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Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

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Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#271

Post by ilovecomputers »

Nrsolis wrote: post #241
api wrote: post #29

Thank GOD they're disrupting this industry. All the telcos are worthless "Soviet bureaus" that deserve death. It's really sort of amazing to think about. In all my years on this planet I have never been pleased with a telecom company. Never. I have always felt like I was paying far too much for inferior service, contemptible customer support, and endless efforts to further "monetize" me through harassing phone calls…

Really? You might change your mind when you consider that Bell Labs (part of the "Soviet Bureau" you despise) created: - The transistor - The laser - The C language - The Unix operating system Other notable discoveries (but not of concern to those who discount anything not Internet-related) are things like the cosmic background radiation, etc. etc. etc. SO: as much as I hate to defend "the telcos" (wired/wireless/cab…

Well those innovations were all thanks to AT&Ts monopoly status where they didn't have to worry about quarterly reports: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/opinion/sunday/innovation-...

Also Unix was a rogue project because Bell Labs didn't want to fund an OS project after a previous one failed: http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/software/the-strange-birt...

Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#272

Post by tomsaffell »

Nrsolis wrote: post #241
api wrote: post #29

Thank GOD they're disrupting this industry. All the telcos are worthless "Soviet bureaus" that deserve death. It's really sort of amazing to think about. In all my years on this planet I have never been pleased with a telecom company. Never. I have always felt like I was paying far too much for inferior service, contemptible customer support, and endless efforts to further "monetize" me through harassing phone calls…

Really? You might change your mind when you consider that Bell Labs (part of the "Soviet Bureau" you despise) created: - The transistor - The laser - The C language - The Unix operating system Other notable discoveries (but not of concern to those who discount anything not Internet-related) are things like the cosmic background radiation, etc. etc. etc. SO: as much as I hate to defend "the telcos" (wired/wireless/cab…

Yes, there is a time and a place for everything: monopolistic telcos did society good in the past. But now is not the time for a lack of competition / oligopoly in the telecommunications industry.

Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#273

Post by ttran4 »

neurotech1 wrote: post #187
maratd wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> contemptible customer support Because Google will be so much better? Look, I hate telcos just like the next guy, but the suckage is mostly due to the nature of the business. They form natural monopolies and that sort of thing doesn't lead to customer satisfaction. The only way that sector is going to get truly disrupted is through gigabit wireless internet. You can have multiple competitors in one space with compar…

"That free tier? That is outright illegal and its sole purpose is to eradicate all competition." Why don't we sue Google for providing free WiFi in Mountain View? And Google Fiber isn't free - its $300 to cover the equipment costs. I'm pretty that 12 months of basic DSL for less than $300 anyway, installation included. Some neighbors will "freely" share their internet, should incumbent cable co sue them aswell for un…

Google provides free WiFi in Mountain View? I didn't know that. I worked at multiple buildings on Salado Dr. and a year at Marine Wy. I get no signal if I park across the street.

Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#274

Post by ricardobeat »

notatoad wrote: post #173
philwelch wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be careful what you wish for. I'm dubious of getting any kind of service from a company known for not having any kind of customer service whatsoever.

TelCo call centers are universally useless. Google could have a phone number you call and a robot on the other end that informs you of service disruptions and tells you to turn it off and turn it on again, and they would have better service than most ISPs.

My local TelCo, despite being shitty, plays a recorded message everytime there are specific issues affecting the area.

Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#276

Post by fromhet »

dysoco wrote: post #106
api wrote: post #29

Thank GOD they're disrupting this industry. All the telcos are worthless "Soviet bureaus" that deserve death. It's really sort of amazing to think about. In all my years on this planet I have never been pleased with a telecom company. Never. I have always felt like I was paying far too much for inferior service, contemptible customer support, and endless efforts to further "monetize" me through harassing phone calls…

I suppose Google is not an exception, and we will eventually start to hate Google too. I hope that doesn't happen of course.

That really depends - as you know Google's motto is "don't be evil". And it is apparent that the other american telcos don't share this motto.

If Google manages to stay not evil it is the only way they will be relevant in the future. I think it is possible, and it's the only way to survive competition.

Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#277

Post by GuiA »

greggman wrote: post #188
api wrote: post #29

Thank GOD they're disrupting this industry. All the telcos are worthless "Soviet bureaus" that deserve death. It's really sort of amazing to think about. In all my years on this planet I have never been pleased with a telecom company. Never. I have always felt like I was paying far too much for inferior service, contemptible customer support, and endless efforts to further "monetize" me through harassing phone calls…

Yes! This is what happened in Japan. The telcos dragged their feet. Dial up Internet was pay per minute and adsl was $60-$90 a month. Yahoo Japan came in and offered adsl 1mbit speed for $20 a month unlimited. That is the moment Internet usage took off In Japan. The telcos lowered their prices to match. Yahoo doubled the speed for the same price. That continued up to at least 8mbit speed for $20 month Similar things…

Same thing happened in France with Free.

Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#278

Post by Nrsolis »

tomsaffell wrote: post #272
Nrsolis wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? You might change your mind when you consider that Bell Labs (part of the "Soviet Bureau" you despise) created: - The transistor - The laser - The C language - The Unix operating system Other notable discoveries (but not of concern to those who discount anything not Internet-related) are things like the cosmic background radiation, etc. etc. etc. SO: as much as I hate to defend "the telcos" (wired/wireless/cab…

Yes, there is a time and a place for everything: monopolistic telcos did society good in the past . But now is not the time for a lack of competition / oligopoly in the telecommunications industry.

Where did you get the idea I was suggesting that we go backwards?

All I'm saying is that things haven't gotten worse. In fact, they've gotten MUCH BETTER.

Just because the OP hasn't EVER been satisfied with a telco isn't any reason to discount all the good that they do or the progress that's been made.

Some folks forget that cellular companies in the US were fighting an uphill battle against the telcos for a while. The compromise was for an "A" carrier (telco) and a "B" carrier (non-telco). So competition was built into the program for telecom modernization from the start.

Back then, a mobile phone cost $300-$800, service cost $30/month and included no free minutes (priced at $.10-.25) each. It didn't matter which provider you chose because that's what it cost to build the network in a greenfield environment.

And here is the rub: the OP can have almost ANY kind of service he wants. Don't like the incumbent? There are any number of CLECs that will lease you a fiber pair directly to the local colo for 20 years. PROBLEM SOLVED.

Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#279

Post by chimeracoder »

Nrsolis wrote: post #241
api wrote: post #29

Thank GOD they're disrupting this industry. All the telcos are worthless "Soviet bureaus" that deserve death. It's really sort of amazing to think about. In all my years on this planet I have never been pleased with a telecom company. Never. I have always felt like I was paying far too much for inferior service, contemptible customer support, and endless efforts to further "monetize" me through harassing phone calls…

Really? You might change your mind when you consider that Bell Labs (part of the "Soviet Bureau" you despise) created: - The transistor - The laser - The C language - The Unix operating system Other notable discoveries (but not of concern to those who discount anything not Internet-related) are things like the cosmic background radiation, etc. etc. etc. SO: as much as I hate to defend "the telcos" (wired/wireless/cab…

You're leaving out a very key point: because of an antitrust case against AT&T, they were forbidden from turning their non-telephone technology into proprietary products. In other words, they were essentially conducting research for the public interest at no real cost to the public.

That's very different from any definition of a 'monopoly' that I'm aware of, and very different from modern network providers.

Many factors were essential to Unix's success, but the fact that it was anything but a monopolized product is certainly one of them.

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