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Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

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Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#331

Post by elarkin »

firebird84 wrote: post #261
Periodic wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's because I'm always setting up with a home router, but I haven't had to install anything for my last three internet setups. I wasn't even asked to for this last one I believe. The tech just made sure the modem was working properly and he could get a solid connection from it, and then I plugged in my router and was good to go.

I recently upgraded my Fios connection and when the tech replaced my router he asked to install some software. I was currently booted into my Linux partition at the time, so he basically said "oh, well" and everything worked fine out of the box. It's likely bloatware.

Comcast installs a piece of software that drops shortcuts to comcast.net and stuff on your desktop. It also installs whatever antivirus thing they have a contract with. McAfee?

However, they only have Windows and Mac versions of the stuff.

Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#332

Post by antimatter15 »

ferongr wrote: post #290
Kerrick wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why own a game system... There's actually a service called "OnLive" that streams games, it seems pretty cool. It's a mashup between Steam and Netflix; you don't have to have a gaming PC to render the frames, just a fast Internet connection to stream them.

Not until we can push data across distances faster than the speed of light. The input and video latency makes it impractical for all but the slowest-paced of games.

Probably with a gigabit in bandwidth, it's possible that OnLive could use some kind of predictive modeling based on what you're currently doing and what you've done in the past to see what actions in the future are likely. It could then run (in parallel) all the likely actions and send them down simultaneously (example: simultaneously send what would be displayed if you panned right, left, up and down one or more frames before the user has given input and the client caches these frames and renders the one that the user ends up doing).

Sure it would be a "waste" of compute power and network, but that's certainly one way to, in a sense, "push data across distances faster than the speed of light". That's exactly the kind of approach which would be unimaginable in a scenario where you have to worry about compressing media in order to get a single stream across in a timely manner (read: now), but might actually fall within the realm of possibility when gigabit bandwidth is ubiquitous.

Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#333

Post by TruthElixirX »

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 cannot prove that those things would not have come about without Bell Labs. Seeing as Google is doing this, Mozilla is building "Rust", and HP created a memristor, I'm pretty sure a similar list of inventions (transistor, laser, C language, UNIX) would have come out without Bell Labs.

Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#334

Post by mikemoka »

I'm surprised that I wasn't able to find the word privacy mentioned in the first page.

I think that Google is clearly losing the "don't be evil" credo, whatever you may think about a specific industry.

Google is trying to do everything, Google is not satisfied with ads and is trying to remove the middlemen, all the possible ones.

They tried to attack the fashion ecommerce niche with Google Boutiques, they tried to attack Groupon with Google Offers, now they become an Internet Provider, but why? Here are my two cents:

-they will be able to know everything, and I mean everything, their users do online, and they are one of the few organizations actually able to parse and exploit this size of data -they will be able to know the identity of their users -they may be able to control the speed or stability of the connection to specific sites, they may even hijack specific banner ads without anyone noticing

Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#335

Post by jrabone »

jvanenk wrote: post #174
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.

I actually have some experience with GoogCustSvc now. I bought a Nexus 7. It has touch-screen problems. They provided a way to contact them here ( http://support.google.com/nexus/bin/request.py?contact_type=... ). I talked to the rep (after waiting about 30 minutes). They were helpful, direct, competent, and provided a way for me to contact the person I talked to via e-mail after the call was ended. They organized a…

Me too - exact same issue, and the same experience; apart from the hold time the support people I spoke with were polite and helpful, and the second person resolved the problem with my original RMA request over the phone. Turned out I gave the first person the wrong serial number (there are two with very similar acronyms, marked SSN & CSSN). They got a replacement device to my desk within 24 hours once they had the correct number.

Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#336

Post by espeed »

wmf wrote: post #143
andypants wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

re 1: The more people on the Internet, the more potential google customers, and eyeballs on their ads.

Are those ads going to pay for the $1,000 of equipment that Google gives you?

Don't forget the sales Google will get from all the movies and media people will buy from Google Play.

Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#338

Post by mayneack »

csmeder wrote: post #268
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm actually somewhat content with my broadband options. No, I'm not ecstatic and am glad this is happening but PLEASE someone disrupt the damn cell phone business. My ISP doesn't install software on my computer, doesn't hit me with mystery fees, and doesn't tell MS or Apple what to do, but cell carriers do all these things and more. >and endless efforts to further "monetize" me through harassing phone calls trying t…

Maybe once you have tried Gigabit (GIGABIT!) internet, on a daily basis you won't feel the same. Cloud storage and a bunch of other things will now feel very different. - Why own a computer when you can just vpn into a cluster through a thin client? - Why own a game system... - Stream 4k HD movies - A whole bunch of ideas not thought of yet. 0r maybe your right and it wont be that different, I would like the chance t…

Wonder how much the weather in Kansas can deal with this. I still might be hesitant to depend on streaming content or entirely cloud storage if I can't guarentee access in a tornado. Even without weather concerns, if I somehow mess up my configuration and don't have a reliable network connection, I don't want to be entirely cut off.

Still good, but I won't be abandoning local storage any time soon.

Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#339

Post by Tloewald »

nickpinkston wrote: post #161
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.

Though to be honest - how good is ComCraptic at service? At least when Google has bugs they're solved quickly.

Last night my Comcast cable tv set top box started telling me it was unauthorized. I went through their phone tree twice (they simply booted me the first time ... Telling me to hang up an call again WTF?). I finally talk to a human -- nice and seems competent -- and he can't find any evidence of my having a set top box. Eventually he says that maybe the relevant system is down, try to call again in the morning. Fine, not his fault. But before I hang up he reads out a recorded item about how they are there ready to support me 24/7.

Oh and I love how I have to enter the same phone number twice AND give it to the human ... "For security purposes."

Re: Google Fiber Plans & Pricing

#340

Post by Tloewald »

fromhet wrote: post #276
dysoco wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yeah google has a nice motto.
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