Adequate
Thursday - 23Jul2015 Filed in: Free Markets
Since Saturday, my ISP has been providing adequate service.
For a few months before then, it was really pretty terrible. My download speed would slow down after 9 a.m., again after 3 p.m, and again in the late evening. After three it often dropped to under .10 Mbs and in the late evening it could drop to under .03 Mbs.
Yes, I was getting dialup speed on my “high speed” internet.
Now I live on the backside of nowhere. The telephone and cable links depend on microwave uplinks. These uplinks were not designed to handle the bandwidth for high speed internet. And because I live in one of the most rural areas in the continental U.S., it may barely be break-even to bring fiber optic line here.
Maybe.
So the last few nights I’ve been enjoying Netflix that doesn’t stall out every few minutes. My email and web surfing have had a decent speed. And I found myself feeling grateful. Apple was still slow, but that company now expects a higher internet speed.
Mind you I still wasn’t getting the service I paid for, but it was so much better than what I’ve had for the last few months. I almost caught myself sending them a thank-you.
Then I found myself thinking about what would happen if there was decent competition.
That’s what we need. Not people doing their jobs, but companies bending over backwards to get and keep business.
We shouldn’t settle for adequate. Not in our companies, not in our purchases, and certainly not in our government.
The goal is freedom.
For a few months before then, it was really pretty terrible. My download speed would slow down after 9 a.m., again after 3 p.m, and again in the late evening. After three it often dropped to under .10 Mbs and in the late evening it could drop to under .03 Mbs.
Yes, I was getting dialup speed on my “high speed” internet.
Now I live on the backside of nowhere. The telephone and cable links depend on microwave uplinks. These uplinks were not designed to handle the bandwidth for high speed internet. And because I live in one of the most rural areas in the continental U.S., it may barely be break-even to bring fiber optic line here.
Maybe.
So the last few nights I’ve been enjoying Netflix that doesn’t stall out every few minutes. My email and web surfing have had a decent speed. And I found myself feeling grateful. Apple was still slow, but that company now expects a higher internet speed.
Mind you I still wasn’t getting the service I paid for, but it was so much better than what I’ve had for the last few months. I almost caught myself sending them a thank-you.
Then I found myself thinking about what would happen if there was decent competition.
That’s what we need. Not people doing their jobs, but companies bending over backwards to get and keep business.
We shouldn’t settle for adequate. Not in our companies, not in our purchases, and certainly not in our government.
The goal is freedom.
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