The system was originally developed for One News here in NZ (as I recall), we've had it on that news for many years now. I've never liked it because it's mostly pointless pretty graphics that don't present the weather information in as nice nor concise a format as simple 2D maps. It all boils down to stupid 3D animations of little clouds moving across 3D maps of cities and countries as the day progresses.
The article's author should come to New Zealand and see what we have, namely a monopoly worse than most slashdotters think Microsoft is. Want broadband? The standard is 256Kbps DSL ($NZ50/month), usually without a monthly traffic limit of something like 10GB. This is still better than just 6 months ago where the standard was 128Kbps with a 10GB traffic limit ($NZ60/month), which doesn't even qualify as broadband. You can now get (as in in the last few months) 2Mbps (also at $NZ50/month), but that'll definitely have a monthly traffic limit of 10GB (including national traffic and dropping to 64Kbps when you reach the limit), which you could burn through in no time at 2Mbps. Here are the common plans of today from Xtra, Telecom's ISP branch.
Because the local loop is still virtually all Telecom (only a relatively few lucky people in Wellington can get a physical line that isn't owned by Telecom) there's no real competition for internet access. Ultimately almost all ISPs have to go through Telecom's service and just resell that, and Telecom doesnot play fair. The only possible exception is paradise.net/Telstra Clear, and I'm not entirely sure if they go through Telecom's system or not. The Kiwi Share, which is supposed to protect us against this sort of thing, is bogged down in beauracracy and failing miserably.
All this while we hear about how great broadband is in places like Europe and Asia, HK gets 1Gbps broadband, and even Australia has a 20Mbps service.
An interesting recent take on the telecommunications situation here.
On the plus side, at least Telecom is generally fairly good at setting up your connection quickly.
Slashdot Mirror
Indy drank from the Holy Grail, yes. But the old knight said that you have to drink from it every day to have eternal life.
I prefer crates, myself.
The system was originally developed for One News here in NZ (as I recall), we've had it on that news for many years now. I've never liked it because it's mostly pointless pretty graphics that don't present the weather information in as nice nor concise a format as simple 2D maps. It all boils down to stupid 3D animations of little clouds moving across 3D maps of cities and countries as the day progresses.
For those who want to know what a termination shock looks like: Clicky.
The article's author should come to New Zealand and see what we have, namely a monopoly worse than most slashdotters think Microsoft is. Want broadband? The standard is 256Kbps DSL ($NZ50/month), usually without a monthly traffic limit of something like 10GB. This is still better than just 6 months ago where the standard was 128Kbps with a 10GB traffic limit ($NZ60/month), which doesn't even qualify as broadband. You can now get (as in in the last few months) 2Mbps (also at $NZ50/month), but that'll definitely have a monthly traffic limit of 10GB (including national traffic and dropping to 64Kbps when you reach the limit), which you could burn through in no time at 2Mbps. Here are the common plans of today from Xtra, Telecom's ISP branch.
Because the local loop is still virtually all Telecom (only a relatively few lucky people in Wellington can get a physical line that isn't owned by Telecom) there's no real competition for internet access. Ultimately almost all ISPs have to go through Telecom's service and just resell that, and Telecom does not play fair. The only possible exception is paradise.net/Telstra Clear, and I'm not entirely sure if they go through Telecom's system or not. The Kiwi Share, which is supposed to protect us against this sort of thing, is bogged down in beauracracy and failing miserably. All this while we hear about how great broadband is in places like Europe and Asia, HK gets 1Gbps broadband, and even Australia has a 20Mbps service.
An interesting recent take on the telecommunications situation here.
On the plus side, at least Telecom is generally fairly good at setting up your connection quickly.
Oh good. I'm not travelling back in time uncontrollably.