Free, Fast, Nationwide Wireless Internet?

Whee! Image from Raw Story.

Over the years, I've gone from basic cable and home telephone for maybe $40 total (we're talking 1986ish), to three land lines and extended cable (late 90s) for somewhere between $80 and $100 per month. Eventually, dial-up modems were replaced by cable modems, and we whittled down to one phone line, with more advanced cable, and we were firmly over $100. In 2004, we got our first cell phones for $60 per month total, added to our now $135 (at least) cable and $25ish land line. Cell phones became smart phones, the land line/internet/DVR/cable package is now bundled, and we're talking $130 for the phones and $200+ for the cable. We're at over $330 per month for various forms of media, and we don't have everything. No, we cut Starz, no Cinemax, no whole-house DVR, no iPhones, no iPads. But I have a hard time believing we're paying what we already are, so haven't added anything in a while.

But imagine that the internet portion was free. And everywhere. Imagine that devices grow with this, and change. I have to think that cell phones would become fully internet phones, no provider. Land lines would become redundant. With services like Netflix and so much content online, cable would be (and sort of already is) replaceable. All other things remaining equal--other than the cost of devices--my media bill could be $0, excepting Netflix or other specialty services.

Or could this be Skynet come to life?

There is no way in hell that Time-Warner, Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, Cox, ComCast and CenturyLink are going to take this lying down. If it looks like free wifi is on the horizon, there will be massive lobbying to fight it, curtail it, throttle it, hobble it. For a time, they might try to innovate, offering more for less. Maybe they'll finally take cable a-la-carte, allowing to pick whatever channels you want. There would still be subscription services like HBO and Showtime.

Our newly evolved net-phones would have to be produced by somebody, and you know that if they can't hook you for data, they're going to get you with the device. There will still be the latest and greatest, and it won't be free unless you sign a contract, right? So, you know the providers will survive. But I've got to think it would bring the price down from the stratosphere.

[Excerpt]

FCC chairman developing plan for free wireless Internet access: report

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is developing a set of proposals that would establish a public wifi network that blankets the country with a high powered signal anyone can access for free, according to The Washington Post. Such a sweeping change would be years in the making, but companies lobbying for it say that universal Internet access could spark an explosion of innovation and help usher in a new age of prosperity. . .

Read more at:  Raw Story

Facebook Users Are About to Go Insane

Image from source, CNN

Of all the social media platforms, Facebook is the only one I feel I "get." LinkedIn is really new to me, but I understand that it's sort of a business Facebook. Twitter gets me excited when there is a live event like a debate or the Emmys. It's fun to read the real-time comments. But most of the time, I don't know what to do with Twitter. I apparently still have an account at MySpace, but I never figured out what to do with it, and now it is kind of pointless.

I'm actually amazed how many people get flustered or confused about Facebook. I think it's ridiculously easy to grasp. And every time they've made a change to the interface, the users have screamed bloody murder. Then they get used to it, and it becomes the new normal. But now, the Facebook users are about to be greeted by a radically different interface. And they're going to crap themselves over this one. Until they get used to it.

My viewpoint is, change is good. If it isn't good, it will revert, or become something else. If it doesn't change, one day it will look as ugly and dated as Prodigy, The Drudge Report and Free Republic.


[Excerpt]

You'll freak when you see the new Facebook

Facebook users, mark my words: You'll revolt when the site rolls out its new features in the coming weeks.

Facebook is about to completely change the way its profile pages look as part of the website's biggest redesign so far, and only a fraction of the website's 800 million users seem to have the slightest clue. . .


Read more at: CNN