Comment Re:Hey, how about... (Score 1) 144
That's... actually kinda cool.
That's... actually kinda cool.
> Home users will receive updates as they come out, rather than queueing them all up on "patch Tuesday."
So random breakage, then, rather than breakage on a particular weekday. Sucks to be a home user.
> so they can see if any of the patches accidentally break anything for home users before trying them out.
"if"? It's inevitable.
Graffiti is a good idea, and I think I could knock the rust off those skills in a short time, but aren't we at the point now where voice recognition is practical?
Different areas have different price structures, I guess. We currently have internet and phone over fiber for about $60/mo. Full cable/DVR when we had it was just over $120 a month... what a waste... Wife has hulu so she can binge-watch network TV shows. I canceled Netflix when daughter went a little over five months binge-watching in her room -- didn't even bathe -- she's in counseling now. Wife has her own TV, she'll leave it on an on-air channel while she's playing games or something. We have a huge DVD/BR collection (Friday is "movie and pizza" night) but I can't remember the last time I watched TV in real time. And I'm completely ignorant of what passes for commercials these days.
I think you're right, internet will eventually support cable TV instead of the other way around. And eventually cable TV as we know it today will go away. I'm really hoping the entire non-demand cable paradigm collapses as soon as possible. It really hasn't been necessary for some time, and it's holding up other types of content delivery.
Ok, so, strictly speaking, this is not the warp drive, it's the impulse drive. (Thrust to relativistic speed, not trans-light.) We're still waiting for the warp drive.
> The Vulcans will be here soon, swooping in like a returning Jesus Christ to save us from ourselves at long last, show us the true path of wisdom, and help us complete the application (an on-line PDF form, no doubt
..there is actual competition between cable companies. When you have a monopoly in an area, you have no incentive to treat your customers well.
I've been thinking about this. It's true, but I wonder how things will change when all the cable companies are competing to provide you only with basic access to the internet. Then it becomes just another commodity, like phone or power, and there is very little room for differentiation.
The thing about basic internet is that it's very easy to quantify. You can get measurements of *true* performance from third parties for free. This makes it harder (but not impossible) for a company to claim 100/100 when measurements show it drops to 15/5 after a few minutes of sustained traffic, or drops to a lower tier based on whether traffic is streaming or torrenting.
We know that Comcast "shapes" traffic using criteria that makes paying for an ultra high speed connection pointless to the very customers who could best make use of that kind of connection. A competing service only has to say "we don't shape traffic". Ok, sign me up.
It's going to be an interesting world in the next few years.
to get one positive review from a Comcast customer. That will indicate that enough time and effort has been put into customer service re-training, and that resources can be reallocated to find new and inventive fees to add to your bill.
I think it's one articulate positive review, something they can use in marketing materials.
> for the first time, the country's largest cable provider has more internet subscribers than cable subscribers
Oh thank God. Does this mean that the Comcast salescreature who leans on our doorbell monthly will stop trying to push cable on us? I have to es'plain to him each time that we have this thing called an An-Ten-Na that receives digital TV Foooorrrrrrr Frreeee-eeee-eee.
He then loudly proclaims that Frontier is "getting out of the cable business" and our cable tv will "go away in a month". (He's been saying that for almost a year now -- eventually he could even be right.) I patiently explain (yet again) that we don't have cable TV. At all. Not even the basic package. Haven't since we sent back those horribly expensive multiroom DVR set top boxes that never really worked correctly.
So... I have to wonder, what's in store for me now? Internet is, basically, internet. I haven't noticed any particular "traffic shaping" on my current fiber connection (25/5, lowest tier, more than adequate), something that Comcast in particular is famous for. What can they offer me that I don't already have? 100 Mb/sec? Frontier will be happy to sign me up for that, for a price. I just don't happen to believe it's necessary. Besides, a 100 Mb link from Comcast.... what does that really get me? Faster access to pr0n? Any content I want to access is going to compete with Comcast's core business (cable tv) and is likely to be "shaped", so the faster speed buys me what, besides bragging rights?
It's going to be interesting how the salesguy's spiel is going to change (if at all) when internet connectivity is his main pitch. Internet connectivity is like... electricity. Just another commodity. At least, it should be, and we seem (finally!) to be going that direction.
You're right. In a similar vein, I ride a Harley, and conversations always lead back to "it's not leaking oil, it's marking its territory!" Har. Har. Yes Harleys used to leak oil. They were famous for it at one time. But they don't now, anymore than any motor vehicle does.
Similarly, in all the years I've been using Windows 7, I've yet to have a hang or bluescreen, and I don't reboot my machine unless absolutely necessary. But people still make jokes about the Windows 49.7 day issue. Just goes to show, it takes a LONG time to live down a tremendous goof.
Only theoretical, though. Windows 9x would crash long before reaching this uptime.
Well, in fairness, only if you tried to do something with it.
"(psshsquawk)This is the Captain speaking, we are cruising at 30,000 feet, have a bit of a tail wind and will be in San Francisco a little ahead of schedule.
Right. But this is the era of "one weird trick" and "this revelation shocked scientists" and other wishful thinking. If you can't work "This is the most important video you will ever watch" into the article, nobody will pay attention.
Good day to avoid cops. Crawl to work.
