At some point in the future, Microsoft is going to get broken up... there is no denying it.
You are neglecting to consider AT&T's clout in the cable industry however. AT&T also has the majority stake in @Home and Road Runner. They are Microsoft's AND AOL's worst enemy.
Granted, I was referring to the "old" TV Network. But these functioned very well for a long time on mere advertising revenues. It would be *possible* for the ISP's to go in this direction.
Though I do not really envision this happening, I do see prices coming down drastically, and like the old TV Networks (and modern, as you pointed out), they will have to rely on other means to make a profit (whether that is advertisements, affiliations or selling other products).
I think it could become very much like Cable TV however as well. With a simple tier system. You want a connection and an e-mail account? OK, that's free. You want access to the web? Pay some. You want no advertisements, and a bunch of other neatO things (like the movie channels)? Pay more.
I also think of gas stations. They make almost nothing on selling gas to you. What they depend on is you hopping in to by cigs and pop. In any event, I think the ISP's will no longer be able to depend on the revenues from mere connection fees.
As far as something that is funded solely by advertising.. I can think of plenty of internet sites, as well as all those magazines that I can get for free at the super market or local club.
I do not see this happening. Microsoft will gain some market share, yes. But this is a fast growing market, and they do not necesarily have to take AOL's members to do well.
What will happen, is that AOL will upgrade their services, and lower their prices to insure their current customers do not leave, and to hopefully attract more.
It may get down to 3 or 4 large providers... but it will not get down to only one. This is not necesarily bad. Oligarchies consist of the fiercest competitions there are (hello Coke and Pepsi). Prices will remain low, and incentives for improvement will be high.
I sure hope that we can pay taxes for joning this virtual society. Or should we call them "dues towards the common good"... sounds a lot better than "taxes" i guess!
It is AT&T that owns over 60% of the cable lines in N. America. Comcast and Paul Allen own the majority of the remaining lines.
As far as keeping the net completely free and open? I am not so sure I am for that. If AT&T, had not aken the initiative and balls to put up over 100 billion dollars down in order to start rolling out broadband technology, I do not know if it ever would have happened.
Now, not only do we have a chance of getting access to cable modems thanks to AT&T, but the regional bells have finally started to get off their asses to offer as DSL as well.
If the big companies do not front the cash... we would be stuck in 56.6k netherworld of internet connections.
If the cable modems are forced to be open, what is the incentive for AT&T to ever upgrade their technologies? There is none... because they would be guranteed a profit just by sitting on their asses.
So I am thrilled that we are finally seeing an aggressive push by the larger companies to move into a broadband infrastructure. If the small ISP's get left behind... so be it, it happens to every new technology. Right now, there are enough options out there where microsoft, AT&T or AOL are not going to have complete control. There is going to be a lot of competition AND great incentives to roll out greater technologies.
Having a bunch of tiny ISP's running around through our phone lines does not aid progression much at all. This market is starting to mature, and there will be survivors, but unfortunately, more fatalities.
So do you plan on living off of social security when you retire?
Those stockbrokers that you refer to as scum, also provide you with the means of funding your retirement in the best possible way. People that invest for the long term in quality companies, do get rich (it just won't be over night). People that invest in bonds and CD's over the long run are lucky to keep ahead of inflation.
You need a broker (and yes, there are ones who actually do have your best interests in mind) to provide for yourself in the best manner possible.
That is why I do not like online brokerage firms... they *DO* promote "get rich quick" schemes. They *DO* promote frequent buying and selling, to get your commisions.
Find a real, in-the-flesh broker who you can trust. It may take you a few tries, but there are numerous, hard working brokers out there who genuinely care for their clients. And there are a lot more of them , than there are online brokers.
I do not think it is going to be very long before ISP's *have* to offer free connections, and need to make their money elsewhere (through advertisements, online stores, etc.). So in a sense, These companies are becoming more and more like Television stations. Where you can get the entertainment, but you just have to put up with the advertisements/commercials. Broadband technologies will move it even further in this direction. Most of the small ISP's will not make it, and this market will soon become an oligarchy, with a few huge companies trying to snare market share from the others through heavy advertising.
That is one of the most horrible things an investor can say... "I don't think it can fall any further" In fact, just look at it today, down another dollar.
I see people looking at stocks that have fallen from around $38 to $1.50, and they buy it thinking that it can't get any lower. Well it can, it can go a LOT lower.
Well, this will come close to nailing the coffin lid shut on Iridium. That company has had virtually nothing good happen to them, and are on the verge of filing for chapter 6 protection.
There is no denying that people have steadily been increasing in life expectancy. If you want proof, just look at how cheap "Term" life insurance is now:)
But the initial waves in life expectancy increases have had more to do with containing virus and bacteria outbreaks through large improvements in hygiene, and through the developments of certain vaccines and penicillin.
The next wave will be from developments resulting in the killing of cancer cells. There is no reason to not believe that our children could easily live to over a 100, along with a good portion of their friends.
This of course has a ton of implications. I love noting the fact that people are retiring a lot earlier than they used to. Imagine having such a huge portion of our population being 50 - 100 and unemployed!
This is probably just an urban myth, but i remember hearing that various animal rights groups were working in labs to release a virus to do exactly that... erase the earth of humans.
anyways, they have worked in dramatically prolonging the lives of labaratory animals.
what they use is a term called "naked DNA" This is supposed to stimulate both arms of the immune system, antibodies and T-cells. Most traditional vaccines only stimulate antibodies.
sorry if this is off-topic, but i think this is pretty exciting. Though i can think of countless other "ideas" that failed miserably, coming from various pharmaceuticals and biotechnology firms.
The team has a long history in the adult web market, we maintain several sites currently for our parent firm and for clients. We have and continue to handle design, programming and technical support for many of these sites.
Our experience does not stop on one side of the camera - Lisa and Shannon have are both celebrities in their own right as the stars of girl2.
We would like to put that experience, and our contacts in the industry, to work on a site we call "Sweet Young Things". This domain currently operates as a free website, generating revenue from sponsorship programs and advertising partnerships. It is our intention to turn that site into an amateur website, featuring some truly amazing local models.
While there is a considerable number of activity in this market, it is clear from our experience as insiders in this industry that there is still room for a successful website that has a quality standard and the ability and desire to maintain it. While revenue details are of course proprietary our experience shows that this site will reach break-even in less than sixty days and provide a growing and dependable revenue stream for us.
There are ancillary benefits to this. Our team needs experience working with third party models, including the issues involved in high production value photo shoots and the associated problems. The experience gained on this will be invaluable when the time comes for photographic work to be done in support of PA.
Well, it is true that the few internet sites that actually *ARE* making money right now are the adult sites. But aren't there enough? Is this supposed to be "Porn for the Intellectual"??? Whatever... I do not think I will be a fan.
The nice thing about the internet though, is that there are plenty of people who are willing to give out advice for free. Why not take advantage of it?
I am a little confused about starting an internet company that is based on starting an internet company.... uhhh, good luck i guess.
The stock market has had an average annual rate of return of 8.4% since 1802. Since 1926 (still before the great depression) the market has returned 10.8% per year.
Compare this to 4.7% return from long term government bonds from 1802 and 5.2% since 1926. While 4 percentage points per year does not seem like a lot of sacrifice for the safety of government backed bonds (or similarly, bank backed cd's), there is a large difference. Stocks have the power of compounding on their side!!!
$10,000 of stock held at a 10.8% average annual return for 30 years = $216,867
$10,000 of long tern government bonds held at a coupon rate of 5.2% for 30 years (we are also going to assume that you are reinvesting your payments at the same rate, which would be dificult to do).
= $45,758
That is a big difference... and the 2% you would get in a savings account is even more dismal.
Now for the clincher.... If you are investing long-term, holding onto quality stocks (let's say those represented byt the S&P 500) is actually LESS risky than holding onto bonds or CD's (and especially a mere savings account)! The reason for this is inflation. Stocks are the only investment vehicles that have consistently beaten inflation over the years. By investing in bonds and CD's you may be actually losing money! For instance, over the past 30 years, inflation has averaged a little over 5% per year!
Only quality companies, which have the ability to raise their prices along with inflation are able to give you a real return!
Buy great, solid companies like GE, Procter & Gamble, Coca Cola, McDonalds, Clorox, Merck and other such 100 year old growth companies and hold onto them for the long run.
Not only will your return be likely to beat the historical average, but you will not have to pay the year to year fees and capital gains taxes of mutual funds. Own the companies yourself!
Slashdot Mirror
Though... the US does do a damn fine job of protecting its citizens who do trash talk other governments, who might not be so permissable as the US.
Just goes to show that there are nerds from all different walks of life on slashdot.org
thanks.
Canada is definitely not a pawn of the United States.
and isn't the last sylable really the only difference between the UN and the US?
At leat there is a happy ending :)
At some point in the future, Microsoft is going to get broken up... there is no denying it.
You are neglecting to consider AT&T's clout in the cable industry however. AT&T also has the majority stake in @Home and Road Runner. They are Microsoft's AND AOL's worst enemy.
Granted, I was referring to the "old" TV Network.
But these functioned very well for a long time on mere advertising revenues. It would be *possible* for the ISP's to go in this direction.
Though I do not really envision this happening, I do see prices coming down drastically, and like the old TV Networks (and modern, as you pointed out), they will have to rely on other means to make a profit (whether that is advertisements, affiliations or selling other products).
I think it could become very much like Cable TV however as well. With a simple tier system. You want a connection and an e-mail account? OK, that's free. You want access to the web? Pay some. You want no advertisements, and a bunch of other neatO things (like the movie channels)? Pay more.
I also think of gas stations. They make almost nothing on selling gas to you. What they depend on is you hopping in to by cigs and pop. In any event, I think the ISP's will no longer be able to depend on the revenues from mere connection fees.
As far as something that is funded solely by advertising.. I can think of plenty of internet sites, as well as all those magazines that I can get for free at the super market or local club.
I do not see this happening. Microsoft will gain some market share, yes. But this is a fast growing market, and they do not necesarily have to take AOL's members to do well.
What will happen, is that AOL will upgrade their services, and lower their prices to insure their current customers do not leave, and to hopefully attract more.
It may get down to 3 or 4 large providers... but it will not get down to only one. This is not necesarily bad. Oligarchies consist of the fiercest competitions there are (hello Coke and Pepsi). Prices will remain low, and incentives for improvement will be high.
This IS a good thing.
Advantages of being a US citizen:
#1: Bragging Rights
Yeh,
NeatO.
I sure hope that we can pay taxes for joning this virtual society. Or should we call them "dues towards the common good"... sounds a lot better than "taxes" i guess!
It is AT&T that owns over 60% of the cable lines in N. America.
Comcast and Paul Allen own the majority of the remaining lines.
As far as keeping the net completely free and open? I am not so sure I am for that. If AT&T, had not aken the initiative and balls to put up over 100 billion dollars down in order to start rolling out broadband technology, I do not know if it ever would have happened.
Now, not only do we have a chance of getting access to cable modems thanks to AT&T, but the regional bells have finally started to get off their asses to offer as DSL as well.
If the big companies do not front the cash... we would be stuck in 56.6k netherworld of internet connections.
If the cable modems are forced to be open, what is the incentive for AT&T to ever upgrade their technologies? There is none... because they would be guranteed a profit just by sitting on their asses.
So I am thrilled that we are finally seeing an aggressive push by the larger companies to move into a broadband infrastructure. If the small ISP's get left behind... so be it, it happens to every new technology. Right now, there are enough options out there where microsoft, AT&T or AOL are not going to have complete control. There is going to be a lot of competition AND great incentives to roll out greater technologies.
Having a bunch of tiny ISP's running around through our phone lines does not aid progression much at all. This market is starting to mature, and there will be survivors, but unfortunately, more fatalities.
So do you plan on living off of social security when you retire?
Those stockbrokers that you refer to as scum, also provide you with the means of funding your retirement in the best possible way. People that invest for the long term in quality companies, do get rich (it just won't be over night). People that invest in bonds and CD's over the long run are lucky to keep ahead of inflation.
You need a broker (and yes, there are ones who actually do have your best interests in mind) to provide for yourself in the best manner possible.
That is why I do not like online brokerage firms... they *DO* promote "get rich quick" schemes. They *DO* promote frequent buying and selling, to get your commisions.
Find a real, in-the-flesh broker who you can trust. It may take you a few tries, but there are numerous, hard working brokers out there who genuinely care for their clients. And there are a lot more of them , than there are online brokers.
I do not think it is going to be very long before ISP's *have* to offer free connections, and need to make their money elsewhere (through advertisements, online stores, etc.).
So in a sense, These companies are becoming more and more like Television stations. Where you can get the entertainment, but you just have to put up with the advertisements/commercials. Broadband technologies will move it even further in this direction.
Most of the small ISP's will not make it, and this market will soon become an oligarchy, with a few huge companies trying to snare market share from the others through heavy advertising.
That is one of the most horrible things an investor can say... "I don't think it can fall any further"
In fact, just look at it today, down another dollar.
I see people looking at stocks that have fallen from around $38 to $1.50, and they buy it thinking that it can't get any lower. Well it can, it can go a LOT lower.
Well, this will come close to nailing the coffin lid shut on Iridium. That company has had virtually nothing good happen to them, and are on the verge of filing for chapter 6 protection.
now the guest book goes to /.
:)
funny
There is no denying that people have steadily been increasing in life expectancy. If you want proof, just look at how cheap "Term" life insurance is now :)
But the initial waves in life expectancy increases have had more to do with containing virus and bacteria outbreaks through large improvements in hygiene, and through the developments of certain vaccines and penicillin.
The next wave will be from developments resulting in the killing of cancer cells. There is no reason to not believe that our children could easily live to over a 100, along with a good portion of their friends.
This of course has a ton of implications. I love noting the fact that people are retiring a lot earlier than they used to. Imagine having such a huge portion of our population being 50 - 100 and unemployed!
This is probably just an urban myth, but i remember hearing that various animal rights groups were working in labs to release a virus to do exactly that... erase the earth of humans.
That is why I live in a bubble...
whoops... sent this accidently.
damn tab key!
anyways,
they have worked in dramatically prolonging the lives of labaratory animals.
what they use is a term called "naked DNA"
This is supposed to stimulate both arms of the immune system, antibodies and T-cells.
Most traditional vaccines only stimulate antibodies.
sorry if this is off-topic, but i think this is pretty exciting. Though i can think of countless other "ideas" that failed miserably, coming from various pharmaceuticals and biotechnology firms.
Merck recently announced that they were beginning human testing of two experimental vaccines for use against the HIV virus.
The team has a long history in the adult web market, we maintain several sites currently for our parent firm and for clients. We have and continue to handle
design, programming and technical support for many of these sites.
Our experience does not stop on one side of the camera - Lisa and Shannon have are both celebrities in their own right as the stars of girl2.
We would like to put that experience, and our contacts in the industry, to work on a site we call "Sweet Young Things". This domain currently operates as a
free website, generating revenue from sponsorship programs and advertising partnerships. It is our intention to turn that site into an amateur website,
featuring some truly amazing local models.
While there is a considerable number of activity in this market, it is clear from our experience as insiders in this industry that there is still room for a successful
website that has a quality standard and the ability and desire to maintain it. While revenue details are of course proprietary our experience shows that this
site will reach break-even in less than sixty days and provide a growing and dependable revenue stream for us.
There are ancillary benefits to this. Our team needs experience working with third party models, including the issues involved in high production value photo
shoots and the associated problems. The experience gained on this will be invaluable when the time comes for photographic work to be done in support of
PA.
Well, it is true that the few internet sites that actually *ARE* making money right now are the adult sites. But aren't there enough?
Is this supposed to be "Porn for the Intellectual"???
Whatever... I do not think I will be a fan.
"Watch us succeed... watch us fail"
The nice thing about the internet though, is that there are plenty of people who are willing to give out advice for free. Why not take advantage of it?
I am a little confused about starting an internet company that is based on starting an internet company.... uhhh, good luck i guess.
Does anyone want to do my taxes for free?
:)
It sounds like your intentions involve a little more than watching "goosebumbs" rise.
Film is actually very expensive.
That would about cover it.
How on earth did you get those numbers?
They are a little astronomical.
For better numbers, look at my earlier post (which were taken straight from my trusty ol' HP-12C)
*Another Spoiler*
The best part of the movie was undeniably the final 5 minutes.
The best and most scary single scene was when she ran into the basement, and we see him just standing there, facing the wall.
That was great.
Though this movie did not live up to the "this is the most scary movie ever" hype, i enjoyed it.
This is the wrong way of thinking.
First of all, for the facts...
The stock market has had an average annual rate of return of 8.4% since 1802. Since 1926 (still before the great depression) the market has returned 10.8% per year.
Compare this to 4.7% return from long term government bonds from 1802 and 5.2% since 1926.
While 4 percentage points per year does not seem like a lot of sacrifice for the safety of government backed bonds (or similarly, bank backed cd's), there is a large difference.
Stocks have the power of compounding on their side!!!
$10,000 of stock held at a 10.8% average annual return for 30 years = $216,867
$10,000 of long tern government bonds held at a coupon rate of 5.2% for 30 years (we are also going to assume that you are reinvesting your payments at the same rate, which would be dificult to do).
= $45,758
That is a big difference... and the 2% you would get in a savings account is even more dismal.
Now for the clincher.... If you are investing long-term, holding onto quality stocks (let's say those represented byt the S&P 500) is actually LESS risky than holding onto bonds or CD's (and especially a mere savings account)! The reason for this is inflation. Stocks are the only investment vehicles that have consistently beaten inflation over the years. By investing in bonds and CD's you may be actually losing money!
For instance, over the past 30 years, inflation has averaged a little over 5% per year!
Only quality companies, which have the ability to raise their prices along with inflation are able to give you a real return!
Buy great, solid companies like GE, Procter & Gamble, Coca Cola, McDonalds, Clorox, Merck and other such 100 year old growth companies and hold onto them for the long run.
Not only will your return be likely to beat the historical average, but you will not have to pay the year to year fees and capital gains taxes of mutual funds. Own the companies yourself!