>>>roaming charges were lower already few years ago due to EUC action.
So the companies were not punished by the Union government. None of the execs are in jail, and they did not have to pay any fines, or refund monies. They simply got regulated while still allowed to keep all the windfall profits from the previous ~10 years of exorbitant roaming charges.
>>>A completely free market eventually only leads to monopolies
False.
Even if a monopoly did form (highly unlikely in a competitive environment), eventually a new guy comes along to undercut the monopoly with lower prcies or better goods or improved service. As example see what happened to Kmart which used to be as dominant as Walmart, but is now a has-been. Or more relevant to slashdot: How the IE monopoly with its 90% dominance was broken-up by new competitors ike Firefox, Chrome, et cetera.
(1) Cartels are illegal in the US and (2) our Union government has punished several companies over the last decade including the Record companies, Disney, Paypal, Microsoft, Walmart, JCPenney, and thousands of lesser-known smaller companies.
Well of course it is. And sometimes that's a good thing - such as providing an army to defend my house from invaders. BTW the U.S. CD Cartel was broken-up by the Union Government and forced to send ~$25 refunds to all their customers. I got a check, my mom got a check, and ditto my brother and his two daughters. Just last year the same thing happened to Disney where they were forced to refund upto $60 to purchasers of Baby Einstein DVDs.
THAT'S what the European Union government should have done to the cell companies. i.e. Punish them. Instead they did virtually nothing.
>>>The free market is making people rich, and it's a sin to stop
The US free market eliminated roaming charges 5+ years ago. The customers complained and the companies acted to eliminate them. Now we pay a flat rate regardless if we are in our home or 3000 miles away in the Member State of California. And no intervention from the Union Government was needed.
So yes anti-trust laws have their place such as breaking-up the forrmer CD Price-fixing Cartel, but in nearly all cases it's not necessary. The invisible hand of the market (i.e. dissastisfied citizens) correct disparities.
Plus my wallet is not infinitely deep. All the games I buy are $20 or less in cost and never expire (I'm still playing 30-yr-old games) while online games are constantly sucking money month-after-month and eventually die (when the server shutsdown) so all the money I invested is wasted. The online multiplayer model is as bad a ripoff as the $80/month* CATV charges.
Which is probably why EA thinks multiplayer is so innovative (for them). It's like printing money.
Don't know if anyone cares but during the 90s, when Toyota & Honda were developing their Hybrids, they discovered batteries could last near-forever if kept betweens 50% and 80% state-of-charge.
If charged to full or depleted, then the stress would cause internal damage to the cells, but by keeping them in that "sweet spot" the batteries lasted 200,000 miles of drive time w/o almost no measurable loss in capacity.
China is "special" like Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, and Franco's Spain was special. They would love what China has created. State-run corporations, but which remain privately-owned.
Re:That's one heck of a "long goodbye"
on
Goodbye, VGA
·
· Score: 1
>>>I plug my mouse into the keyboard... How is that not simpler?
Because I often use just my mouse alone, while my keyboard is "put away" under the coffee table. Having the mouse run into the keyboard would be inconvenient..... mainly because the mouse cord is not long enough to reach that far.
I've been reading the US FCC's idea for "net neutrality". It involves creating a blacklist of sites you can't visit, having ISPs monitor the addresses customers visit to pass-along to the USG, and requiring a license to create a website/blog. And so on.
This world's governments are going down the tube with their anti-free speech practices. And a lot of them are copying China as if that was the ideal model
Re:That's one heck of a "long goodbye"
on
Goodbye, VGA
·
· Score: 1
There goes my 3 VGA CRT and 1 LCD monitor. Next I suppose they'll phase-out Svideo on DVRs and make TVs obsolete too. (shrug). I did try one of those DVI-to-VGA adapters one time but the picture was "faded" for some reason, and I went back to VGA.
Re:That's one heck of a "long goodbye"
on
Goodbye, VGA
·
· Score: 0
>>>get a USB keyboard that has two or four USB ports on it, itself.
Just what I need: More cables to get my legs and other appendages tangled in. I tend to avoid the USB connectors on my keyboard, and prefer to use the ones on the floor (on the computer case). It would be nice if they made more keyboards/mice that used the traditional PS/2 connector.
I'm religious but I figure it's God's job to enforce his rules, not mine.
If he disapproves of cloning or babies from same-sex couples, then He'll strike them down. If not then I guess He approves. (shrug) Not my laws; not my job to enforce them on others.
Thus you've taken their labor w/o paying for it (i.e. not viewing the ads). I think people are entitled to get paid for their hours. Uh oh. Here come the -1 Mods to silence my speech (make it invisible) but I don't care:
I will Not be silenced just because people don't like my opinion.
>>>Exactly,the consumers want pay as you go internet.
I don't see how pay-as-you-go would save customers any money? You can already get DSL for as cheap as $15 and Dialup as cheap as $7. It doesn't get much lower than that. Now maybe after you exceed a certain cap, say 250GB, then the plan can convert to pay-as-you-go but most internet companies already do that.
No the tea party is not an example of doublethink, since most tea partiers are simply libertarians or jeffersonians (pro constitutionally-limited government). "The purpose of a constitution is to bind up the several branches of government by certain laws, which, when they transgress, their acts shall be nullities."
That is a consistent philosophy from start to finish.
>>>(Don't try to pretend that Discover and Amex are -real- credit cards).
Say what? I've not seen anybody refuse my Discover credit card. Plus it gives money back - 1% off everything and 5% per quarter on various items (right now it's restaurants, clothing, and online shopping). How is it not real???
Because my employer doesn't pay me to do half-an-hour of research digging-up old SCOTUS cases in which the justices ruled, "I'm going to kill you!" is protected speech (so long as the speaker is not carrying a weapon at the time). Nevertheless that case exists... it allowed several black civil rights leaders to be freed from prison (60s).
>>>cable companies all want us to pay as we go for internet access, yet still insist on pushing bundlings of hundreds of TV channels
I'm certainly no fan of Comsucks, but in their defense: The bundling deals are a requirement of NBC, Disney, and other channel owners. Comcast HAS to buy the bundle rather than individual channels, therefore they'd gain nothing sell you just MSNBC which also comes with CNBC, Bravo, Syfy, Telemundo.
As for internet:
I don't see how pay-as-you-go would save any customer any money. You can already get DSL for as cheap as $15 and Dialup as cheap as $7. If all you need is email access plus some web browsing, then buy one of those plans. It's not like cellphones where pay-as-you-go saves cash.
I'm certainly no fan of Comsucks, but in their defense: The bundling deals are a requirement of NBC, Disney, and other channel owners. Comcast HAS to buy the bundle rather than individual channels, therefore they'd gain nothing sell you just MSNBC which also comes with CNBC, Bravo, Syfy, Telemundo.
As for internet:
I don't see how pay-as-you-go would save any customer any money. You can already get DSL for as cheap as $15 and Dialup as cheap as $7. If all you need is email access plus some web browsing, then buy one of those plans. It's not like cellphones where pay-as-you-go saves cash.
Slashdot Mirror
>>>roaming charges were lower already few years ago due to EUC action.
So the companies were not punished by the Union government. None of the execs are in jail, and they did not have to pay any fines, or refund monies. They simply got regulated while still allowed to keep all the windfall profits from the previous ~10 years of exorbitant roaming charges.
>>>apparently you MUST respond or you're guilty.
Dear MAFIAA:
Fuck off. Take your extortion letter ("Give us $5000 or else"), shape it into a dildo, and shove it into a lower orifice.
Sincerely,
Commodore 64 Fan
>>>A completely free market eventually only leads to monopolies
False.
Even if a monopoly did form (highly unlikely in a competitive environment), eventually a new guy comes along to undercut the monopoly with lower prcies or better goods or improved service. As example see what happened to Kmart which used to be as dominant as Walmart, but is now a has-been. Or more relevant to slashdot: How the IE monopoly with its 90% dominance was broken-up by new competitors ike Firefox, Chrome, et cetera.
>>>the cartel-friendly state the US has become.
Sorry - what?
(1) Cartels are illegal in the US and (2) our Union government has punished several companies over the last decade including the Record companies, Disney, Paypal, Microsoft, Walmart, JCPenney, and thousands of lesser-known smaller companies.
>>>anything government does is socialism.
Well of course it is. And sometimes that's a good thing - such as providing an army to defend my house from invaders. BTW the U.S. CD Cartel was broken-up by the Union Government and forced to send ~$25 refunds to all their customers. I got a check, my mom got a check, and ditto my brother and his two daughters. Just last year the same thing happened to Disney where they were forced to refund upto $60 to purchasers of Baby Einstein DVDs.
THAT'S what the European Union government should have done to the cell companies. i.e. Punish them. Instead they did virtually nothing.
>>>The free market is making people rich, and it's a sin to stop
The US free market eliminated roaming charges 5+ years ago. The customers complained and the companies acted to eliminate them. Now we pay a flat rate regardless if we are in our home or 3000 miles away in the Member State of California. And no intervention from the Union Government was needed.
So yes anti-trust laws have their place such as breaking-up the forrmer CD Price-fixing Cartel, but in nearly all cases it's not necessary. The invisible hand of the market (i.e. dissastisfied citizens) correct disparities.
>>>not worth playing for around 95% of games
Plus my wallet is not infinitely deep. All the games I buy are $20 or less in cost and never expire (I'm still playing 30-yr-old games) while online games are constantly sucking money month-after-month and eventually die (when the server shutsdown) so all the money I invested is wasted. The online multiplayer model is as bad a ripoff as the $80/month* CATV charges.
Which is probably why EA thinks multiplayer is so innovative (for them). It's like printing money.
*
*$60 base plus $5 per tv plus tax
In Japan they sell porn with their Cam-equipped machines.
In Soviet Russia, they use Cam-equipped machines to make porn out of you.
And in Pennsylvania, they send the Cams home with kids to their bedrooms. (I just love my home state - not.)
Don't know if anyone cares but during the 90s, when Toyota & Honda were developing their Hybrids, they discovered batteries could last near-forever if kept betweens 50% and 80% state-of-charge.
If charged to full or depleted, then the stress would cause internal damage to the cells, but by keeping them in that "sweet spot" the batteries lasted 200,000 miles of drive time w/o almost no measurable loss in capacity.
Works for me. Radio is free. TV is free.
I want my Yahoo, Hulu, and Facebook free too.
Deal.
This post sponsored by:
ADFREE MUSIC:
radiotime.com/station/s_52398/Mix_2_1065.aspx
China is "special" like Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, and Franco's Spain was special.
They would love what China has created. State-run corporations, but which remain privately-owned.
>>>I plug my mouse into the keyboard... How is that not simpler?
Because I often use just my mouse alone, while my keyboard is "put away" under the coffee table. Having the mouse run into the keyboard would be inconvenient..... mainly because the mouse cord is not long enough to reach that far.
Pretty much.
I've been reading the US FCC's idea for "net neutrality". It involves creating a blacklist of sites you can't visit, having ISPs monitor the addresses customers visit to pass-along to the USG, and requiring a license to create a website/blog. And so on.
WE want freedom.
They want control.
This world's governments are going down the tube with their anti-free speech practices. And a lot of them are copying China as if that was the ideal model
There goes my 3 VGA CRT and 1 LCD monitor. Next I suppose they'll phase-out Svideo on DVRs and make TVs obsolete too. (shrug). I did try one of those DVI-to-VGA adapters one time but the picture was "faded" for some reason, and I went back to VGA.
>>>get a USB keyboard that has two or four USB ports on it, itself.
Just what I need: More cables to get my legs and other appendages tangled in. I tend to avoid the USB connectors on my keyboard, and prefer to use the ones on the floor (on the computer case). It would be nice if they made more keyboards/mice that used the traditional PS/2 connector.
I'm religious but I figure it's God's job to enforce his rules, not mine.
If he disapproves of cloning or babies from same-sex couples, then He'll strike them down. If not then I guess He approves. (shrug) Not my laws; not my job to enforce them on others.
>>(LINK TO PRINT VERSION)
Thus you've taken their labor w/o paying for it (i.e. not viewing the ads). I think people are entitled to get paid for their hours. Uh oh. Here come the -1 Mods to silence my speech (make it invisible) but I don't care:
I will Not be silenced just because people don't like my opinion.
>>>Exactly,the consumers want pay as you go internet.
I don't see how pay-as-you-go would save customers any money? You can already get DSL for as cheap as $15 and Dialup as cheap as $7. It doesn't get much lower than that. Now maybe after you exceed a certain cap, say 250GB, then the plan can convert to pay-as-you-go but most internet companies already do that.
No the tea party is not an example of doublethink, since most tea partiers are simply libertarians or jeffersonians (pro constitutionally-limited government). "The purpose of a constitution is to bind up the several branches of government by certain laws, which, when they transgress, their acts shall be nullities."
That is a consistent philosophy from start to finish.
>>>Isn't it ironically cool to have an AOL email address yet? I thought it was the new hipster trend.
commodore_amiga_love@aolnetscape.com
;-)
tres' cool
>>>(Don't try to pretend that Discover and Amex are -real- credit cards).
Say what? I've not seen anybody refuse my Discover credit card. Plus it gives money back - 1% off everything and 5% per quarter on various items (right now it's restaurants, clothing, and online shopping). How is it not real???
Because my employer doesn't pay me to do half-an-hour of research digging-up old SCOTUS cases in which the justices ruled, "I'm going to kill you!" is protected speech (so long as the speaker is not carrying a weapon at the time). Nevertheless that case exists... it allowed several black civil rights leaders to be freed from prison (60s).
>>>cable companies all want us to pay as we go for internet access, yet still insist on pushing bundlings of hundreds of TV channels
I'm certainly no fan of Comsucks, but in their defense: The bundling deals are a requirement of NBC, Disney, and other channel owners. Comcast HAS to buy the bundle rather than individual channels, therefore they'd gain nothing sell you just MSNBC which also comes with CNBC, Bravo, Syfy, Telemundo.
As for internet:
I don't see how pay-as-you-go would save any customer any money. You can already get DSL for as cheap as $15 and Dialup as cheap as $7. If all you need is email access plus some web browsing, then buy one of those plans. It's not like cellphones where pay-as-you-go saves cash.
I'm certainly no fan of Comsucks, but in their defense: The bundling deals are a requirement of NBC, Disney, and other channel owners. Comcast HAS to buy the bundle rather than individual channels, therefore they'd gain nothing sell you just MSNBC which also comes with CNBC, Bravo, Syfy, Telemundo.
As for internet:
I don't see how pay-as-you-go would save any customer any money. You can already get DSL for as cheap as $15 and Dialup as cheap as $7. If all you need is email access plus some web browsing, then buy one of those plans. It's not like cellphones where pay-as-you-go saves cash.