Funny that Japan was mentioned as being more sophisticated as far as market saturation and technology was concerned. No doubt these scenarios were true, but the biggest problem that I found was broadband was only available to a select few that could both afford the service and also get the lines installed. A few of my friends who were living in various apartments around the city asked to have either cable, dsl or otherwise installed, Jcom handling the only cable in the area, found that it was difficult just to get the bloddy wiring fitted to their buildings. Jcom made it severely difficult just to provide the hardware, never mind the $50 a month service fee, which doesn't include the rental of the cable modem. However, the dsl providers in the area were more than happy to provide their services for a slightly more affordable fee and guarantee of hardware provision, thankfully. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford the service, so it made more sense for me to raid the cable lines at the internet cafes or at the local university. A T1 can solve anyone's problems. I was actually looking forward to my Cox Liquor's connection at home after that. It could have been the area I was living in, but it was a fairly large city, and too large to have a mediocre telecommunication system. The biggest problem was that the competition was strong between the companies but noone was making headway as to provide hardware, i.e. adequate fibre lines and decent service at a more reasonable fee. So, it's six in one hand and half a dozen in the other. Several companies battling and no progress or a few companies doing their thing and providing decent service. Prices should come way down, no question, but at least we're getting the service. Now if our cell phones were up to the same coolness factor as the ones the Japanese and other Asian markets have available, I'd be happier. Something about a phone that has an mp3 player, GPS and a camera built-in for around $150 is pretty damn clever. Seeyas.
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Funny that Japan was mentioned as being more sophisticated as far as market saturation and technology was concerned. No doubt these scenarios were true, but the biggest problem that I found was broadband was only available to a select few that could both afford the service and also get the lines installed. A few of my friends who were living in various apartments around the city asked to have either cable, dsl or otherwise installed, Jcom handling the only cable in the area, found that it was difficult just to get the bloddy wiring fitted to their buildings. Jcom made it severely difficult just to provide the hardware, never mind the $50 a month service fee, which doesn't include the rental of the cable modem. However, the dsl providers in the area were more than happy to provide their services for a slightly more affordable fee and guarantee of hardware provision, thankfully. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford the service, so it made more sense for me to raid the cable lines at the internet cafes or at the local university. A T1 can solve anyone's problems. I was actually looking forward to my Cox Liquor's connection at home after that. It could have been the area I was living in, but it was a fairly large city, and too large to have a mediocre telecommunication system. The biggest problem was that the competition was strong between the companies but noone was making headway as to provide hardware, i.e. adequate fibre lines and decent service at a more reasonable fee. So, it's six in one hand and half a dozen in the other. Several companies battling and no progress or a few companies doing their thing and providing decent service. Prices should come way down, no question, but at least we're getting the service. Now if our cell phones were up to the same coolness factor as the ones the Japanese and other Asian markets have available, I'd be happier. Something about a phone that has an mp3 player, GPS and a camera built-in for around $150 is pretty damn clever. Seeyas.