4 ms·

"The industry is worried that by offering 100 Mbps, they are opening Pandora’s box, he said. Everyone will be able to get video on the Internet" - WTF? This rea

by raheemm 18y ago

"The industry is worried that by offering 100 Mbps, they are opening Pandora’s box, he said. Everyone will be able to get video on the Internet" - WTF? This really pisses me off!

DarkShikari 18y ago
This is because cable companies are worried that streaming video will put their VOD services out of business. Hence many companies trying to add caps to their bandwidth. When they tell you it's because of 1% of users using the most bandwidth, they're lying; it's because they want users paying for VOD content. This is understandable, as VOD is by far their most profitable business segment on a %-basis (I work for an IPTV company). Thus, they are scared to death by the concept of decent internet service--it'll reduce their profit margins.
- sketerpot 18y ago
  Really? We haven't slipped through a hole in the space-time continuum and been magically transported back to 2003? There will be decent internet service. Anybody whose business model depends on internet access sucking forever needs to find a new source of income, fast.
  - netcan 18y ago
    Whenever this comes up on HN, my response is that just because it is hopeless having a business model that depends on copyright (crappy internet), doesn't mean they don't benefit from prolonging the process. The days of mature consumer technologies depending on Broadband speeds you get in S. Korea are a ways away. How many people are still not connected to the internet at all? How many people have no broadband at all? If they can add 1 or 2 or 5 or 10 years to the point where youtube is what people connect to their big TV, they make a lot of money. It's sort of like saying a business model that requires U2 to stay popular is not sustainable. Of course not. But it doesn't mean you should give up.
jrockway 18y ago
I don't buy this argument. I can easily stream HD video with "only" a 6M DSL connection. (Note that it's re-compressed h264, not mpeg2... but who cares, the quality is great.)

by raheemm 18y ago

"The industry is worried that by offering 100 Mbps, they are opening Pandora’s box, he said. Everyone will be able to get video on the Internet" - WTF? This really pisses me off!

DarkShikari 18y ago

This is because cable companies are worried that streaming video will put their VOD services out of business. Hence many companies trying to add caps to their bandwidth. When they tell you it's because of 1% of users using the most bandwidth, they're lying; it's because they want users paying for VOD content. This is understandable, as VOD is by far their most profitable business segment on a %-basis (I work for an IPTV company). Thus, they are scared to death by the concept of decent internet service--it'll reduce their profit margins.

sketerpot 18y ago
Really? We haven't slipped through a hole in the space-time continuum and been magically transported back to 2003? There will be decent internet service. Anybody whose business model depends on internet access sucking forever needs to find a new source of income, fast.
- netcan 18y ago
  Whenever this comes up on HN, my response is that just because it is hopeless having a business model that depends on copyright (crappy internet), doesn't mean they don't benefit from prolonging the process. The days of mature consumer technologies depending on Broadband speeds you get in S. Korea are a ways away. How many people are still not connected to the internet at all? How many people have no broadband at all? If they can add 1 or 2 or 5 or 10 years to the point where youtube is what people connect to their big TV, they make a lot of money. It's sort of like saying a business model that requires U2 to stay popular is not sustainable. Of course not. But it doesn't mean you should give up.

jrockway 18y ago

I don't buy this argument. I can easily stream HD video with "only" a 6M DSL connection. (Note that it's re-compressed h264, not mpeg2... but who cares, the quality is great.)