Wired Less: Disconnected in Urban America »
Posted By JSilver 7 months ago in Science & TechnologyGot Internet? Many people in urban America don't. Watch and read the stories of people living, working and struggling without Internet in our biggest cities.
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JSilver
I am currently the executive director and a co-founder of Free Press. Before Free Press, I ran a statewide campaign for public funding of elections ...
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tadair9197 months ago
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I live in California, where there is only one cable provider in my area. They have a monopoly on both Internet and cable, and I know several people who don't get Internet because it's just too expensive.
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The reason they have this was because government interfered and refused to allow any competitors lay cable lines. This cable monopoly was written into legislation!
The free market would have allowed competitors, which would have lowered prices and driven up quality.
I really like the idea of everyone having access to the internet. But if we subsidize the costs of internet by making tax-payers pay, then we will only be further rewarding the monolithic cable providers in California (at least.)
Shouldn't we, instead, push to end cable-monopolies and allow other cable companies to compete for market-share?
Maybe then, people would be able to afford it. I mean, Internet used to be $20. Now it's 3x that!-
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gamahuche7 months ago
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Guess we're still lucky here!
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We have a computer shop downstairs and a cable from their back window up into hours.
Less than 20 dollars a month and 2 of us work pretty continuously on it with a router.
Any problems and we give a tug on the cord! -
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memestryker7 months ago
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Everything is so expensive that I've considered just ending my cable TV service (but keeping the internet).
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You can still get very cheap dialup with turbo speed. I use it on my laptop when I don't have any other access while traveling. Even PeoplePC offers a cheap service that has broad coverage. It's available via local phone lines in most (but not all) places. If I have to use pay-for-service long distance, I set it to just jump online, download my email, and logoff. That works with newsgroups, too, but not propeller.
There is also a growing number of satellite ISPs, and even the larger companies, like Verizon, for example, are starting to offer more satellite service.
Of course, there is nothing like broadband. -
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orndorffter7 months ago
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It would be hard without internet, not only that even if you have not met the people on the internet you write to them everyday and make so many new friends to like here on propeller,I am glad to have access to the intrnet I consider everyone here part of my own family, it is an oppertunity everyone should have.
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tadair9197 months ago
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This reminds me of the words of Dr. T.J. Kaczynski, a Berkeley Professor:
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"The leftist wants equal opportunities for minorities. When that is attained he insists on statistical equality of achievement by minorities. ... Activists have fought gross child abuse, which is reasonable. But now they want to stop all spanking. When they have done that they will want to ban something else they consider unwholesome, then another thing and then another. They will never be satisfied until they have complete control over all child rearing practices. And then they will move on to another cause."
"Suppose you asked leftists to make a list of ALL the things that were wrong with society, and then suppose you instituted EVERY social change that they demanded. It is safe to say that within a couple of years the majority of leftists would find something new to complain about"
I can't help but to Today, that "thing" is not having Internet for everybody paid for by taxpayers.
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stephen-johnson7 months ago
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It may be hard for internet junkies to believe this, but there are people in this country who couldn't care less about the internet. They don't really need it to stay connected. Many of the poor, elderly and immigrant urban populations who are shunning the internet are snapping up cell phones instead.
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memestryker7 months ago
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Our broadband went down one July a few years ago, and the company wasn't able to get it working again until October. We had to attend a meeting of the county oversight commission and publicly embarrass them in the media before the company HQ finally paid attention and flew in an expert from the other side of the country.
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He fixed it in about an hour (the problem was located between a pole and their server). Fortunately, I also had dialup, since at the time they were the only broadband provider.
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Mikunited7 months ago
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I live in London UK,about 300 yards from where Tony Blair lived prior to becoming PM.Recently I thought I'd swap from DSL to cable,to my amazement I can't find a single cable ISP in my area.
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My sister is moving to a place 70 miles from London,in a town of 9000 people,which is about 15 miles from a major urban area.It has cable connections and a choice of other cable providers.
A town of 9000 has cable providers and near the center of London doesn't.We have a similar situation here,to you guys across the pond!
I've decided to switch to adsl+ up to 24 M bps down and 1.3 M bps up,so I guess I can't really complain about internet.The UK is like the USA. with a very uneven infrastructure concerning cable and fast broadband.As for TV,it's satellite,or highly reduced choice via terrestrial services
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