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- From: andyw@aspen32.cray.com (Andy Warner)
- Subject: Re: Cable TV Rules
- Message-ID: <1992Nov6.120156.25205@hemlock.cray.com>
- Originator: andyw@aspen32
- Lines: 60
- Nntp-Posting-Host: aspen32
- Organization: Cray Research, Inc.
- References: <3NOV199209442919@utrcv1> <720883631snx@nlbbs.UUCP> <1992Nov5.122636.5499@hemlock.cray.com> <1992Nov5.181038.17264@doug.cae.wisc.edu>
- Date: 6 Nov 92 12:01:56 CST
-
-
- In article <1992Nov5.181038.17264@doug.cae.wisc.edu>, kolstad@cae.wisc.edu (Joel Kolstad) writes:
- > In article <1992Nov5.122636.5499@hemlock.cray.com> andyw@aspen32.cray.com (Andy Warner) writes:
- > >
- > >In article <720883631snx@nlbbs.UUCP>, paula@nlbbs.UUCP (Paula Stockholm) writes:
- > >>
- > >> [...]
- > >> I'm the last one who would be considered and advocate for the
- > >> Cable Companies but . . . suppose you wanted to hook-up another
- > >> water heater - you would expect to pay for the extra juice.
- > >>
- > >> The cable signal is not as easily "meter-able" but you would
- > >> be using more cable signal.
- > >
- > >Good analogy. The power company at least has the honesty to put
- > >a meter on your feed, and charge you accordingly.
- >
- > Oh, give me a break! Sending cable to more than one TV does not use up
- > any more natural resources than sending it to one!
- >
- > If you REALLY want to keep on going with this STRAINED analogy, though,
- > fine: As someone else suggested earlier, you can just go buy a distribution
- > amp so that the cable company always "sees" a 75 ohm impedence going into
- > your house, and the "power" you draw from their line is the same.
-
- Yada, yada, yada - I'm not referencing how much "natural resources"
- more than one tv will use (although the pwer company will charge
- you for the difference...). It seems the cable company is incapable
- of designing a method of reliably metering how much "information"
- you're using. So they bill you their worst-case estimate.
-
- > >Every other utility has expended a non-trivial
- > >amount of effort to bill you according to usage, it seems that the
- > >cable & sat carriers would rather expend effort legislating than
- > >developing a metering method (a gross generalisation, which I will
- > >probably be mercilessly flamed for)..
- >
- > This is truely warped. You're telling me that if I use 4 22W flourescent
- > bulbs, getting the equivalent of about 400W of incandescent light, the
- > power company should charge me for 400W!? It would seem so, according
- > to what I can figure out for your use of the word "usage"! (Since after all,
- > with those 4 22W lights, I can light up a lot more space and enjoy my
- > house a lot more!)
- >
- > I'm sorry if I sound a little hyperactive here, but I think you analogy
- > is just FULL of holes.
-
- No, this is exactly the point. The power company has gone to the effort
- of using a meter that only bills you for the resources you use, if you
- use a bunch of flourescent lights, or if you try and heat the house
- with the stove, they'll bill you for what you used. Seems simple
- enough to me. It seems like the cable industry is trying to say "you've
- got 20 power outlets in your house, we know, 'cos we've tested it.
- Therefore you owe us $x". And people fall for it - go figure.
-
- BTW - I don't have cable :-)
- --
- andyw. N0REN/G1XRL
-
- andyw@aspen.cray.com Andy Warner, Cray Research, Inc. (612) 683-5835
-