On Tuesday, September 15, 2015 at 12:35:43 PM UTC-5, Don Y wrote:
On 9/15/2015 10:24 AM, Uncle Monster wrote:
On Tuesday, September 15, 2015 at 11:30:15 AM UTC-5, Don Y wrote:

Unfortunately, the businesses that are clinging to copper seem to be
missing the boat in terms of opportunities; you've got all that
infrastructure and every land-line that disappears represents lost
revenue. Offer "basic" DSL for a great price so you get *some* revenue
from those assets! Instead, they (here) want to gouge you for mediocre
service (which makes it easy to decide to go elsewhere for your
connectivity!)

I'd like to have fiber optic service but the distribution nodes need power
and once the backup power runs out for them, you have dark fiber. The copper
POTS line has been the most reliable telephone service for 140 years. I'd
call it a mature technology but I really like to have FiOS. ^_^

It's been said that the force driving bandwidth "requirements" (of the 'net)
is entirely driven by *entertainment*. Surfing the web, email and even
pulling down large ISO's doesn't really tax even a low speed (e.g., 1Mb)
link.

OTOH, folks who want to download movies, music, etc. are stuck with
the associated costs of the pipe.

Frankly, I can't see a need/desire to sit and rot my brain watching streaming
video (on a PC *or* a TV). OTOH, I have a friend that spends his retirement
doing exactly -- and exclusively! -- that! (Gee, all those years he was
working, do you think he was muttering to himself: "I can't wait to
retire so I can sit at home and watch TV all day!!"?)

I can't do much more than sit in this hospital bed and watch videos. Mostly news and entertainment but I really like documentaries and educational videos. If I was at home, I'd be downloading and experimenting with all sorts of software. I've even been doing some tech support via telephone from my bed. I only turn the TV on when I'm eating because I must take my Chromebook off the table. The last thing I want is to be retired and if I can get back on my feet again, I'll be working until I drop dead on the job. I'd be even more bonkers if I didn't have my Chromebook which allows me to interact with people from all over the world. It's so fraking frustrating to be unable to get up and go out at a moments notice, dammit! o_O

[8~{} Uncle Crippled Monster