You want to know another reason why you’re not rich? You are paying too much for WiFi.
There should be one internet access strategy for America, and it should look like a free, high-speed, national WiFi program. It’s not rocket science, folks. There is one internet. Why are there 1,000 stupid and incompetent internet service providers? Why do the rates vary? Why can’t I get a WiFi signal at my house?
I pay three separate invoices for internet at home, on my blackberry, and on my laptop. I wonder if I’m living in America or living in Outer Mongolia. Where’s the innovation? Where’s the ingenuity and creativity?
Maybe I’m a sucker for paying three internet bills. Maybe there’s a better way. Maybe it’s as simple as this: the the telecoms are greedy and they have me by the balls.
When I’m not shopping on the web or researching companies that provide important goods & services, I am on the internet earning money & writing about employment. The telecoms know that WiFi internet access is important, but they don’t care. Better to think in a short-term, profit-driven manner and earn $50/month from a consumer than to put forth a comprehensive and thoughtful internet strategy for America.
Cheap bastards.
There is one internet. It drives commerce in America, it provides important information that helps me to become a better and more active consumer, and it keeps hundreds of thousands of Americans employed in good jobs.
So why am I paying to access the internet?
Someone?
Anyone?
Can you defend the telecom companies?
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I certainly can’t explain it, but I like your idea much better. We are “too far off the road” for our high speed cable internet, however the unnamed but they know who they are internet/cable provider installed it when my brother lived here and now are basically trying to get out of servicing us. It is definitely a pain to be told “hate it, but you can’t have high speed internet if this tanks.”
I have no idea why this is so either.
I am freightened when I read about Japan, India, and other countries that have universal WiFi.
Why in America do we allow ourselves to spend so much?
This? is brilliant.
Who is going to pay for the infrastructure and maintenance of the free wi-fi system? It seems like we should pay for it based on who uses it or everyone (regardless of use) has to pay for it through taxpayer funds.
Neither of those are free.
How about people come up with a solution that is actually free and I will be on board with it?
Universal WiFi? I hope it works out, but then again, we pay extra for extra bags onto the plane, pay $1.50 for a bottle of water, $8 for hot dogs in stadiums, and pay $4 to refill our gas.
Oh yeah, we live in a Capitalist country. We must squirt every single cent of each person to get our “return on investment” Be careful of breathing, it costs 5 cents per breath.
Obviously I’m not Paul Krugman so I have no idea how this works. By free, I might mean that it’s built and paid for by a thoughtful contract with a telecom, maybe a bond issue, maybe a line in the federal budget, and we start using the internet for everything and it’s paid for in a few years by increased economic activity and through a growth in the e-economy.
It’s better than paying $9.95 for the Boingo hotspot at the airport.
There may be one internet, but it is housed on thousands of interlinking computer server hosts. Your internet provider is also managing the computer hardware hosts through which you access the ‘net, and they do cost money to buy and maintain.
I agree that access should be free, somehow. Perhaps businesses who sell through the ‘net should pay some sort of tax for the privilege? Hmmm… I’ve never thought of this before!