Peter, at 10:03 on Mar 12 1997, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

DD> Good point - not much take up with cable TV in your area then?

BG> Let's just say that I can't see Optus recouping much of a return on their 
BG> investment in our area for at least another 200 years.  Although they are 
BG> currently calling around even more frequently than the JWs, the connection 
BG> rate is running at less than 5% (and that's after nearly 8 months of this 
BG> area being wired for cable). 

PM> Cable modems have a lot of potential, if Optus/Telstra don't get too 
PM> greedy.

Does it sound a little naive of me to suggest that competition might just
keep the bastards honest?  Yeah, I thought so...

PM> Having first hand experience with the OPTUS trail in Sydney, 50k cps is not 
PM> uncommon from ANU and Latrobe universities to Sydney.

With ISDN, I'd reasonably expect >50kbps to be the rule, not the exception.

PM> Telstra's announced $95 per month (and 25c mb after the 1st 400mb) is way 
PM> to high for the average home user IMHO,

Indeed.

PM> but if either provider supplied Cable TV AND Cable modem for $50 per month 
PM> I think connection would be the norm instead of the exception in a lot of 
PM> homes, probably even in your area Bill!

Dunno Pete, I'm not the least bit interested in cable TV for a start, and
even if ISDN was available for as little as say $30 per month, I'd still be
inclined to continue with an analogue 33k6bps modem, and given that very
few in my area have anything to do with PCs or modems, I still can't see
the connection rate increasing all that much beyond its current 5% or so. 
Seems that everybody has their hands out these days, and one simply has to
draw the line somewhere...

Regards, Bill

--- MsgedSQ/2 3.50