No doubt, you've been enjoying all the recent hoopla with the MacWorld announcement of Apple's new iTunes movie rental service. It was enough to make the AppleFreak faithful cream in their jeans when GodSteve made the announcement.
But, has anyone thought about what will happen when more than a few thousand people start downloading movies at the same time? I mean because unlike the Korean government, who invested $1.95 billion in a broadband infrastructure back in 1995, here in the US, we left it to the telcos and cable companies, 'cos otherwise it would have smacked of "Socialism!"
That's why 90% of Koreans have a 3mbps connection right into the home, and we have ever increasing bills for ever worsening service. And that's why Time Warner Cable is experimenting with caps on broadband usage, which means if you get into too much movie downloading, suddenly you’re paying $30 per movie.
The ever rapacious cable companies are about to fowl their nest if they pursue this. 'Cos there's always satellite and DSL, which may be a bit slower, but for the average user, it won't make much difference. Still the cable companies have a history of arrogance and greed. Must be all that "Competition" deregulation ushered in. Isn't capitalism great?
George Parker
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Member since: 03 Jun 2008
Last login: 17 Nov 2009
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