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Alex[_4_]

Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/25/15 7:56 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 25 Jun 2015 18:53:54 -0400, Keyser Söze
wrote:

On 6/25/15 5:37 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 25 Jun 2015 17:11:47 -0400, Keyser Söze
wrote:

Really. Gee, I paid $0.00 out of pocket for my big new iPhone,
thanks to
a generous trade-in offer from Verizon. Of course, I had to renew my
contract, but I would have done that anyway. My wife has two iPhones,
neither of which required a cash outlay.

It makes you wonder how much Verison makes on those contracts doesn't
it?

It is the same theory as the ink jet printer. You get the phone for
free and they make their money when you actually want to use it.

My landline is virtually free too .. with the full boat option package
(free long distance, all the dialing options, voice mail and a bunch
of stuff I don't use). I just needed to buy the data and TV package
;-)

No, I don't wonder. Verizon makes a lot. I know what some of the
service
rates in other countries are, and they are a lot lower. Same with other
countries having faster and cheaper internet. Hey, we're 'Mericans,
sheep to be sheared by the corporationists.

We are too quick to believe anything is "free". They bury a lot in the
price of these things. I think the biggest problem is the internet, as
consumers have to access it is a monopoly virtually everywhere in the
US. When you talk about a monster like Comcast, they not only own the
last mile, they own the last 100 miles, a lot of the content and they
are only getting bigger.
I would break up Comcast into at least 5 companies, just like we did
Ma Bell. That created an environment that allowed the internet as we
know it.
For that matter, forcing IBM to unbundle software from hardware
created Microsoft and made the PC marketplace big enough for Dell,
Gateway, HP/Compaq and Apple.

.
BTW the internet in New Zealand sucks, so it isn't everywhere.
Access is slow and expensive.

I'd like to see Comcast unbundle its offerings. We don't watch very
many of the periphery channels, especially the "included" sports
channels.

We use our cell phones a *lot* and Verizon's coverage seems the best
where we go. I know that because I have friends and colleagues with
service from other providers, and several of them are always whining
about coverage lapses.

I'd like to see the US Government unbundle its offerings. Social
Security would be the first.