Comcast puts cap on Internet use

[yabadabapal]

Since we are all communicating on the internet for the most part, I thought you might find this interesting. Its the beginning of the end of the internet as we know it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/technology/30comcast.html?ref=business

[ghaverkamp]

Its the beginning of the end of the internet as we know it.

 

Raging hyperbole.

[Francois_Dumas]

Nothing really 'new'.... there's a 'fair use' policy in place with ALL ISP's and usually this doesn't seem fair at all to a number of users.

 

Apart from that, I'm pretty sure that if enough users start not liking Comcast anymore, they'll look somewhere else and another company will be the largest of the US

 

This Internet thing cannot be stopped anymore...... unless we force it into a brown-out all together

[Deadboy]

250 gigabyte's a month? I already spend too much time in front of this thing...don't think this will be a big deal, if you need more capacity I suppose you could get 2 accounts....

[yabadabapal]

Om Malik, the founder of the technology Web site GigaOm, called the cap “the end of the Internet as we know it.”

I think what he was referring to is that HD tv and film is replacing digital and of course (analogue as a matter of law to digital).. The internet will carry all the hd downloads and HD real time. So the cable companies are preparing to loose revenue from cable to internet downloads directly from the source and with this realization, a 250 gigabyte download equals about 4 hours of watching prime time in HD on the internet. My hunch is comcast and others will start to see a jam on their load capacities(so they say) and this may result in the years to come as a cause for them to start to charge for load usage which they will claim is necessary to keep up with the expansion of the internet, but is actually covering their losses from standard cable fees.

“As media companies put content online, consumers can bypass the cable companies and get their content directly from the Internet,” Mr. Turner said. “A 250 gigabyte cap may seem very high — and it is for today’s Internet use. But it’s essentially the equivalent of four hours of HD television a day.”

I think all this will happen in the historical method of big business. Slowly, steadily, and almost un-noticeably.

John Lennon said that life is what happens to you while making other plans.

In business I say life is what happens to you while other people are making plans.

 

Bobby

[Deadboy]

I stand by my statement. Of course someone who wants no limits (i.e. the founder of a website offering digital content) would be unhappy....all the cap is going to do is create markets for folks who need a little (say 250 gigabytes or less) per. month and those who want more...just like a cell phone contract.

 

If you want to download and watch a tv show you will be able to, but it will (and in my opinion) should cost more than it costs folks who just want to surf and do email. Kind of a basic cable vs. 500 channels type thing. Plus the limits will undoubtedly go up as the technology gets cheaper. Remember what 500 minutes a month on a cell phone cost 5 years ago?

[Bob Palin]

With Comcast can you tell how much bandwidth you have already used for a billing period/month? I don't mind being reasonably rationed but I want to know my usage so that I can take control of it.

[Deadboy]

Apparently there are a few out there (free and otherwise).

 

http://freespace.virgin.net/jeremy.dronfield/skoobysoft/utilities/utilities.html is one I found but I have never used it...

 

My provider (Hughes) tells you what your monthly use is but you have to log onto a website to check it. I believe I have exceeded their fair use standard once in 5 years...which resulted in my connection speed slowing down for 24 hours or so....

 

[ghaverkamp]

With Comcast can you tell how much bandwidth you have already used for a billing period/month? I don't mind being reasonably rationed but I want to know my usage so that I can take control of it.

 

No. At least not yet.

 

However, unless my math is wrong, you'd have to be pumping 1 kbps throughout the month.

 

The silliness of Om Malik's comment is that it seems to show a lack of understanding of the Internet. On the Internet as I know it, bandwidth is neither free nor infinite. Never has been.

[Ken H.]

Having worked for an ISP until recently, I can tell you too that part of this is just their legal dept. talking. Our Acceptable Use Policy had the term “excessive use” in it and legal often pointed out that it was unenforceable without a qualified definition. I.e. – Put a number on it.