I read on MSN that Bush wants every american to have broadband by 2007. Well for me unless the price comes down for broadband/ cable etc I will be sticking with my dial up. For me except for checking out my favorites and sometimes other things. I get board with it. Tim
That would be nice, but it sounds like he is a bit behind the times. Many companies have wanted this too (for the profit part, I'm sure). Check out CA - there are areas where the government has been pushing this for years. I don't know how they dealt with the cost issue, though.
I have it and you could not get me to back to dail-up. Were I live they still have party lins up. Dail-up is a joke. Sigh on at 12000 to 24000 bh.
I have RoadRunner "cable" internet. Is that the same thing as broadband? I think it is o No: You'll never get me back to "dial up". EVER. We've been house shopping on and off for about a year.... Thats one of the first questions I ask... What school zone? Attached garage AND unattached shop? Cable access? :laugh:
I was talking to a good friend of mine the other day about this. The wave of the future is wireless internet and companies are working very hard to make it a reality. Right now there are many places (such as starbucks) who offer "hot spots" in their stores where you can pick up wireless internet. This attracts many people for the simple fact that they can hold business lunches, meetings, etc and have the ability to log on. Eventually the internet will go nameless (no more brand-loyalty for providers) and you will only be deciding where you want to go based upon their internet capabilities. The owners of the facilities will be purchasing the service from the providers to attract customers to their establishment. This is an idea in the building stages at this point, but I don't think it is too far off from becoming a reality. Very interesting stuff.:TU: (this is second hand info, so forgive my inaccuracies to those in-the-know)
I too have Road Runner.. and it hawls... i can't stand the Buick board on a modem since the change. though road runner is pricey at 40 bucks a month. nate
A primer and my two cents: DSL and Cable are both considered broadband as is anything faster like T1, T3 or OC3. Modems are considered narrowband because the "pipe" you are pushing the data through is slower. The biggest issue with wireless is speed and security. Speed is what everyone focuses on. Wireless speeds are not as capable as DSL or Cable modems are right now. Although there are downsides to them also. I think a wired connection is still best unless you know how to work with computers/networks and have some good knowledge about them. DSL is still tariffed by the phone companies which hurts it in the marketplace. Want 384K pay this, want 512K (faster) pay more. They think they can make money this way! That is why the cable companies are beating them silly with subscribers. A cable modem is an open pipe that for argument, cannot be regulated. The downside is that the tree of cable connections to which you connect is like a pie. The more people that want a slice, the smaller a slice you get - more people on at once equals slower speed for everyone. But it ebbs and flows with users and use. Downside is that it is a local monopoly. With wireless if the security is not done correctly, it can be like listening the cell phone conversations with a scanner if you have the right equipment. And people are going to scare easily when the news starts blaring that around at 5:00PM. Thanks for reading. Don't mean to tread on anyone working for any companies of the types mentioned above. Conal
I've been on a fiber optic network (of all things) for about three years now and pay $27 per month for speeds up to 2.8 mb per second. It doesn't always run at the same speed but it is almost always "instantaneous". The fact that it's always connected and does not seem to be affected by what used to be "busy periods" has most probably led to a reduction in my average blood pressure since leaving dial up. I love fuel injection yet can still enjoy carburetion, but could never be sane with dial up again. I'd imagine the economy is more than marginally responsive to increases in connection speeds throughout most business industries, especially in those where the entire supply chain is fully integrated. Wireless takes it one step further but does carry additional security issues. Wireless is especially empowering to smaller companies experiencing growth. An interesting emerging technology on the horizon is voice over internet protocol (VoIP). This technology could effectively unravel the telecommunications industry by enabling free long distance communications to everyone who is connected to a provider. Recently, the FCC ruled that "an entirely Internet-based VoIP service was an unregulated information service." What this means, essentially, is that you'd better reevaluate your portfolio if it includes any companies currently entrenched in an infrastructure that will be adversely affected by VoIP because VoIP is gonna rock!
I wish he would get everybody a job that wants one,and let the broadband take care of itself. I feel better now! Mike D.
