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Domain: appanet.org
Stories and comments across the archive that link to appanet.org.
Comments · 6
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Re:YepYou are claiming that these countries installed the new infrastructure with more efficiency.
Not at all. I'm claiming that the overall market, regulatory scheme, and planning are more efficient. The struggle over corporate acquisitions, wrangling for exclusive right-of-ways, and navigating (and manipulating) the FCC policies and congressional regulations adds a lot of overhead. There's a lot more to it than just running some lines.
Neither one of us really has any data to back up our claimsSpeak for yourself. The evidence is clear. Check out the charts here. This article points out a number of issues that are causing the US to drop further behind the rest of the world in broadband deployments (and overall efficiency, BTW). There have been a number of studies that demonstrate that population density is *not* a significant factor.
There are other companies out there. Where I live the incumbent cable company is Cox. I have no trouble with them. I pay a bit less than $45/mo (not this $55/mo comcast bullshit) without purchasing any other services from them except cable modem service. I use an antenna to get broadcast TV and I have a cell phone.Oh, cool, I'll just switch to Cox. Oh... wait. I *can't*. Where is this "competition" you refer to? Doesn't really seem to be working for most of us.
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Municipal Wi-Fi = end of telco's
If we have fast quality Wi-Fi everywhere in the city, you can use an IP-based phone everywhere. There's no need for other phones. No need for DSL for Internet access. This would be a terrible thing for the phone companies, and it would probably spread rapidly if it works in one place and the economics work for that city. Note also the parallel with Municipal-owned Public Power which is usually much cheaper than Investor Owned Utility power. We're already used to municipal roads, water, and sewer.
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YOU FAIL IT!Its a shame this wasnt a blackout on FAILURES like you! Just like The American Public Power Association, YOU FAIL IT!
YOU FAIL IT!
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Re:Failure to take advantage of the medium-Yes.
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Re:Failure to take advantage of the medium-Yes.
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Failure to take advantage of the medium
This (AP) article on CNN.com is exactly the sort that could benefit from being on the web. As it is, it is not much more than an electronic reprint of a newspaper-style article. The only "improvements" made are that it is heavy on cruft, what with the ads, partner tie-ins, subscription offers etc..There's a little generic warning and associated icon at the bottom: "All external sites will open in a new browser. CNN.com does not endorse external sites." That might be helpful if it referred to a practice that was actually being used somewhere on the page. But the only "external" links seem to be to affiliates and advertisers. I guess the old media paranoia about letting us get away is still pretty strongly in effect.
Sorry, that's enough *vague* bitching. Here are some specifics:
What I really want to complain about is that there quite a few interesting details that were merely summarized, and not further explored; and that there were any number of jumping off points that could have been made active.
How about at least a link to the American Public Power Association, or one of the utilitis mentioned as an example? Or better yet, fill in some of those details. Which eleven states prohibit public power companies from offereing teleco services, or force them to charge artificially high rates. (If I live in one, I want to start writing letters!) How about a list (with links, maybe?) of the "511 publicly owned utilities now provide telecom services" mentioned in the "fact box"?
So much potential in this web medium is still wasted. Most news stories on the web just look like a slightly slicker and more colorful version of 1994, back when "old media" "didn't get it".
