Couple Builds New Home Just For Broadband Then considers moving back to old home when DSL arrives... "It was worth it, not to hear my husband bitch about the connection anymore," a woman tells the Associated Press, explaining why they chose to build a new home largely just to get broadband. Agents say they've seen deals fall through once buyers find they can't get broadband. This of course brings up the age old debate around these parts over whether broadband is just a luxury, or a necessary utility. It's a debate because if it's a utility it becomes infrastructure, and government would likely get involved in deployment. That's a nightmare to ISPs and Milton Friedman free marketeers, who believe the market, when left alone by the government, shall provide and self-regulate.
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  XBL2009------
join:2001-01-03
Chicago, IL | Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government Sadly they have become one in the same. Most politicians go to work in the private sector after there careers are over.
Nothing like selling your vote to the highest bidder. | |
|  | Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government No but some ISPs are in for a rude awakening after Barack Obama moves into the White House. While government funds will remain limited the regulatory climate that allowed those ISPs to ignore the digital divide will change dramatically. | |
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approval from:
Cabal 
| Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government Case in point. Obama was the higher bidder. Selfish idiots like this guy voted him based on the promise that Obama would use the police power of government to kick in their neighbor's door, take stuff, and give it to him. | |
| | | | SingularPremium
join:2008-08-13
Shelbyville, KY
kudos:2 | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government Ahh... the good old spread the wealth around theory, my own money that I work hard for doesn't even belong to me anymore. It belongs to everyone else. What is this country coming to. | |
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1 edit | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government said by Singular:Ahh... the good old spread the wealth around theory, my own money that I work hard for doesn't even belong to me anymore. It belongs to everyone else.
Well we certainly can't allow you to have more than your neighbor. So it's got to be taken away from you and given to someone that doesn't want to work as hard as you. After all, that is the Democrat way Barack Obama way Socialist way. Of sourse, those three are all one in the same. | |
| | | | | |  wifi4milezBig Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government said by skrupowies:said by Singular:Ahh... the good old spread the wealth around theory, my own money that I work hard for doesn't even belong to me anymore. It belongs to everyone else. Well we certainly can't allow you to have more than your neighbor. So it's got to be taken away from you and given to someone that doesn't want to work as hard as you. After all, that is the Democrat way Barack Obama way Socialist way. Of sourse, those three are all one in the same. Yeah its crazy, just the other day I was telling my wife how frustrating low our taxes are! Thankfully I am very patriotic, and so the idea of more taxes really gets me excited. I personally eagerly look forward to paying more taxes, so I for one am glad Oops-bama got elected. The best (and most fun!) part of this is figuring out where to come up with the extra money I will need after my "spread the wealth" payments go up. 
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Комитет государственной безопасности
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| | | | | | |  tobyTroy Mcclure
join:2001-11-13
 ·CenturyLink
| Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government Compared to Western countries, our total taxes (income/property/sales/school/fees...etc) is actually higher, and we get very little in return for these high taxes.
Bush's group is making the country socialist for the rich, capitalistic for the rest. | |
| | | | | | | | wifi4milezBig Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government said by toby:Compared to Western countries, our total taxes (income/property/sales/school/fees...etc) is actually higher, and we get very little in return for these high taxes. Not sure where you came up with that bogus statement, as countries such as France have a total taxation of close to 72%.
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Комитет государственной безопасности
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| | | | | | | | | | | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government said by wifi4milez:said by toby:Compared to Western countries, our total taxes (income/property/sales/school/fees...etc) is actually higher, and we get very little in return for these high taxes. Not sure where you came up with that bogus statement, as countries such as France have a total taxation of close to 72%. In reality, Americans, in 1988, paid up to 92% of their income in taxes. You need to consider the 'hidden' taxes--like those passed down to the consumer by manufacturers in the price of goods. The biggie though is inflation. More correctly, monetary depreciation. The government prints paper and gets the full value of it the first time it uses the paper, but by the time it trickles down to the public, the increase in paper circulating has reduced the market value of those dollars. So the government taxes you via inflation, the most cleverly-disguised tax.
Why else would the guy earning $100,000 only have about $8,000 or less in disposable income? | |
| | | | | | | | | | wifi4milezBig Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government said by disconnected :
So the government taxes you via inflation, the most cleverly-disguised tax.
That makes no sense at all. The government in no way benefits from inflation, so it cant be grouped with taxation.
said by disconnected :
Why else would the guy earning $100,000 only have about $8,000 or less in disposable income?
That doesnt make any sense either, and it is impossible to answer that. There are a multitude of things that we would need to know before we can even begin to analyze this. Such as, where does that person live, how much is his rent, does he have terrible rate on a mortgage, how big is his family, etc. etc. etc.
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Комитет государственной безопасности
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| | | | | | | | | said by toby:Compared to Western countries, our total taxes (income/property/sales/school/fees...etc) is actually higher, and we get very little in return for these high taxes. Bush's group is making the country socialist for the rich, capitalistic for the rest. Totally wrong ... why would you even write something like this? Do a little research before making a fool of yourself in a public forum. | |
| | | | | | | | | wifi4milezBig Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government said by AlexNYC:said by toby:Compared to Western countries, our total taxes (income/property/sales/school/fees...etc) is actually higher, and we get very little in return for these high taxes. Bush's group is making the country socialist for the rich, capitalistic for the rest. Totally wrong ... why would you even write something like this? Do a little research before making a fool of yourself in a public forum. His comment gave me a laugh thats for sure!
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Комитет государственной безопасности
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| | | | |  BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | said by skrupowies:said by Singular:Ahh... the good old spread the wealth around theory, my own money that I work hard for doesn't even belong to me anymore. It belongs to everyone else. Well we certainly can't allow you to have more than your neighbor. So it's got to be taken away from you and given to someone that doesn't want to work as hard as you. After all, that is the Democrat way Barack Obama way Socialist way. Of sourse, those three are all one in the same. '
Please do you actually believe the crap you spew are are you just trying to get something started? The Cold War ended 17 years ago. get over yourself there is no commie invasion coming. Talk about tin foil hat club | |
| | | | | | |  pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government said by BF69:The Cold War ended 17 years ago. get over yourself there is no commie invasion coming. Talk about tin foil hat club I think the Republic of Georgia thought the same thing.
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Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty | |
| | | | | | | | | The commie invasion just started ... "we the people" voted it in. | |
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| | | | |  aaronwtPremium
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA
 ·Verizon FiOS
| said by skrupowies:said by Singular:Ahh... the good old spread the wealth around theory, my own money that I work hard for doesn't even belong to me anymore. It belongs to everyone else. Well we certainly can't allow you to have more than your neighbor. So it's got to be taken away from you and given to someone that doesn't want to work as hard as you. After all, that is the Democrat way Barack Obama way Socialist way. Of sourse, those three are all one in the same. Many ,m any aspecxts of this country are already socialist. This nothing new. Pure capitalosm doesn't work and pure communism doesn't work. | |
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| | | |  Titus PulloI came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
kudos:1
·Embarq Now Centu..
| said by Singular:Ahh... the good old spread the wealth around theory, my own money that I work hard for doesn't even belong to me anymore. It belongs to everyone else. What is this country coming to. Gee, the current administration just took a Trillion dollars and spread it around to financial dolts to do with as they see fit to "bail us out."
People squeal like pigs when they think some liburul is going to fleece them to finance crack addicts but bend over for bankers and Hedge funds. Unreal.
The hypocrisy is frightening, and I don't know whether it's ideology or ignorance. If you make less than 250K a year under Obama's plan you won't see a penny of money taken from you and spread around. If it turns out he lied it won't be hard to catch. All the man is calling for (so far) is basically a return to Clinton's tax policies.
Back on topic, please. Most people here can't discuss politics rationally.
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| | | | | |  gimme5
join:2002-12-23
Kissimmee, FL | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government Well said. | |
| | | | | | | | said by Titus Pullo:Gee, the current administration just took a Trillion dollars and spread it around to financial dolts to do with as they see fit to "bail us out." People squeal like pigs when they think some liburul is going to fleece them to finance crack addicts but bend over for bankers and Hedge funds. Unreal. Many conservatives that believe that are not even business owners, just average Joe Plumbers (who may not even be plumbers) who make much less and have little to no hope of ever making millions... yet they still believe that giving big businesses free reign to do as they please and putting all taxpayers money to them in hard times is the best course of action. Got news for you: You may not like government and think it is an amoral and corrupt entity, but big businesses with no oversight are no shining angels either (as much as you want to think that).
said by Titus Pullo:The hypocrisy is frightening, and I don't know whether it's ideology or ignorance. If you make less than 250K a year under Obama's plan you won't see a penny of money taken from you and spread around. If it turns out he lied it won't be hard to catch. All the man is calling for (so far) is basically a return to Clinton's tax policies. And under McCain's plan most of them would get a very minimal tax cut while big businesses got huge ones. They would have had spending freezes on everything except military, potentially hurting everything from education and research to infrastructure and emergency protection. Businesses would be getting more "free market" (eg. letting businesses do as they please and expecting them to never use corrupt practices) potentially bringing about a second "housing" collapse in a different industry. That never sounded good to me.
I am not one for massive regulation on anything, but COME ON! The reason the banks and housing industries collapsed is because they had no oversight and no regulation whatsoever. They were given free reign to do whatever and they clearly did. We certainly don't need massive regulation but we don't need NO regulation either.
I at least have faith that Obama will use sound judgment and not go completely far left on everything. He seems to have gone middle-of-the-road where-as McCain seemed to go from middle-right to far-right.
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- "Techie" Jim | |
| | | | | | | Titus PulloI came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
kudos:1 Reviews:
·Embarq Now Centu..
| Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government See my comment re discussing politics rationally. The two points you make don't apply to me or my views; you completely miss the mark on where I stand politically or socially. People simply don't read, think, or interpret critically on these - and most other - forums. How you drew the conclusions you did are well beyond my pay grade 
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1 edit | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government said by Titus Pullo:See my comment re discussing politics rationally. The two points you make don't apply to me or my views; you completely miss the mark on where I stand politically or socially. People simply don't read, think, or interpret critically on these - and most other - forums. How you drew the conclusions you did are well beyond my pay grade -- If you had bothered to read my post: I was agreeing with you. I was mainly adding my own opinion to the topic to get my point across. I never said I was trying to undermine or speak for you or whatever you thought I was doing. I think you misunderstood my post.
said by Titus Pullo:How you drew the conclusions you did are well beyond my pay grade Clearly...
P.S. - You said it, not me.
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- "Techie" Jim | |
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| | | | |  BloodRosesAeolus, your daughter flies.Premium
join:2003-03-17
Louisville, KY | I think I can agree to that.
People aren't being rational period. Politically, socially, religiously and otherwise. 
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Faerie Blessings,
Stephanie - www.GlitterFaerie.com | |
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| | |  knightmbEverybody Lies
join:2003-12-01
Franklin, TN | said by sw3090cd :
Case in point. Obama was the higher bidder. Selfish idiots like this guy voted him based on the promise that Obama would use the police power of government to kick in their neighbor's door, take stuff, and give it to him.
Sounds like a sore voter. The election is over, time to move on. Save the smear stuff for the 2012 election. 
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Fight NebuAD and the like:
Click Here to pollute their data | |
| | | | | | | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government said by knightmb:Sounds like a sore voter. The election is over, time to move on. Save the smear stuff for the 2012 election. Riiiggghhht.
Just like all you liberals 'got over' the last two elections and moved on.
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3500/512 5.7 GHz Motorola Canopy Wireless; FoxValley.net
'It looks just like a Telefunken U47 !' | |
| | | | | |  KoolMoeAw ManPremium
join:2001-02-14
Annapolis, MD | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government While not a Bush voter and well 'over' the two previous elections, comparing this landslide election to the previous two doesn't really make your point.
KM | |
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| | | | | Look for the YouTube video of Obama at the Google campus and see what an intelligent politician says about technology and net access. Did you complain when telcos were subsidized billions to get broad band into more homes and then they failed the last mile? | |
| | | | | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government said by metatron66:Look for the YouTube video of Obama at the Google campus and see what an intelligent politician says about technology and net access. Did you complain when telcos were subsidized billions to get broad band into more homes and then they failed the last mile? What are you talking about? Far more people have broadband now than ever before due solely to the investments made by private companies.
This isn't the late 1990s anymore. Just about anyplace reasonably close to civilization can get broadband.
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Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty | |
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| | | | It is funny to see how people think that with Obama in the White House that everything will magically be better and all ills will be fixed. I am sorry to say some people will be let down. One man can't fix everything. | |
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| AquaSportCalifornia - Sun, Surf, Traffic Jams
join:2007-05-03
California | Wow. All I see from this story is, "The husband mentioned here is a HUGE ass!"
Is lack of a GOOD internet connection really a reason to MOVE, get a NEW MORTGAGE, LEAVE AN AREA YOU LOVE... just for a stupid internet connection?
Barack Obama and his administration will help with this "dilemma" (most likely.. not immediately... the economy, energy, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are probably first), but I don't see how a junk internet connection is good grounds for moving.
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"Hey, have you heard the song... 'Bomb Iran?' *bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, Ir...* n - never mind..." - John McCain
"Ya know, I told Congress, Thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere." - VP Republican Nominee Sarah Palin | |
| | | | | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government Don't know the dude in the story.
As far as junk Internet connection being good grounds for moving? Have you ever been a telecommuter for any length of time?
I am, and a "junk Internet connection" to me IS a big deal. | |
| | | | | | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government said by Radioman991:Don't know the dude in the story. As far as junk Internet connection being good grounds for moving? Have you ever been a telecommuter for any length of time? I am, and a "junk Internet connection" to me IS a big deal. I may not move intentionally just for a fast cable connection, but if I did move, it would be a MAJOR factor in where I moved to!
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The Firefox alternative.
»www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/ | |
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| | joquarky
join:2008-07-29
Boynton Beach, FL | said by AquaSport:Is lack of a GOOD internet connection really a reason to MOVE, get a NEW MORTGAGE, LEAVE AN AREA YOU LOVE... just for a stupid internet connection? Dial-up is no longer sufficient for normal internet access. The web is not optimized for dial-up users anymore and our society is starting to assume the ubiquity of broadband internet access the same way people assumed everyone had a phone line a couple decades ago.
I spend my weekends with family who can not get broadband internet access. I can tell you from personal experience that a lack of broadband internet access is like living a decade in the past. In some respects it's even worse, because at least in the 90s, websites were designed for a dialup majority.
Here are some examples of home life without broadband:
- You can't practically use any video sites (youtube, streaming Netflix, etc). One of the cultural consequences of this is that this part of my family misses out on a lot of the popular jokes that get around these days (and even make it onto TV programs, but without any background explanation).
- You can't enjoy the benefits of taking an online university class, since most require a broadband connection. This has caused a problem for at least one family member where the class was only offered online.
- It takes at least 15 minutes (although more like a half hour) just to navigate an online store, view zoomed images, read reviews, download samples, and check out.
- Sites which use AJAX functions assume everyone has broadband, which means they fail to provide proper feedback (e.g., "Please Wait") during an asynchronous request, causing Javascript errors or other problems navigating the site.
- You can't just "hop on and look up something real quick". It is far faster to pull out an old encyclopedia off their bookshelf and search for an article than to wait for the dial-up connection to synchronize and then pulling up a search on Wikipedia. On top of that, you're lucky if a dead tree encyclopedia even has the article you're interested in.
- Checking email is a much more tedious ordeal; dial-up users will check their email much less frequently than broadband users, and will generally not be "around" for IM communications. My family treats checking email more like a chore than a communications medium, due to the time needed to connect and wait for pages to load.
- Magazines are still more convenient than keeping up to date on topics of interest via the web on dial-up
- While out of the house, you can't connect back home to manage a home network or home automation, check your security system, remotely control your PC, watch a slingbox, etc.
- You can't play 95% of online games. Forget anything multiplayer on the Xbox or PS3.
I think people who have become accustomed to broadband forget just how much slower dial-up is. Not only that, but these days most everything has been built up on the internet to assume everybody has broadband, making it even worse now than before.
Part of the extra fees that telcos collected in the 90s was supposed to provide the funds to expand broadband infrastructure to everybody. That never panned out, but the telcos got to keep the $200 billion in extra fees that they were allowed to collect during that time.
It's easy for people who already have broadband to sit back and not care, but there are still a lot people out there who never got what they paid for, and the majority with broadband have no interest in petitioning along with them. When I see the kind of indignation from the above quote, it tells me that this is unlikely to change any time soon. | |
| | | | AquaSportCalifornia - Sun, Surf, Traffic Jams
join:2007-05-03
California | Re: Can't rely on Big Business or Big Government said by joquarky:said by AquaSport:Is lack of a GOOD internet connection really a reason to MOVE, get a NEW MORTGAGE, LEAVE AN AREA YOU LOVE... just for a stupid internet connection? Dial-up is no longer sufficient for normal internet access. The web is not optimized for dial-up users anymore and our society is starting to assume the ubiquity of broadband internet access the same way people assumed everyone had a phone line a couple decades ago. I spend my weekends with family who can not get broadband internet access. I can tell you from personal experience that a lack of broadband internet access is like living a decade in the past. In some respects it's even worse, because at least in the 90s, websites were designed for a dialup majority. Here are some examples of home life without broadband:
- You can't practically use any video sites (youtube, streaming Netflix, etc). One of the cultural consequences of this is that this part of my family misses out on a lot of the popular jokes that get around these days (and even make it onto TV programs, but without any background explanation).
- You can't enjoy the benefits of taking an online university class, since most require a broadband connection. This has caused a problem for at least one family member where the class was only offered online.
- It takes at least 15 minutes (although more like a half hour) just to navigate an online store, view zoomed images, read reviews, download samples, and check out.
- Sites which use AJAX functions assume everyone has broadband, which means they fail to provide proper feedback (e.g., "Please Wait") during an asynchronous request, causing Javascript errors or other problems navigating the site.
- You can't just "hop on and look up something real quick". It is far faster to pull out an old encyclopedia off their bookshelf and search for an article than to wait for the dial-up connection to synchronize and then pulling up a search on Wikipedia. On top of that, you're lucky if a dead tree encyclopedia even has the article you're interested in.
- Checking email is a much more tedious ordeal; dial-up users will check their email much less frequently than broadband users, and will generally not be "around" for IM communications. My family treats checking email more like a chore than a communications medium, due to the time needed to connect and wait for pages to load.
- Magazines are still more convenient than keeping up to date on topics of interest via the web on dial-up
- While out of the house, you can't connect back home to manage a home network or home automation, check your security system, remotely control your PC, watch a slingbox, etc.
- You can't play 95% of online games. Forget anything multiplayer on the Xbox or PS3.
I think people who have become accustomed to broadband forget just how much slower dial-up is. Not only that, but these days most everything has been built up on the internet to assume everybody has broadband, making it even worse now than before. Part of the extra fees that telcos collected in the 90s was supposed to provide the funds to expand broadband infrastructure to everybody. That never panned out, but the telcos got to keep the $200 billion in extra fees that they were allowed to collect during that time. It's easy for people who already have broadband to sit back and not care, but there are still a lot people out there who never got what they paid for, and the majority with broadband have no interest in petitioning along with them. When I see the kind of indignation from the above quote, it tells me that this is unlikely to change any time soon. True. Very true.
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"Hey, have you heard the song... 'Bomb Iran?' *bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, Ir...* n - never mind..." - John McCain
"Ya know, I told Congress, Thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere." - VP Republican Nominee Sarah Palin | |
| | | | | | Re: The truth,the whole truth, and nothing but the truth! ALL of the examples given are so true because I live it every single day.
I've been on dial-up ever since I first got a home computer 10 years ago. I, unfortunately, live in an area where dial-up is the only thing available. I don't even consider satellite as an option because something as expensive as satellite internet shouldn't suck as hard as it does.
As if using a 26.4Kbps dial-up connection wasn't bad enough, I have to put up with the fact that there is broadband access all around me. DSL and cable services are both a few miles to the right and left of my house. They just don't reach my area and that pisses me off like crazy!
Friends and family make fun of me because I often complain about not being able to view streaming media sites like YouTube or social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. I have to stay away from entertainment websites because they are downright loaded with tons of flash animation. Most websites in general take too long to load. Downloading any file over freakin' 10MB seems like a chore. I'm still playing my PS2 because I can't get broadband in order to take full advantage of an Xbox 360, PS3, or Wii.
I don't use e-mail anymore because it's so damn hard on dial-up. I can't even keep my computer updated and organized because I don't have the speed. To make matters even worse, I have a small job in computer repair and maintenance. I barely get my work done.
Bottom line, I feel like I'm stuck in 1998 and everything else has left me in the dust. Most people out there don't realize how bad dial-up is. I can't believe there are people out there who don't even realize that it still exist. I can assure you that dial-up does exist and it's a problem that I deal with every day.
If I could afford to move right now for a much better internet connection, I would definitely do it. | |
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| | | And we all see how well the market 'self regulates' Banking? Insurance? The entire economy is on the brink of collapse due to 'self regulation'. Let's look at broadband how the other 90% of the world does, and call it a utility. Oh noes! no-one will make a profit! Guess what,
#1: It's not a utilities job to make a profit, it's to provide services.
#2: The government already spends 100's of billions on infrastructure, let the govt build fiber everywhere, and let the free market sell the services.
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The happiest countries are the most secular. The struggle AGAINST corporations is the struggle FOR humanity! | |
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See 6 replies to this post | |
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA Reviews:
·SONIC.NET
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| Not buying it How much did it cost them to build this "new home just for broadband"?
For the amount they spent, I'm sure they could have had T-1 service in their old house for many years.
Instead, they want you and me to subsidize their access, because they choose to live in the middle of nowhere.
Only in the minds of the AP could this be considered newsworthy. | |
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See 6 replies to this post | |
pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD |  Smart Buyers!
quote:
Agents say they've seen deals fall through once buyers find they can't get broadband.
Finally. It is good to see that there are some people who are actually making informed buying decisions when it comes to spending a ton of money on something that might not work for them. And the amazing part is that no government action was needed to help these people make the right choice.
When I was house-hunting back in 2006 I told my agent I was absolutely not interested in any house that could not get broadband in one form or another. Fortunately, I was able to verify availability of broadband on my own before we closed.
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Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty | |
| | TheMGPremium
join:2007-09-04
Canada
kudos:1 | Re: Smart Buyers! Yup, when I'm going to buy a house (few years to go yet), I will not accept anything less than 10mbps broadband. | |
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| | No FIOS, no sale! I would not even consider a new house if it does not have access to Verizon FiOS. A thought of going back to Comcast...
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xela19115 | |
| | aaronwtPremium
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS
| Re: No FIOS, no sale! said by Xela19115:I would not even consider a new house if it does not have access to Verizon FiOS. A thought of going back to Comcast... +1
If I were to move, my broadband provider would be near the top of my list for criteria that the new dwelling needs. It's no different than looking for a house that's not on a hill, or a certain style or color etc.
I'm on a 50mbs connection and only pay $1.80 per megabit. There is no way I could go back to a connection slower than 30mbs. A new dwelling would need to have FIOS otherwise I would not even consider moving there. | |
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scooper
join:2000-07-11
Youngsville, NC
kudos:2 | The wife and me made this decision A LONG TIME ago... No broadband - we ain't buying - it's a deal-breaker.
It even ranks above no HOA on the priority list.
Almost everything else can be dealt with. | |
| | | I want to move to NYC just to get FIOS and enjoy the big city..... | |
| | watice
join:2008-11-01
New York, NY | Re: I want to move to NYC said by ja2007123:just to get FIOS and enjoy the big city..... no fios here yet. the big city's great tho if you're young or young spirited | |
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KiwiPremium
join:2003-05-26
USA/MidWest
kudos:1 | H20 "It might as well be water," he said." I can appreciate that comment, I would never spend hard cash on a property without access to broadband. Rates right along with a 'Desirable" neighbourhood living experience. | |
| | | I'd do it too... After years of being spoiled by Comcast HSI, Digital Voice, Ondemand, I'd only build or buy in a Comcast area. | |
| Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS
| no deployment sucks.. yes, historically towns with no broadband options (other than satellite) generally are at a disadvantage in the order of 5-10% of the value of the housing. though, today this is less common because most METRO towns/cities have broadband of some kind... whether it be 3mbit dsl, or 50mbit cable/FTTP via telco. now, probably one might consider whether there is REAL compeition amongst providers when choosing a place to live.. rather than whether the deployment is or is not in a redidential neighborhood.
towns without broadband today... are simply out of luck in attracting buyers for whom broadband is 'more' of a necessity... it's a dealbreaker, even at foreclosure prices. | |
| | | Utility I think so! I do think governments should lable internet as a utility.
Governments should build the infastructure at tax payers expense then rent it out to providers sort of like the way UUnet does with bandwidth and connections. This way rules can be put in place under a net neutrality constitution and make laws to never amend the damn thing.
It would create millions of new jobs just to build and maintain the infastructure. The government makes a profit as well. I tink with the Google guy with obama it might be what may happen.
Its not about spreading the wealth. Its about not letting the rich get even richer off of the poor guy that only makes 30k a year.
The net should not be self regulated. Look at what happend to wall street. It was self regulated. BOOM!
ISP's right now fear Obama. Obama used the net to do campaining and he understands its power and usefulness as a tool. He understands nothing can happen to it that would jeperdise it. Case in turn Google guy in his cabinet.
The onlything will happen is cable companines in the short term will have layoffs. Reason they are losing money on advertisment on their commercials because there is more people using their computers and not watching tv. They will learn and move to IP tv. They could even use OMG im gonna say it "bit torrent" for distribution. Then they know what shows are good and what shows are not. Plus it opens a larger market up to them. World viewership if they decide not to do the stupid country to IP bans. Now their advertisers are paying larger doe to put comercials in shows. Then they need to higher more people again.
People seem to be afriad of change for the good. The old boys club hates new things because they dont understand it.
The net is gonna pwn everything, just live with it and learn to grow with it. | |
| | | |  Re: Utility I think so!
said by cpsycho:The net should not be self regulated. Look at what happend to wall street. It was self regulated. BOOM! lol, you call having the Federal Reserve, naked short-selling contracts not enforced, trillions of dollars in bail-out money being put up, and massive regulation in the market, in general (not to mention a plethora of other things) "self-regulation"...I don't think so.
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"True Patriotism is more closely linked with dissent than it is to conformity and a blind desire for safety and security...I accept the definition of patriotism as that effort to resist abusive state power." -Ron Paul | |
| | | | | Re: Utility I think so! Thats after the fact, is it not? Once something breaks thats important it has to be fixed.
I dont know where your from but up in canada. Our banks are doing basicly fine.
Becuase of heavey regulation.
Sometimes rules are very good. I dont know why some americans are afraid of being librial. Super Capitalist are not there to help you, they are their to help themselfs. Well this is my belief on that anyway. | |
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|  a333A hot cup of integrals please
join:2007-06-12
Rego Park, NY
 ·Cingular Wireless
1 edit | Keep wishing..... governments have shown time and again that they can't make a decision when they're holding a fire extinguisher and their backside is on fire....
Don't know about you, but our economy's a bloody mess, and our school system sucks hard c**k. Americans are getting dumber by the second (don't believe me, just see how many people don't even know where Great Britain is, or the difference between Nairobi and Helsinki...=\ Hell, plenty of today's students can't even properly locate Iraq or Afghanistan. Yep that's right, there are people who don't even know the countries where our army has lost so many thousands). Maybe we need to actually teach our kids the ABC's, 123's, and the map before moving on to a whizz-bang national fiber network. I know, the internet sure has some cool sh*t, but maybe, just maybe, it's time to open a book and actually learn the basics. Countries around the world manage to teach kids much better than our school system does, and they don't need trillions in "funding", for any kind of uber-high-tech network, for all of you guys out there pushing the "virtual classroom" agenda...... And if your job depends on the internet, you should actually cough up the money for a T1 line, considering the fact that you're actually making money from your connection.
And I have been saying this over and over,if we wanted universal broadband, our dear gov't should've actually enforced the Telecom Act of 1996, instead of whoring themselves out to the telcos. But we blew our chance. Look at France on the other hand... they actually actively maintained an even playing field between ILEC's and CLEC's. Thanks to that, CLEC's like Free.fr have deployed FTTH or at least ADSL2+ extensively, even in more remote areas.
As to some people expecting the gov't to magically build a free-for-all FTTH network, are you SURE you want a government-build network (especially in light of er..recent developments regarding the NSA and AT&T)? Do you want the filtered, censored, monitored internet to be your ONLY internet? Guys, come on!! Government's already itching to get their hands on network traffic on PRIVATE/CORPORATE-run networks. If the gov't starts owning their own FTTH network, do you HONESTLY think they will pass up the chance to spy, filter, and censor every last packet that passes through it? Do you think your internet selves won't be sold to corporate tools like the **AA's?? What's to stop the government from regulating their network the way THEY see fit (except that pesky dog-eared thing called the Constitution, that's already been trampled several times over)? We've already seen what Utah wants to do with Utopia (attempt to play net nanny). Do we really want a national staging of the same exact thing?
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| | no broadband, no sale ! i recently purchased my dream property in a very remote area in the mountains of new mexico. no neighbors, surrounded by national forest on 3 sides, deer and elk.
we looked at several similar properties but the major reason we bought this particular property was that dsl was available.
22 miles from anywhere and i have dsl.
for the last 15 years i have lived 2.5 miles from a (texas) town of 12000 population and could not get dsl or cable. still can't as of today.
it is unbelievable that in this day and age broadband is not considered a utility and made available to everyone. it boggles the mind.
i am not talking about free broadband, just access for a fee.
over the years i tried hughes, wildblue and starband. they all sucked horribly. i'd rather have dialup.
i have used evdo for the last 3 years (sprint and alltel) and they both were many times more usefull than the sats.
but i had to move to the wilderness to finally get dsl
amazing.... | |
| Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
| service provider? Business sucks, gov't sucks worse That is the problem with Karl's catty swipes at "Milton Friedman free marketeers".
It's not that businesses are great service providers.
It's that the utopian dreams of ownership "by the people, for the people" turn to crap when actually implemented.
There's some basic problems with the government running services.
-- Funding is at the whim of Congress or the state/local legislature. It can be raised or lowered arbitrarily.
-- Governments do not pay well, therefore do not attract the best people.
-- The people they do attract, even if gung-ho to start, are quickly demoralized by the byzantine bureaucracy of being a government employee, and by the fact that people who don't work hard are rewarded just as much as those who do.
-- There is no movitation to serve the customer. Government-run organizations inevitably turn inward and support their own needs rather than providing more service to customers.
-- There is no competitive drive. Government service providers can provide bad, costly service and there is no one to step in and fill the gap.
I simply ask you to remember your last visit to the DMV, or the police station (hopefully not as a perpetrator), or the airport security line. How did that customer service compare with going to your local supermarket or Best Buy or Wal-Mart?
Not to mention the incredibly poor, expensive product we get from the national elementary/high school education monopoly. There's a perfect example of an inward-looking, non-responsive group that howls in pain whenever anyone suggests even a hint of paying people for performance, or (God forbid) giving parents a choice in who gets their tax money. Those who can afford it simply pay their school taxes PLUS private school tuition.
This is what you have to look forward to if your utopian dreams of a government-run ISP monopoly come to fruition. | |
| | decifal
join:2007-03-10
Bon Aqua, TN
kudos:1 Reviews:
·Verizon Broadban..
| Re: service provider? Business sucks, gov't sucks worse All I know is that everyones precious flawless Bush's universal broadband by 2007 was such a hoax that it wasn't even funny to think about it.. I'm hoping that Barrack will hold on his statement on laying down broadband lines to every corner of everystate.. Someone has to have the balls to use tax money on something that god forbid, benefits tax payers... Not just rich already over paid CEO's... I'm tired of funding those F...ing bastards! | |
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 DogfatherPremium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA | Yeah, so? And you don't have deals cause the house is too far away from schools or work or is too close to an airport or freeway.
Broadband isn't a utility. It's just a service consideration like whether or not you have to pay HOA dues or whether your commute will suck. | |
| | | add my vote for broadband is a utility add my vote for broadband is a utility | |
|  RR ConductorHappy 40th AmtrakPremium
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA
kudos:1
1 edit | Scare tactics by big business, again. "That's a nightmare to ISPs and Milton Friedman free marketeers, who believe the market, when left alone by the government, shall provide and self-regulate."
Yeah, and trickle down economics (aka Reaganomics, aka Voodoo Economics) will make everybody healthy, wealthy and wise....NOT | |
|  Xizer
join:2004-02-05
New York, NY | Broadband is a utility. With the increasing penetration of broadband access, I have discovered a trend that I like: The world seems to be getting smarter.
It is awesome. The Internet is an invaluable resource. | |
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I was spoiled when I lived in South Florida. I had access to several broadband providers. BellSouth for DSL, Adelphia for Data Over Cable and most Wireless companies were providing enhanced broadband. When I moved to Central Florida in early 2006, I discovered that access to broadband was a mixed bag. I was fortunate to purchase a home in an area where I can subscriber to DSL or Data Over Cable. On the other hand I chose not to purchase a home in an area where I could not subscriber to DSL or Data Over Cable. What made things more complicated was that there are three CATV providers in this area. At the time some CATV Companies did not offer Digital Cable or Broadband in many areas. Many homeowners were using DirectWay Broadband, now Hughes Net. In view of the fact that most Broadband ISP's do not want to deploy Broadband Service in areas where they cannot get instant payback. It is time for government to step up and provide a high speed connectivity to all homes, like they provide roads and highways. 
