Netflix became the past year's best performer on the S&P 500.

Quote: reno

Slow, yes. But their mail order catalogue of titles is huge. We're talking well over 100,000 movies. As rentals go, no one else has that. .

What they offer online is laughable by
comparison. But you take what you can
get. My daughter still mail orders, she'll
never give it up because of the selection.

Quote: Evenbob

Quote: reno

Slow, yes. But their mail order catalogue of titles is huge. We're talking well over 100,000 movies. As rentals go, no one else has that. .

What they offer online is laughable by
comparison. But you take what you can
get. My daughter still mail orders, she'll
never give it up because of the selection.

If you are a huge movie buff I guess it makes sense. Me, I don't watch enough movies to care. Their online is more than enough to keep me busy. Of course there are a few things I wish they had, but such is life. I am still saving on the order of a grand a year by cord cutting.

Quote: AZDuffman

If you are a huge movie buff I guess it makes sense. Me, I don't watch enough movies to care. Their online is more than enough to keep me busy. Of course there are a few things I wish they had, but such is life. I am still saving on the order of a grand a year by cord cutting.

I understand that COMCAST has instituted 300 GB data caps in a few cities to combat hardcore Netflix use. More data can be bought at $10/50 GB . I suppose that is cheap compared to $10/1 GB that most cell phone companies charge, but it will put a damper on some cord cutting.

Some companies like Mohu, well known for flat antennas, are pushing software that makes it easy to integrate antenna signals into your daily viewing. No point in wasting bandwidth on a network that you can get over the air.


I don't know how fathers manage today. You remember 40 years ago when the long distance charges would come and the fathers would run around saying who is making these calls? Back then he only had to worry about the long distance, the thermostat and the lights.

Quote: Face

Probably does. I was using "hi-fi" as a noun, as that's what my grandparents had and always referred to it as when I was growing up.

My grandmother had one of those!

They are really nice furniture (trivia: one of the first places which sold radios were furniture stores). I wouldn't mind getting one, removing the electronics and repurposing it for storage. The places where the turntable and tape deck are, make for a good place to keep plates. Though probably ordering one built would be cheaper.

Quote: Pacomartin

I understand that COMCAST has instituted 300 GB data caps

Comcast told me I use 140 GB a day on average.
But I'm just one person. She said if I had a gaming
teen (or 2) I would easily go over the 300 a month,
which now they charge you by the minute for.

Quote: Evenbob

Comcast told me I use 140 GB a day on average.
But I'm just one person. She said if I had a gaming
teen (or 2) I would easily go over the 300 a month,
which now they charge you by the minute for.

You mean 140 GB a month on average, don't you? Is there a meter or do they notify you when you are getting close?

Watching movies or TV shows on Netflix uses about 1 GB of data per hour for each stream of standard definition video, and up to 3 GB per hour for each stream of HD video. This can create headaches for Netflix members who have a monthly bandwidth or data cap on their Internet service.

Quote: Pacomartin

I understand that COMCAST has instituted 300 GB data caps in a few cities to combat hardcore Netflix use.

So a cable company is limiting internet data in order to keep people from dropping their cable subscriptions.

I can't say I'm surprised.

Quote: Nareed

So a cable company is limiting internet data in order to keep people from dropping their cable subscriptions.

They may not worry about video subscriptions, but they want to get a greater share of the revenue. Comcast owns the NBC and following major cable networks (USA Network, Syfy). They also own the minor networks like Chiller, Cloo, Lifestyle Network Group( Bravo, Esquire Network , Oxygen,TVOne and Sprout.

Comcast also owns the digital networks ( DailyCandy, Fandango, iVillage)

Logically they should give you access to these video channels when you buy internet only. But perhaps they are wary of the government objecting to using their position as a distributor of content as well as a producer of content.

But I think that the number of people who watch 300 hours of std definition Netflix is limited, the are a lot of people who probably watch 80 hours of HD Netflix. In particular, I think COMCAST is worried that people may stream UHD in the future, and they won't get a piece of the action.

Quote: Pacomartin

But I think that the number of people who watch 300 hours of std definition Netflix is limited, the are a lot of people who probably watch 80 hours of HD Netflix. In particular, I think COMCAST is worried that people may stream UHD in the future, and they won't get a piece of the action.

I'm reminded of one of Truman's verbal farts, that nuclear energy will make electricity too cheap to meter. I know what it means, but it sounds as though nuclear would make electricity free.

Ok. I know how electricity is charged ad why. I don't know exactly how data is charged and why. Knowing it would make all the difference. Given that the vast majority of residential internet connections have no data limits, it seems the expense is the setting up and upkeep of the infrastructure, rather than the data being carried through it. If so, then data caps make no sense. Residential plans charge by the "speed" of the data, not by how much you use.

In the days of 2,400 baud modems and one-at-a-time message boards, there were shareware downloads. Most sites (not on the internet, remember) which offered them limited downloads to, say 512 KB (yes, KB, not GB, not even MB) per month, and calls to the sites to 30 minutes (when offline readers came out, some reduced it to as little as 7 minutes). But here clearly time was the critical resource. Subscription services like Prodigy, CompuServe and the infamous AOL, I think charged by time as well.

Quote: Nareed

Ok. I know how electricity is charged ad why. I don't know exactly how data is charged and why. Knowing it would make all the difference. Given that the vast majority of residential internet connections have no data limits, it seems the expense is the setting up and upkeep of the infrastructure, rather than the data being carried through it. If so, then data caps make no sense. Residential plans charge by the "speed" of the data, not by how much you use.

Use electricity as an example. The house has 200 Amp service, which is about standard for a new home in the USA. I don't know what is normal in Mexico, but possibly 100 Amp. The use in the house averages 20 Amp which costs about $200/month + $15 customer service charge. The point is that if electricity didn't have a per use charge (just the 200 Amp cap) the variation of use from residence to residence could vary considerably, and everyone would pay the same rate.

Similarly data plans cost different amounts if its is 10,25,50,110 Mbps. But that is like the maximum amperage of the house. Two people with 25 Mbps could use massively different amounts of data in a month. But all people on the same speed are usually paying similar amounts per month.

Quote: Nareed

Subscription services like Prodigy, CompuServe and the infamous AOL, I think charged by time as well.

But people hate to be timed. I am fairly certain that most people who when offered a timed fee schedule will elect not to take it, even if there was a good chance their bill would come lower.