, they can not advertise what the caps are because company X down the road will add 10 MB to that and look better. Although I think my ISP (not related to the carrier - qwest) has not had any problems by stating that you have 100 GB total.
So I think think the hidden caps issues are just an excuse to limit getting better service in place for certain areas (after all, hidden means you can not compare what you are paying for in various areas).
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I am not lost, I find myself every time. | |
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| | vicorjh
Premium
join:2007-06-24
Arlington, MA | Re: Why Does It Have to Be One or the Other? Right, that's competition. But it would be terrible (in their minds) if they had to compete. | |
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Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA | Higher Prices for Average User Anyone who thinks that a provider who talks about "billing by the byte" is talking only about bandwidth hogs and not raising rates on the average user is a fool. | |
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| openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA | Re: Higher Prices for Average User The same can be said for anyone who thinks the average user will pay more than currently with all things being equal. | |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ | Australia crap Needs to stay in australia! needless to say if this came here, i'd dump my provider and use those 6 open APs that i see on a regular basis.
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You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth | |
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| openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA | Re: Australia crap I bet they wouldn't be open after the first month's bill came in. | |
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Thaler
Premium
join:2004-02-02
Encino, CA | Publish the %*@#ing Caps! The title is all that needs to be said. All the hubbub and commotion that the major ISPs get into over the mystery 99th-percentile users could be advoided...if people could just find out what they're advoiding. | |
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mitska
join:2001-12-25
Sarasota, FL
·Comcast
| bah nothing to see here, just another grab at yours and my hard-earned dollars. Day this happens is the day I take the pruning shears to my cable lines and make the side of my house look better. Bottom line, you make it terribly expensive to share on the internet, people will share another way and you will lose customers and money. What's next? You watched 4 extras hours of HBO last week, we claim your firstborn child?
totally asinine... | |
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Agent 86
@comcast.net
 from:
TKJunkMail
| Already here People are talking as if this is something that "might" happen, when in fact it's been going on for years. Many ISPs explicitly charge for bandwidth (not at the first byte, of course - you get a chunk of 'free' bandwidth for your monthly fee). Many others have an implicit price of INFINITY$ for bandwidth (i.e. they won't sell bandwidth at any price if you cross a secret threshold). Funnily, many people are happy to delude themselves into believing that an infinite price is less than a finite price. | |
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viperpa33s
Why Me?
Premium
join:2002-12-20
Bradenton, FL
·Bright House
| Might as well just go back to dial up Billing by the byte would not be a good idea cause having the internet would be to expensive to use for a lot of people. To expensive even for the people who only use the internet just for web browsing and emails.
Video streaming, sending home movies, , video downloading, sending pictures, playing online games will be all to expensive to do if you bill by the byte. I am sure no one will want a $300 - $500 internet bill.
My position always has been the government should not get into the internet business. With crazy ideas like this, it makes me kind of wonder if that position is outdated. Might as well go back to dial up, at least you didn't have any of these issues. | |
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| openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: Might as well just go back to dial up said by viperpa33s :Billing by the byte would not be a good idea cause having the internet would be to expensive to use for a lot of people. To expensive even for the people who only use the internet just for web browsing and emails. You mean too expensive like other metered services such as electricity, oil, gas, water, cell phone, etc.? said by viperpa33s :Video streaming, sending home movies, , video downloading, sending pictures, playing online games will be all to expensive to do if you bill by the byte. I am sure no one will want a $300 - $500 internet bill. Unless the ISPs want to go broke from the attrition of customers, I seriously doubt the normal user doing the things that you referenced will ever see a bill anywhere close to $300.
Eke, the sky is falling. | |
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j_on_fire
join:2005-02-24
canada
| As if prices would somehow miraclously jump 10 fold. I pay $50/month.
I think I am under average, so if we went to $/byte I would hopefully only pay ~$35/month. If I really wanted to d/l a game/music/movie etc I'll pay for it; which might kill companies such as Direct2Drive.
The power users can pay for their own useage without me subsidizing them.
I am in favour of the government owning the pipes and the cable/phone companies can lease/rent the last mile, depending on who I choose. But I am only in favour of this when the government gets it's act together. hahahhaahahahahhahahahahhaha. | |
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| mworks
join:2006-06-13
Faison, NC
| Re: As if prices would somehow miraclously jump 10 fold. Its all about greed.
The isp promote unlimited access and then complain when someone uses it that way.
If the isp don't like bandwidth hogs, then limit the connection. Post up front what your limits are for the amount of money and quit whining.
The problem is they won't do that because unlimited is a much better buzzword to attract customers. I'm willing to pay for what I use, but stop this unlimited, but with hidden caps , garbage. | |
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| | openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA | Re: As if prices would somehow miraclously jump 10 fold. I believe most (all?) ISPs stopped the "unlimited" marketing a few years ago. | |
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GubmitListens
@verizon.net
| said by j_on_fire :I am in favour of the government owning the pipes The Gubmit is *allowed* to listen to what it owns...
Think again. | |
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Billed By The Byte
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Wanna know what metered billing is like?