4 ms·

> The big difference is that I can choose not to pay a company I don't like, and that's fine. Which phone company do you positively like ? Which internet opera

> The big difference is that I can choose not to pay a company I don't like, and that's fine. Which phone company do you positively like ? Which internet operator are you paying because you want them to thrive ? How do you feel about Qualcomm and feeding them money ?

JKCalhoun 3y ago
Which for-profit prison company are you willing to pay for? Which private military contractors do you want your tax dollars going to? (Comment is meant to be added on to yours, not contradict you.)
seanp2k2 3y ago
And which power company? PG&E has made it almost not worth it to harness the free power of the sun on my roof with their NEM 3.0 rules, that they passed just before holiday break after delaying for so long and against mass public outrage. They also snuck in a rename to “net billing tariff” (NBT), also called “solar billing plan” in some contexts. https://aurorasolar.com/blog/cpuc-voted-californias-net-billing-tariff-nem3-is-now-final/ https://aurorasolar.com/blog/cpuc-voted-californias-net-bill... Has a decent overview of the changes for the curious.
tommiegannert 3y ago
> Which phone company do you positively like ? Digitech Mobile is great so far. I think that particular question is very regional. In Switzerland (and Sweden,) the competition between them works well, IMHO. > Which internet operator are you paying because you want them to thrive ? I don't have a choice where I live. I.e. it's as bad as a monopoly. It used to be good, but then UPC was bought by Sunrise, and they seem intent on making me leave ASAP. > How do you feel about Qualcomm and feeding them money ? Blissfully ignorant.
johnnyanmac 3y ago
well you got 3 choices in each of those industries. Leaving a country is much harder than leaving a crappy cable company.
- makeitdouble 3y ago
  How many choices you have will change a lot depending on your country, but I think there are many constants. Mobile and internet providers tend to collude and align their offering to the other competitors. There must be exceptions, but I can't think of any. On the other side telecom companies getting sued for collusion feels like part of life. On Qualcomm, as far as I know any mobile phone sold in the west will have a networking chipset from Qualcomm or pay royalties/patents to Qualcomm for using their technology. Apple was trying to do something about it with their switch to Intel chips, but it didn't end well for them (I think they absorbed the Intel cell modem division and might be trying for a second time at some point in the future ?)
- makeitdouble 3y ago
  > Leaving a country is much harder than leaving a crappy cable company That's an interesting take. Sometimes it's roughly the same, in particular when the cable company has a def acto monopoly in the country (the smaller your country is, the worse it probably gets). I've talked to a few people who see it as an indicator of the place's quality of life: do they have enough consumer protection to either force the monopoly to provide decent service or not have a monopoly in the first place ? how expensive is it ? (basic lifeline services at crazy price will usually go with other primary goods and services also priced crazily) Basically, a juridiction that can't do anything about their internet won't be able to do much about a lot of other issues directly impacting their population and economy. Sometimes you just need to leave your state, sometimes your country, but either way getting away from that specific juridiction is often the better choice.

JKCalhoun 3y ago

Which for-profit prison company are you willing to pay for? Which private military contractors do you want your tax dollars going to? (Comment is meant to be added on to yours, not contradict you.)

seanp2k2 3y ago

And which power company? PG&E has made it almost not worth it to harness the free power of the sun on my roof with their NEM 3.0 rules, that they passed just before holiday break after delaying for so long and against mass public outrage. They also snuck in a rename to “net billing tariff” (NBT), also called “solar billing plan” in some contexts. https://aurorasolar.com/blog/cpuc-voted-californias-net-billing-tariff-nem3-is-now-final/ https://aurorasolar.com/blog/cpuc-voted-californias-net-bill... Has a decent overview of the changes for the curious.

tommiegannert 3y ago

> Which phone company do you positively like ? Digitech Mobile is great so far. I think that particular question is very regional. In Switzerland (and Sweden,) the competition between them works well, IMHO. > Which internet operator are you paying because you want them to thrive ? I don't have a choice where I live. I.e. it's as bad as a monopoly. It used to be good, but then UPC was bought by Sunrise, and they seem intent on making me leave ASAP. > How do you feel about Qualcomm and feeding them money ? Blissfully ignorant.

johnnyanmac 3y ago

well you got 3 choices in each of those industries. Leaving a country is much harder than leaving a crappy cable company.

makeitdouble 3y ago
How many choices you have will change a lot depending on your country, but I think there are many constants. Mobile and internet providers tend to collude and align their offering to the other competitors. There must be exceptions, but I can't think of any. On the other side telecom companies getting sued for collusion feels like part of life. On Qualcomm, as far as I know any mobile phone sold in the west will have a networking chipset from Qualcomm or pay royalties/patents to Qualcomm for using their technology. Apple was trying to do something about it with their switch to Intel chips, but it didn't end well for them (I think they absorbed the Intel cell modem division and might be trying for a second time at some point in the future ?)
makeitdouble 3y ago
> Leaving a country is much harder than leaving a crappy cable company That's an interesting take. Sometimes it's roughly the same, in particular when the cable company has a def acto monopoly in the country (the smaller your country is, the worse it probably gets). I've talked to a few people who see it as an indicator of the place's quality of life: do they have enough consumer protection to either force the monopoly to provide decent service or not have a monopoly in the first place ? how expensive is it ? (basic lifeline services at crazy price will usually go with other primary goods and services also priced crazily) Basically, a juridiction that can't do anything about their internet won't be able to do much about a lot of other issues directly impacting their population and economy. Sometimes you just need to leave your state, sometimes your country, but either way getting away from that specific juridiction is often the better choice.