Innovation
Wednesday
Wednesday 9/10/2002Telewest says proudly that 10 percent of its broadband customers have upgraded to the new 1Mbps service -- that's 20,000 users. As of yesterday, make that 20,001: I took the plunge, clicked on the link, reset my cable modem and doubled my bandwidth.
Wednesday 9/10/2002
Telewest says proudly that 10 percent of its broadband customers have upgraded to the new 1Mbps service -- that's 20,000 users. As of yesterday, make that 20,001: I took the plunge, clicked on the link, reset my cable modem and doubled my bandwidth. It's costing an extra tenner a month, but it feels like its worth it -- even if I am horribly reminded of the frog that sits in a pan of water and feels no pain as the heat is gradually increased. A tenner here, a tenner there -- now, FilmFour is only another seven quid, and then I could do with another phone line... But I can't explain why I'm prepared to do this when the tenner a month it costs for Tivo's digital video recorder service feels like a tenner too much. On the face of it, I wasn't dissatisfied with the 512kbps speed -- although the 128kbps upload was annoyingly slow, I didn't do that much with it. And now I share the flat with a fellow bandwidth-guzzling Goodwins, there's another excuse... but it is just an excuse. The Web as a whole is slower than the link ever is. I'd use a Tivo a lot more, and I've been very impressed with seeing Tivos in action at friends' places. I don't know why one feels like an unacceptable indulgence but the other is a worthwhile, defensible expense. The same problem must be afflicting Tivo in spades, as five years in it's still struggling to survive, despite having pioneered what is a brilliant idea and made quite a good job of it. Perhaps the Internet really is the new television, same as television became the new radio, and Tivo are stuck marketing a very nice wireless when all around are looking for something quite different.
Telewest says proudly that 10 percent of its broadband customers have upgraded to the new 1Mbps service -- that's 20,000 users. As of yesterday, make that 20,001: I took the plunge, clicked on the link, reset my cable modem and doubled my bandwidth. It's costing an extra tenner a month, but it feels like its worth it -- even if I am horribly reminded of the frog that sits in a pan of water and feels no pain as the heat is gradually increased. A tenner here, a tenner there -- now, FilmFour is only another seven quid, and then I could do with another phone line... But I can't explain why I'm prepared to do this when the tenner a month it costs for Tivo's digital video recorder service feels like a tenner too much. On the face of it, I wasn't dissatisfied with the 512kbps speed -- although the 128kbps upload was annoyingly slow, I didn't do that much with it. And now I share the flat with a fellow bandwidth-guzzling Goodwins, there's another excuse... but it is just an excuse. The Web as a whole is slower than the link ever is. I'd use a Tivo a lot more, and I've been very impressed with seeing Tivos in action at friends' places. I don't know why one feels like an unacceptable indulgence but the other is a worthwhile, defensible expense. The same problem must be afflicting Tivo in spades, as five years in it's still struggling to survive, despite having pioneered what is a brilliant idea and made quite a good job of it. Perhaps the Internet really is the new television, same as television became the new radio, and Tivo are stuck marketing a very nice wireless when all around are looking for something quite different.