5 ms·

I jumped from comcast (whatever, 200 up/20 down or similiar) to 1Gbps symmetrical 4 years ago and now 10Gbps symmetrical. For less than half of what Comcast cha

by rconti 3y ago

I jumped from comcast (whatever, 200 up/20 down or similiar) to 1Gbps symmetrical 4 years ago and now 10Gbps symmetrical. For less than half of what Comcast charges, with a local ISP (Sonic). It just makes you realize how much money is being funneled directly into shareholder pockets (and to lobbyists and congresscritters and local regulators). And then they brag about throwing $100k at some local schools or something.

docmars 3y ago
Gotta make sure those g'ddamned pirates don't have enough bandwidth to seed their beloved cable-network-owned TV shows and movies, at the expense of everyone else who could benefit from faster uplink speeds. ;)
andrepd 3y ago
It's almost as if co-operative models of ownership were a vastly superior alternative to joint-stock enterprises :)
- SR2Z 3y ago
  Sure, for stuff like this where it's a natural monopoly and it makes sense for customers to be stakeholders. But there's a reason why co-ops are rare outside of that: why would people work hard without personal upside?
  - OO000oo 3y ago
    > why would people work hard without personal upside? Define "personal upside" because people work hard all the time absent a path to power, or even material benefit! Come to think of it, why do people have children? Humans are social animals and they are deeply moved to work extremely hard for the sake of love, dignity, and respect alone. Contrary to the nonsense picture you paint, humans only lose touch with such desires in the face of hopelessness to realize them.
    - SR2Z 3y ago
      > Humans are social animals and they are deeply moved to work extremely hard for the sake of love, dignity, and respect alone. Contrary to the nonsense picture you paint, humans only lose touch with such desires in the face of hopelessness to realize them. This is bullshit, and obviously so. Humans are by nature lazy. If you give people food and comfort, they will work the barest minimum they can to not be bored, and practically speaking, they'll pick an unproductive hobby (like gaming or idle art) instead of the stuff that society needs to function. People have kids because having a kid is a deeply rewarding experience. Very few people are going to volunteer to work in mines, maintain sewer systems, or farm for other people to eat.
      - paledot 3y ago
        I believe you are being sincere, which saddens me greatly. I hope one day you find your way to a community where the common good is celebrated rather than denigrated. I can only assume that it is a lack of experience that leads you to believe that the world must be so and cannot be otherwise.
  - predictabl3 3y ago
    > But there's a reason why co-ops are rare outside of that: why would people work hard without personal upside? "Co-op". It's in the name. Reciprocity? Community? There is personal upside, just not the HN-approved shareholdery kind.
    - SR2Z 3y ago
      > There is personal upside, just not the HN-approved shareholdery kind. Enough personal upside to get someone to build you a house? Clean out the sewers? Wake up at 4AM to sit on a tractor and plow a field? If you think the answer is yes, then why don't you try and get some people to do those things for "reciprocity" that doesn't involve money?
hamandcheese 3y ago
I have Sonic, and I am rather displeased that approximately 1/3 of my total bill (a bit over $75 total) is for the phone line and associated taxes. The service is great, though.
- laurencerowe 3y ago
  If the phone line is obligatory it’s just a way of restructuring your bill to make the headline rate look lower. (I’ve not paid for a landline for 15 years.) I’d love to use Sonic but they stopped building out the street next to me.
  - hamandcheese 3y ago
    The bill is itemized, the voice line is $10 and the taxes on the voice line is $15. If Sonic likes their extra $10 of margin, that's fine, but I hate paying taxes on a service I don't even want! Keep the money but give me an option to decline the voice service.
    - sfn42 3y ago
      It's wild to me how you people are like "I don't mind if private business fucks me up the ass a bit but gash dang if that gubmint so much as kisses me on the cheek I'm gonna lose my shit".
      - predictabl3 3y ago
        If we could harness energy from cognitive dissonance, this site could power us-east-1. To be fair though, I've only seen a bit of masked capitalism defense here, and no one outright trashing municipal/coop options. I'm oddly optimistic lately, as the state of things continue, some consciousness seems to be becoming inevitable.
      - hamandcheese 3y ago
        To be clear, my ire is entirely with Sonic. They're lazy scheme to pad their margins nets them 1x but costs me 2.5x. I'm not making a statement on government or taxes.

by rconti 3y ago

docmars 3y ago

Gotta make sure those g'ddamned pirates don't have enough bandwidth to seed their beloved cable-network-owned TV shows and movies, at the expense of everyone else who could benefit from faster uplink speeds. ;)

andrepd 3y ago

It's almost as if co-operative models of ownership were a vastly superior alternative to joint-stock enterprises :)

SR2Z 3y ago
Sure, for stuff like this where it's a natural monopoly and it makes sense for customers to be stakeholders. But there's a reason why co-ops are rare outside of that: why would people work hard without personal upside?
- OO000oo 3y ago
  > why would people work hard without personal upside? Define "personal upside" because people work hard all the time absent a path to power, or even material benefit! Come to think of it, why do people have children? Humans are social animals and they are deeply moved to work extremely hard for the sake of love, dignity, and respect alone. Contrary to the nonsense picture you paint, humans only lose touch with such desires in the face of hopelessness to realize them.
  - SR2Z 3y ago
    > Humans are social animals and they are deeply moved to work extremely hard for the sake of love, dignity, and respect alone. Contrary to the nonsense picture you paint, humans only lose touch with such desires in the face of hopelessness to realize them. This is bullshit, and obviously so. Humans are by nature lazy. If you give people food and comfort, they will work the barest minimum they can to not be bored, and practically speaking, they'll pick an unproductive hobby (like gaming or idle art) instead of the stuff that society needs to function. People have kids because having a kid is a deeply rewarding experience. Very few people are going to volunteer to work in mines, maintain sewer systems, or farm for other people to eat.
    - paledot 3y ago
      I believe you are being sincere, which saddens me greatly. I hope one day you find your way to a community where the common good is celebrated rather than denigrated. I can only assume that it is a lack of experience that leads you to believe that the world must be so and cannot be otherwise.
- predictabl3 3y ago
  > But there's a reason why co-ops are rare outside of that: why would people work hard without personal upside? "Co-op". It's in the name. Reciprocity? Community? There is personal upside, just not the HN-approved shareholdery kind.
  - SR2Z 3y ago
    > There is personal upside, just not the HN-approved shareholdery kind. Enough personal upside to get someone to build you a house? Clean out the sewers? Wake up at 4AM to sit on a tractor and plow a field? If you think the answer is yes, then why don't you try and get some people to do those things for "reciprocity" that doesn't involve money?

hamandcheese 3y ago

I have Sonic, and I am rather displeased that approximately 1/3 of my total bill (a bit over $75 total) is for the phone line and associated taxes. The service is great, though.

laurencerowe 3y ago
If the phone line is obligatory it’s just a way of restructuring your bill to make the headline rate look lower. (I’ve not paid for a landline for 15 years.) I’d love to use Sonic but they stopped building out the street next to me.
- hamandcheese 3y ago
  The bill is itemized, the voice line is $10 and the taxes on the voice line is $15. If Sonic likes their extra $10 of margin, that's fine, but I hate paying taxes on a service I don't even want! Keep the money but give me an option to decline the voice service.
  - sfn42 3y ago
    It's wild to me how you people are like "I don't mind if private business fucks me up the ass a bit but gash dang if that gubmint so much as kisses me on the cheek I'm gonna lose my shit".
    - predictabl3 3y ago
      If we could harness energy from cognitive dissonance, this site could power us-east-1. To be fair though, I've only seen a bit of masked capitalism defense here, and no one outright trashing municipal/coop options. I'm oddly optimistic lately, as the state of things continue, some consciousness seems to be becoming inevitable.
    - hamandcheese 3y ago
      To be clear, my ire is entirely with Sonic. They're lazy scheme to pad their margins nets them 1x but costs me 2.5x. I'm not making a statement on government or taxes.