• Reinstall Windows XP/MS Office 2007 on my laptop. Download and install updated. Usage: 2GB - 3GB.
• Downlaod game demo for The Last Remnant. Usage: 1GB
• Pull a copy of the project documentation/source code for work. Usage: 500MB
• Connect to my office via Citrix and get some work done. Usage: Unknown
• Play a few capture the flag matches with friends on Unreal. Usage: Unknown
• Surf the web aimlessly for three hours when I just meant to look up a recipe. Usage: Unknown
• Download and install the latest security tools (AV, Spyware, Etc), and install them on my laptop. Usage: 100MB
• Upload photos from my camera to flickr: Usage: 50MB
• Receive photos in email from friends/family: Usage: 50MB

Note the unknowns in the list. Their are many things where the bandwidth usage just is not well defined, so how am I to judge their cost? Even if we ignore that, I would guess that I used 5 to 6 GB in just one day for those items listed. Without streaming video, without downloading the latest Ubuntu, without using any file sharing application or tool I have already used a good portion of my "allocated" bandwidth. Nothing I did would be considered "extreme" usage, and everything I did would have been considered normal usage 10 Years Ago. So why is it my ability is being limited now?

Why is it only in areas without reasonable competition that this is being deployed?

Why is it the cost per unit of bandwidth is so unreasonably high?

Why are their "caps" so artificially low?

These are the questions, and until I receive good answers, I will have to refer to Time Warner's broadband offerings with scorn.

In terms of competition, this area does have AT&T as an alternative. I did try to switch to AT&T on three occasions, on each of these occasions the incompetence of their agents and the lack of communication between the companies numerous divisions and their agents made me go back to TW. The only reason I was trying to switch was so I could get more that one static IP at a reasonable cost. Even though I practically live downtown, they were never able to 1) arrive on their scheduled date, 2) arrive at their scheduled time, 3) provide the equipment needed to use their services, 4) Provision the account for use, and 5) Mark the account as active. The one time I finally got the service to work (three months late), it stopped working after two weeks. When I called, I was told that my installation had been canceled because I was too far away from the CO for DSL to work (I had been using it successfully for three weeks at this point). Every time I have dealt with AT&T, it has been a comedy of errors, screw-ups, and misinformation. Thankfully, I had never cut off my cable modem. I have not tried again in a number of years, as my need for the multiple addresses evaporated. I am not inclined to give them another chance.

Until they started this metered broadband crap, I have actually been happy with the service I receive from Time Warner's Road Runner Service. I have had no serious billing or technical issues, and have always received prompt, courteous service. I don't like the scripts their first line of tech support people go through, but once you get past them, their people are usually knowledgeable. The only reason I ever considered moving away was because I wanted a service they did not offer for a reasonable fee.

Then Microsoft bought them, and I thought "Mayne it won't be too bad".

"Lost" e-mails, loads of spam, unreliable delivery and receipt. These things pushed me to look at other services, but the final straw was the ads. The large, glaring, annoying, brightly colored/blinking/moving ads. It was like trying to read a book while someone points a flashlight into your eyes.

So I moved to GMail. Their are ads, but they are unobtrusive. I see them at the top of the page, and I have even clicked on a few, but they don't interfere with what I came to do - read my e-mail.

I recognize that sites need advertising dollars to support themselves, and I hate resorting to ad-blockers for this reason - but the advertising has gone too far. When half the page is flashing/moving you can't focus on the content, and content is what it is all about.

I don't know that I have a point to this message, except maybe to get MY perspective on this issue out there, but I am with you. I hope that the service providers lost enough users to come to their senses.

I do use adblock, but try to keep the bloklist to only the most annoying ads. I also use NoScript, and think it is one of the best extensions out there. Between the to, I rarely see popups. When one does sneak in there, I will usually take steps to keep it from happening again.

If you fight for gay rights (something sorely missing in America) you are attacked by the "Christian Conservatives", most of whom are as anti-christian as you can be.

If you fight for universal healthcare (yet another important thing), you are attacked by the powerful insurance lobby, and "fiscal conservatives", who are fine spending billions, but only if it goes into the pockets of their cronies.

If you attack video games, however, who attacks you? No (politically) powerful or influential group takes up the mantle. So while the intelligent may see it as a waste of time, and slashdotters may see it for what it is (a problem that could easily be solved if parents simply monitored their children), their is really no downside for the politician.