Comcast's Internet Strategy Stuck In Summer Repeats
from the comcast! dept
Ever since Comcast's failed attempt to merge with Disney, it's been no secret that the company still buys into the idea that marrying distribution and content is a good idea. Now the company's ambitions are getting attention again, as it's making clear signals that it wants to be a full-fledged portal a la Yahoo. Already its web services, based at Comcast.net, are widely used by its broadband customers (or so the company claims), as is its online video service dubbed The Fan. But its belief that it can turn its web properties into popular services on a national level is based on the idea that Comcast is in the best position to aggregate video content. While it may have a leg up over a site like Yahoo, in negotiating deals with TV networks (simply due to its already-existing relationships with them), it's hard to see the company doing anything but trying to re-invent cable TV online -- something the cable industry has tried before, and with pretty disastrous consequences. Combined with the fact that Comcast has little brand recognition outside of its service area, such a plan will probably result in a lot of wasted effort.
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Um...yeah, whatever. Let's see, I work at a pretty decent-sized telecommunications company (albeit not a national one), and I've read tons of tech news and articles and stuff online. Never once have I heard or seen the term "tube" used to describe a conduit for data transmission. Data pipe, pipeline, etc., are fairly common-place terms for describing fiber-optic lines and other high-bandwidth data lines. I wouldn't exactly call them official, more like slang terms, but they are used.
Hmm, let's see what else we can apply the term to. I need a plumber to come fix some tubes in my bathroom. BP had to shut down a major oil tube in Alaska. Yeah, right. Dictionary.com definition #2 of "pipeline" reads "A direct channel by which information is privately transmitted." The word "tube" on the same site has no definitions pertaining to communications lines in any way. Granted, one could be referring to the actual materials that make up a data line, but in this case, we're referring to the data line itself, not what it's composed of.
The only reason I'm making such a big deal about this is because you were so forcefully "uncorrecting" a correct answer, claiming to know everything while the guy with the right answer knew nothing. Next time, please do a little research before attempting to correct others.
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They have a portal?
I've been a "Comcast" broadband customer for over seven years. I started with @home and kept migrating as they kept changing hands...
I'm pretty sure that I went to their portal the first day I got it... After that I set my home page to Google and never looked back...
In reality I just had to wait seven years for Google to wrap the portal around the one thing I highly value on the Internet: their search engine.
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Comcast.net Portal = Junk
The only thing Comcast has gotten right is the speed. Everything else of theirs (Comcast Email, PWP, The Fan, Portal, etc) just plain sucks!
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Re: Comcast.net Portal = Junk
You can't type in a url to get to the mail... you have to start from the portal... and then it opens new windows when you try to get to the mail. And I tried to write a message from there once... it was beyond painful.
I can't complain about the actual internet service though not many places actually get 3.5 mbps down and 600kbps up... Oh wait... you mean they have 18 mpbs DSL in Pairs? http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/07/26/HNparishighspeed_1.html
(Look at the bottom of article... it talks about the majority coverage not just the 2.5 Gbps stuff
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et' up
then Time Warner reset my box. now I have time warner cable. yay me? at least I wont have to use the terrible Fan?
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Comcast Acquires YouTube?
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still waiting
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