Sen. Ted Cruz equates "Net Neutrality" with Obamacare. (see attachment in previous post)
The Oatmeal's response: http://theoatmeal.co.../blog/net_neutrality
-nosh
I'm no fan of Ted Cruz. I can't say what I think of him here because it's... uh... very very not nice. (I'm trying to be civil/kind here.)
But he's about right on this. (If Ted Bundy told you that 2+2=4, he'd still be right...)
And while I actually really do like The Oatmeal... he's full of baloney. (I have one of his posters on my wall to my left. I really do like The Oatmeal a lot.)
This is a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario. The public will LOSE. The people will LOSE. Customers will LOSE.
There is little competition in the telco industry because it is heavily saddled with regulations that stifle innovation and strangle competition.
ASIDE: Telcos and mobile manufacturers have been colluding for years to extract as much money from you as possible. I've read their internal communications. We are nothing but cows to be milked, and you can thank regulators for creating the environment where they collude so easily.
Just look at the quality of telephony on your land line or mobile phone - it's the same crappy quality that it was 50 years ago. Nothing has changed. You can thank regulators for that. Remember how 56k was the fastest that modems could transmit data? There's a reason for that -- zero improvement over decades and decades and decades and decades.
Now, listen to the pristine quality of telephony that you get through VoIP applications like Skype. They're insanely clear. But the Internet has been largely unregulated and innovation and (some) competition (not telcos, but software, etc.) has flourished.
I refuse to talk on the phone for more than a few seconds. It's painful. But I can talk over the Internet with VoIP very easily and no discomfort. (I need a full dynamic range to make out what people are saying.)
The people in favour of "Net Neutrality" completely ignore the chains that saddle the telecommunications industry. And this is what The Oatmeal does. He doesn't address the problem - he addresses a symptom.
This isn't about "freedom" like The Oatmeal claims. This is about "freedom inside of a tiny box that we've decided is good for you". Get rid of the box and the entire "Net Neutrality" issue will disappear because there **WILL** be companies that arise to deliver services that people want with zero censorship and zero throttling.
Oh... And while I don't like seafood, you all go for all the crab tacos that you want!
Or lobster tacos... or whatever...
