Forget The Digital Home, Give Us An Internet Connection That Works

from the just-saying... dept

What is it about tech companies that cause them to focus on "the next big thing" before they get "the thing we currently have" to work right? It almost always seems to be the case. Companies rush out a product before it's ready, because you have to beat the competition, but then it's kind of boring to fix up what you have. It's much more exciting to look towards "the future," but that future never works right because (again), it gets rushed out too soon. Two separate studies highlight this today. The first is that, despite all the talk from tech and consumer electronics firms, most people don't really care about the potential for the "digital home." It might be a nice to have, and they won't mind it when it's available, but no one seems to be clamoring to have their light bulbs connected to the internet. At the same time, with the rise of telecommuting from home and independent contractors/freelancers, it appears that many home workers are increasingly frustrated that their ISPs don't meet their needs in terms of services offered and reliability. Too many ISPs still think of residential service as people who just use the internet every once in a while for fun, rather than (increasingly) an essential connection to the outside world.
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  1. identicon
    Jeff, 1 Sep 2005 @ 12:08pm

    ISP's used to meet our needs.

    Until they got wiped out by the big boys. Cable and DSL basically wants our internet connection to be like television. One way only.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Jimi Spier, 1 Sep 2005 @ 2:18pm

    Speed Speed, its a need..

    I read somewhere in the last few weeks that the USA ranks lower than most other countries for internet speeds.. So, I would have to agree.. I could care less about some dumbass "start" page. I want the fastest connection at the lowest price.. Internet should be this expensive.. IMHO

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Jimi Spier, 1 Sep 2005 @ 2:18pm

    Speed Speed, its a need..

    I read somewhere in the last few weeks that the USA ranks lower than most other countries for internet speeds.. So, I would have to agree.. I could care less about some dumbass "start" page. I want the fastest connection at the lowest price.. Internet shouldn't be this expensive.. IMHO

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Hero, 1 Sep 2005 @ 5:27pm

    Re: ISP's used to meet our needs.

    Cable and DSL basically wants our internet connection to be like television. One way only.
    Actually, that's the way the FCC seems to want it also. It's much easier to control the content that way.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    VonSkippy, 2 Sep 2005 @ 2:38pm

    Vote with your money.

    Most people don't understand the technology enough to know or care what type of internet connection they have.
    Until people understand better and start voting with their money, it won't change.
    Personally, I won't use an ISP unless they provide a straight thru connection with static IP's (no PPPoE, PPPoA, DHCP, etc.) and NO port blocking (I'll worry about my own security thankyou).

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    mike-ish, 7 Sep 2005 @ 8:14pm

    Re: Vote with your money.

    you're lucky to have a choice. here there's only one cable blobglomerate, too far from the dsl switch, satellite isn't ready for prime-time, dial-up too painful slow.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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