National Broadband Plan
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From: Artys on 19 Nov 2009 18:10 Hello group, Here I am on dial-up, and I went to the library and read the Wall Street Journal. It had an article about the FCC trying to force people onto broadband by a new law. They want to increase taxes on telephones, and perhaps other things. Here in my area, so many people cannot afford a computer, that the library ones are always crowded. I guess the companies like netzero will be forced out of business. I have my art website and email, and they are important to me, but I cannot afford the higher prices. If you agree with me, call your Congressman and tell them that you oppose this plan.
From: Al on 19 Nov 2009 22:24 On Nov 19, 3:10 pm, Artys <lajo...(a)GMI.net> wrote: > Hello group, > > Here I am on dial-up, and I went to the library and read the Wall > Street Journal. It had an article about the FCC trying to force > people onto broadband by a new law. They want to increase taxes on > telephones, and perhaps other things. Here in my area, so many people > cannot afford a computer, that the library ones are always crowded. I > guess the companies like netzero will be forced out of business. I > have my art website and email, and they are important to me, but I > cannot afford the higher prices. If you agree with me, call your > Congressman and tell them that you oppose this plan. If people in your area can't afford a computer, they don't have to worry about dial up versus broadband. Have them vote for more library computers. The only thing forcing dial up out is the fact that DSL and others are now so cheap. DSL only cost $19.95/mo. where I live and I still use dial up for $9.95. I'll be changing soon.
From: Les Cargill on 19 Nov 2009 23:10 Artys wrote: > Hello group, > > Here I am on dial-up, and I went to the library and read the Wall > Street Journal. It had an article about the FCC trying to force > people onto broadband by a new law. They want to increase taxes on > telephones, and perhaps other things. Here in my area, so many people > cannot afford a computer, that the library ones are always crowded. I > guess the companies like netzero will be forced out of business. Not necessarily. Is this the article? http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125858121746254383.html It says nothing about new taxes. I > have my art website and email, and they are important to me, but I > cannot afford the higher prices. If you agree with me, call your > Congressman and tell them that you oppose this plan. It is just my particular situation, but I pay less for cable modem (plus cable TV) than I would for dial up plus a phone line. I have VoIP phone service that works better than* a land line. It is totally frugal. *quality is better, but it won't be there in a power failure unless I buy a good UPS. I have my cel phone. Are you positive you cannot get DSL? By the '96 Telecomms Act, your phone company must at least have a plan in place. You may be eligible for low-cost service and not know it. WiMax is becoming commonplace in "underserved areas." One possible resource is a Linux Users Group in your area. They probably have a website, and are frequently knowlegeable about these things. And if nothing else, buy a WAP* that can be configured as a wireless bridge and cantenna and find a sympathetic neighbor with broadband. *wireless access point, possibly running dd-wrt or the like. I put all them ten dollar words in there so you can use them to ask questions of people local to you. -- Les Cargill
From: BigDog1 on 19 Nov 2009 23:15 On Nov 19, 4:10 pm, Artys <lajo...(a)GMI.net> wrote: > Hello group, > > Here I am on dial-up, and I went to the library and read the Wall > Street Journal. It had an article about the FCC trying to force > people onto broadband by a new law. They want to increase taxes on > telephones, and perhaps other things. Here in my area, so many people > cannot afford a computer, that the library ones are always crowded. I > guess the companies like netzero will be forced out of business. I > have my art website and email, and they are important to me, but I > cannot afford the higher prices. If you agree with me, call your > Congressman and tell them that you oppose this plan. The FCC is not trying to force anyone off of dial up and on to broadband. And there's no "new law." What they're doing is increasing the deployment of broadband service into areas that don't have it. See: http://www.fcc.gov/broadband/ Those who wish to join the 21st century will be able to. Those who wish to stay in the 80's and remain on dial up will be free to do that. What will probably happen though, is that dial up service providers will begin to die off as their subscribers move to broadband. That's a good thing. Dial up sucks. If I lived where dial up was my only option I'd move...really...seriously...I'd move! And by the way, no one "can't afford" a computer. What that usually translates to is they don't want to pay for one. Basic laptops can be had for less than $400.00 and basic desktops for around $250.00 these days. I recently saw an ad for a refurbished Dell Aspire laptop for $265.00. Anyone who's truly too poor to afford one, or too stupid to manage their money so they can buy a basic computer, doesn't need the internet and doesn't care.
From: Michael Black on 20 Nov 2009 12:14
On Thu, 19 Nov 2009, BigDog1 wrote: > And by the way, no one "can't afford" a computer. What that usually > translates to is they don't want to pay for one. Basic laptops can be > had for less than $400.00 and basic desktops for around $250.00 these > days. I recently saw an ad for a refurbished Dell Aspire laptop for > $265.00. Anyone who's truly too poor to afford one, or too stupid to > manage their money so they can buy a basic computer, doesn't need the > internet and doesn't care. > You're paying too much. There are lots of used computers available for less that are available cheap. Or as a hand me down from someone they know. What would be the limiting factor is internet access. A monthly bill that may be harder to scrape up the money to pay for than to find a decent free or cheap computer. Years ago, some people felt internet access was so important that it should be free, hence the freenet or community network movement. Sadly, that's pretty much faded, initially internet access was so unavailable that people who could pay would be getting access via freenets, and they helped support it for those who couldn't pay (well theoretically, it's never been clear if the people who had no money actually got online as a result). But as the commercial ISP rose up, people went to those for the lack of limitations, and freenets faded, often unable to support themselves. Michael |