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Cool initiative based on positive ideals. From a practical perspective, NYC citizens have a number of good options for internet access; however, perhaps learnin
by sebleon 8y ago
Cool initiative based on positive ideals. From a practical perspective, NYC citizens have a number of good options for internet access; however, perhaps learnings from this community project can be brought to more needy areas outside the US.
- newton10471 8y agoDo you live in NYC? I do, and I don't have at all what I'd call "a number of good options" for internet access. In my area, there's two companies who operate similar to a monopoly (Verizon and Optimum), and regularly raise prices arbitrarily and often for no reason.
- nategri 8y agoHaving two choices actually might put you well above average for the US. Back when I was in Mountain View, CA (a few miles from Google HQ) it was either Comcast or nothing and the irony was not lost on me.
- komali2 8y agoAT&T had an offering when I lived in Mountain View that was so comically terrible as to not realistically be an option at all.
- fivefive55 8y agoThis is still true as of last year. Comcast was the only viable option.
- sebleon 8y agoAh, I meant 'good' relative to options in the developing world. Getting +20Mb/s for under 0.1-5% of your annual income puts you way ahead of most people on Earth. But yes, I'm sure there's cities out there with more options than NYC.
- berbec 8y agoYou get two? My block on 78th and 1st has Twc, I mean Spectrum, and I don't know what I'm going to do when they get kicked out of the state.
- crazygringo 8y agoYeah... every apartment of mine has had exactly one option, TWC=>Spectrum (in Manhattan) or Optimum (in Brooklyn). I've lived in 4 apartments in 7 years and never once had a choice.
- frenchman_in_ny 8y agoA lot of this may have to do with the building & management -- often times, the building's condo/coop board strikes an exclusivity deal with the ISPs and get a share of the revenue. [I'm on a condo board]
- user9182031 8y agoI live in the West Village and have ONE choice... Spectrum :(
- oh_sigh 8y agoInternet choice really comes down to what building you live in. A building might have exactly 1 ISP available, or there may be 3+. Always ask before renting if you can't afford to be saddled with DSL-only internet access.