Ramble

I was watching the Democractic National Convention speeches on their website and I realized that the quality of the Silverlight video was much better than the blurry, low resolution, basic cable signal I get on my TV. I’ve thought in the past that a time would come where I could simply get rid of cable service all together and rely on my broadband Internet connection for all my video needs. It seems like that time may be now. The quality of online video has come a long, long way since I encountered my first Real video broadcasts in high school.

Unfortunately, if the big ISPs have their way and succeed in implementing bandwidth caps, they will kill online video. But, that’s the point.

I’ve witnessed the evolution of the ISP market since the late 90s. Back then, there were many dial-up ISPs all competing with each other. It got so bad that we even had at least one free service. But, as broadband penetration increased, the dial-up ISPs were crowded out.

Now, we have an effective duopoly in most markets, with one cable and one phone company. They both now offer video and VOIP service in addition to broadband Internet access. So, they have every incentive to do whatever they can to avoid letting their Internet division canabalize their TV and phone divisions. One way to do that is to limit bandwidth to the point where their separate TV and VOIP services seem like a deal compared to the overage charges incurred in going beyond the meager proposed caps.

The upshot of this change is that broadband in the U.S. is slow and expensive compared to other OECD countries. Capitalism at work.