The literature says that my roku box consumes less than 4 watts while streaming HD. Just sayin'... It always seemed cool to the touch.
This thread has been very interesting. I hadn't realized how many people were still using all those old blazing hot cable boxes. I remember them well, but for some reason I thought they were all gone now. I guess that was naive.
we haven't moved enough manufacturing jobs to China yet, I am sure the economies of the West will flourish from this.
Yes, goods will be so much cheaper to manufacture. Just think of the profit margins. Wait, what? People aren't buying our products because they're all out of work? Didn't see that coming.
As a builder, I can say Kingston and PNY are off the list. It's true that "you only get one opportunity to make a first impression", but the first impression is when you actually buy and use the product, not when you're reading reviews about it.
The whole concept of a secret patent doesn't make sense, since the word itself means open or visible, as in "patently obvious".
Irony upon irony. We're getting this list from a Communist nation - and such places are supposed to be tight with information, thus making them inferior to the open society upon which freedom supposedly thrives. With a little help from the NSA.
True, but they're not above publishing an offshore company's secret information if it's to their advantage. That the reveal helps other offshore companies is collateral..... damage?
> How far away are dictionary and thesaurus websites?
Pretty far if you don't use them.
> Also Strunk and White is a hack job
I've heard it said that Strunk and White shouldn't apply to experienced writers, but this is the first I've heard that it's a hack job. The point I was trying to make is that writing well is more than just spell checking. Practically any electronic device that supports text entry also has a spell checker these days, but a spell checker only tells you that a word of that spelling exists, not that you've used it properly or that your text scans.
I agree on the separation of services. Back in the DSL days, you could buy DSL service from multiple providers, over the same copper wires. (And Speakeasy was consistently faster and more stable than Verizon.) I don't see why you shouldn't be able to buy from multiple ISPs over the same fiber. It's at most a matter of provisioning at the CO.
Normally I would agree, but I've come across so many mistakes lately, particularly in the output of people who get paid to write, that I'm now to thinking we should pursue this mercilessly until everyone who writes something more than three people are going to read proofread their text before publishing.
In other words, the price of violating the 3 foot rule [1] should be painful and lasting ridicule.
[1] The three foot rule: Don't Write Anything Unless You Have a Dictionary and a Thesaurus Within Three Feet of You. To which I would add, And A Copy Of Strunk and White.
Eesh. $95 a month for internet? I'm paying $45 a month for fiber. Ok, you win; you really need competition.
> That's odd. I find the AT&T and Comcast sales people to be very polite. Perhaps it's because i'm in Texas.:-)
Don't misunderstand; I had no problems with the ATT cable modem people. It was a new technology at the time, with many tech hiccups, and ATT personnel behaved politely and competently in a stressful situation. But Comcast.. you're *lucky* if they ignore you, in a way, because then they're not being rude to you. Maybe it really is because you're in Texas.
Well, it's new jersey. I don't have any other explanation.
All the articles about the Verizon/Netflix war of words and low performance are not about New Jersey, they're nationwide.
That's what the news has been saying, but it just hasn't been our experience. (Caveat: The name on the box notwithstanding, Verizon no longer owns our fiber connection, so I don't know how germane our experience is.)
> almost all residential users have ADSL through the phone line
I believe that, but I'm wondering how many of those residents have DSL only because they can't imagine what they'd use broadband for. My mother still suffers with 1 Mb/s from ATT iVerse or whatever the heck it's called, and using the internet at her house is a miserable business. But although she'll pay a hundred bucks a month for Dish TV, she won't spring for broadband because she thinks she doesn't need it. I try to convince her, get broadband, get a roku, dump Dish, and save some money. But it's just not in her usage paradigm. TV by demand over the internet isn't "TV" to her. "TV" shows are on at a certain time and have commercials.
I live in NJ, and I have Comcast. I also have a fiber to my home, from Verizon, and I don't use it for two reasons: 1) it's more expensive than Comcrap (not by much), and 2) it's slower than Comcrap. Did you miss the recent rash of articles about Netflix and Verizon getting into a row about Verizon being too slow? I don't have that problem with Comcrap lately, after they did their peering agreement with Netflix.
Fiber from Verizon is most certainly not "the greatest thing since sliced bread". That's utterly insane.
And he gets rude. Once he yelled at my wife.
It'd be funny if a Comcast (or Verizon) salesperson did this in Texas or Florida and was shot.
I called the office and complained. Of course, nothing came of it.
You should have called the police and filed a report, then gone to court and gotten a restraining order against the company.
Well, it's new jersey. I don't have any other explanation. I have 25 Mbps to the house, and with wife using the roku box downstairs and daughter using the netflix appliance upstairs and me torrenting RHEL 7 beta, we're all good. I *can* swamp out the connection with enough torrent activity, but I really have to work at it. But mostly, the fiber has just been dead nuts reliable, unlike Comcast, and the few times I've had to call Frontier over the last several years, they've been pleasant and effective, again, totally unlike Comcast. [1]
"Speed" from an internet provider is like "mips" used to be for CPU manufacturers. Once you get above 15 Mb or so, most people will see no difference with greater speed. Comcast has been selling "faster than fiber" for years, and has finally given up (apparently) because up in double digits, it doesn't matter anymore. Notice that the bulk of Comcast's advertising is vs DSL these days.
And finally, regardless of whatever else I said up there, I would pay extra money just to not do business with Comcast. But as it happens, if you go by the *real*, non-introductory cost of a Comcast circuit, my fiber connection is competitive in price.
[1] I was a charter member of ATT Cable Modem, and did business with Comcast for a couple years after AT&T sold the business to them, and it's not for nothing that they're voted the worst customer service in the business. Pre-fiber, I dropped Comcast and took the performance hit to go to DSL just so I no longer had to deal with them.
It's important to note, Qwest and Verizon (later Frontier) have been offering fiber to the house for years in the Portland metropolitan area. My understanding is that the lack of rapid growth of the network(s) is not a matter of the telcos not wanting to expand, but a matter of the local municipalities making expansion too difficult. Perhaps Google has discovered, not new ways to provide fiber to the home, but new ways to grease the political wheels.
Um, I live in the Portland metropolitan area, and I already have fiber to the house. Have had for years. From a telco. At least two telcos in this area have been offering fiber for some time. And let me tell you, as an alternate to Comcast, it is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
The free market has generally been fiber vs Comcast. The Comcast salescreature stops by my house about once a month trying to get me to change to them. Something to do with how many channels I'd get for a low low introductory price. I point out we haven't had cable TV, haven't for years, all we have is internet and phone, and we're thinking of dumping the land line. And he gets rude. Once he yelled at my wife. I called the office and complained. Of course, nothing came of it.
Let's assume Google for some reason lays fiber right next to what I'm using and offers the same speed at the same price. I'd be inclined to stick with what I have. Google makes their money off data mining and advertising. I'd feel uncomfortable having them as my internet provider.
So, rail against the free market if you must, but as far as I'm concerned,,, yeah, I'm good.
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The literature says that my roku box consumes less than 4 watts while streaming HD. Just sayin'... It always seemed cool to the touch.
This thread has been very interesting. I hadn't realized how many people were still using all those old blazing hot cable boxes. I remember them well, but for some reason I thought they were all gone now. I guess that was naive.
we haven't moved enough manufacturing jobs to China yet, I am sure the economies of the West will flourish from this.
Yes, goods will be so much cheaper to manufacture. Just think of the profit margins. Wait, what? People aren't buying our products because they're all out of work? Didn't see that coming.
Isn't "Chinese-built Volvo" an oxymoron? Just sayin'.
As a builder, I can say Kingston and PNY are off the list. It's true that "you only get one opportunity to make a first impression", but the first impression is when you actually buy and use the product, not when you're reading reviews about it.
But what's the alternative?
The whole concept of a secret patent doesn't make sense, since the word itself means open or visible, as in "patently obvious".
Irony upon irony. We're getting this list from a Communist nation - and such places are supposed to be tight with information, thus making them inferior to the open society upon which freedom supposedly thrives. With a little help from the NSA.
True, but they're not above publishing an offshore company's secret information if it's to their advantage. That the reveal helps other offshore companies is collateral..... damage?
"...like our old cat used to fill my grandfather's shoes each morning..."
Um, sorry...
Ok, good point. And you're right, anything that gives people an alternate to Comcast is a Very Good Thing.
Please, find the mistake in your post.
Oh, well done.
> How far away are dictionary and thesaurus websites?
Pretty far if you don't use them.
> Also Strunk and White is a hack job
I've heard it said that Strunk and White shouldn't apply to experienced writers, but this is the first I've heard that it's a hack job. The point I was trying to make is that writing well is more than just spell checking. Practically any electronic device that supports text entry also has a spell checker these days, but a spell checker only tells you that a word of that spelling exists, not that you've used it properly or that your text scans.
I agree on the separation of services. Back in the DSL days, you could buy DSL service from multiple providers, over the same copper wires. (And Speakeasy was consistently faster and more stable than Verizon.) I don't see why you shouldn't be able to buy from multiple ISPs over the same fiber. It's at most a matter of provisioning at the CO.
Well, except for the political machinations.
> *everyone* would get DSL or fiber **if they could afford it**
I suppose, if the price is low enough. Or maybe not, if they couldn't see the value. It depends on one's value of "everyone", and "afford".
What about a MicroUSB cable? That would have supported 99% of stuff.
Or just a USB plug. Side benefit -- you could have a remote computer secretly sucking the data off the phones.
Wait, never mind.
Normally I would agree, but I've come across so many mistakes lately, particularly in the output of people who get paid to write, that I'm now to thinking we should pursue this mercilessly until everyone who writes something more than three people are going to read proofread their text before publishing.
In other words, the price of violating the 3 foot rule [1] should be painful and lasting ridicule.
[1] The three foot rule: Don't Write Anything Unless You Have a Dictionary and a Thesaurus Within Three Feet of You. To which I would add, And A Copy Of Strunk and White.
> tl;dr: sales people are lying scum. Comcast is evil.
Important distinction.
Eesh. $95 a month for internet? I'm paying $45 a month for fiber. Ok, you win; you really need competition.
> That's odd. I find the AT&T and Comcast sales people to be very polite. Perhaps it's because i'm in Texas. :-)
Don't misunderstand; I had no problems with the ATT cable modem people. It was a new technology at the time, with many tech hiccups, and ATT personnel behaved politely and competently in a stressful situation. But Comcast.. you're *lucky* if they ignore you, in a way, because then they're not being rude to you. Maybe it really is because you're in Texas.
Well, it's new jersey. I don't have any other explanation.
All the articles about the Verizon/Netflix war of words and low performance are not about New Jersey, they're nationwide.
That's what the news has been saying, but it just hasn't been our experience. (Caveat: The name on the box notwithstanding, Verizon no longer owns our fiber connection, so I don't know how germane our experience is.)
> almost all residential users have ADSL through the phone line
I believe that, but I'm wondering how many of those residents have DSL only because they can't imagine what they'd use broadband for. My mother still suffers with 1 Mb/s from ATT iVerse or whatever the heck it's called, and using the internet at her house is a miserable business. But although she'll pay a hundred bucks a month for Dish TV, she won't spring for broadband because she thinks she doesn't need it. I try to convince her, get broadband, get a roku, dump Dish, and save some money. But it's just not in her usage paradigm. TV by demand over the internet isn't "TV" to her. "TV" shows are on at a certain time and have commercials.
Shrug.
While true, Verizon doesn't come to all neighborhoods - and there's no way I'm doing business with Comcast.
I heartily support that.
I live in NJ, and I have Comcast. I also have a fiber to my home, from Verizon, and I don't use it for two reasons: 1) it's more expensive than Comcrap (not by much), and 2) it's slower than Comcrap. Did you miss the recent rash of articles about Netflix and Verizon getting into a row about Verizon being too slow? I don't have that problem with Comcrap lately, after they did their peering agreement with Netflix.
Fiber from Verizon is most certainly not "the greatest thing since sliced bread". That's utterly insane.
And he gets rude. Once he yelled at my wife.
It'd be funny if a Comcast (or Verizon) salesperson did this in Texas or Florida and was shot.
I called the office and complained. Of course, nothing came of it.
You should have called the police and filed a report, then gone to court and gotten a restraining order against the company.
Well, it's new jersey. I don't have any other explanation. I have 25 Mbps to the house, and with wife using the roku box downstairs and daughter using the netflix appliance upstairs and me torrenting RHEL 7 beta, we're all good. I *can* swamp out the connection with enough torrent activity, but I really have to work at it. But mostly, the fiber has just been dead nuts reliable, unlike Comcast, and the few times I've had to call Frontier over the last several years, they've been pleasant and effective, again, totally unlike Comcast. [1]
"Speed" from an internet provider is like "mips" used to be for CPU manufacturers. Once you get above 15 Mb or so, most people will see no difference with greater speed. Comcast has been selling "faster than fiber" for years, and has finally given up (apparently) because up in double digits, it doesn't matter anymore. Notice that the bulk of Comcast's advertising is vs DSL these days.
And finally, regardless of whatever else I said up there, I would pay extra money just to not do business with Comcast. But as it happens, if you go by the *real*, non-introductory cost of a Comcast circuit, my fiber connection is competitive in price.
[1] I was a charter member of ATT Cable Modem, and did business with Comcast for a couple years after AT&T sold the business to them, and it's not for nothing that they're voted the worst customer service in the business. Pre-fiber, I dropped Comcast and took the performance hit to go to DSL just so I no longer had to deal with them.
"Don't be Google".
It's important to note, Qwest and Verizon (later Frontier) have been offering fiber to the house for years in the Portland metropolitan area. My understanding is that the lack of rapid growth of the network(s) is not a matter of the telcos not wanting to expand, but a matter of the local municipalities making expansion too difficult. Perhaps Google has discovered, not new ways to provide fiber to the home, but new ways to grease the political wheels.
Um, I live in the Portland metropolitan area, and I already have fiber to the house. Have had for years. From a telco. At least two telcos in this area have been offering fiber for some time. And let me tell you, as an alternate to Comcast, it is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
The free market has generally been fiber vs Comcast. The Comcast salescreature stops by my house about once a month trying to get me to change to them. Something to do with how many channels I'd get for a low low introductory price. I point out we haven't had cable TV, haven't for years, all we have is internet and phone, and we're thinking of dumping the land line. And he gets rude. Once he yelled at my wife. I called the office and complained. Of course, nothing came of it.
Let's assume Google for some reason lays fiber right next to what I'm using and offers the same speed at the same price. I'd be inclined to stick with what I have. Google makes their money off data mining and advertising. I'd feel uncomfortable having them as my internet provider.
So, rail against the free market if you must, but as far as I'm concerned,,, yeah, I'm good.
The rest of the galaxy has unfriended us.