<<Telephone service is a better model. Don't see any free phone calls, do you? Wonder why?>>
Never confuse simplification with simple mindedness. Don't know whether you under stand the concepts behind utilities or not?
Your model building is flawed by lack of effort, experience, and understanding.
If you insist: try cable TV. You pay for cable access. You get the TV program for free. Sometimes you pay extra for Pay_Per_View.
With the iNet: you pay for twisted pair access. You pay extra for AOL to spam you with ads. Why? Why not get the content for "free", just like on cable TV (after you've paid for the access hurdle)?
Turns out the cost structure that's been posted is incorrect. But think of it this way - if the cost of long distance telephone service is headed toward a penny a minute, how expensive should internet access be on top of the local access fee (a local telephone line)?
Junkbuster software has been out there for a long time. It's easy for an ISP to defeat. Pay ISP's don't bother because they're making it via access fees. Advertising supported ISP's will need to defeat it to pay the bills. If you want the net without ads, pay up front, and use the proxy servers. If you don't care, go free, and use your proxy servers for more productive things.
AOL's messaging service is a valuable asset. Don't know if it will be a tractor application that can drag the entire company.
I would not bet against regionalization of portals. In that sense, online access can begin to look more and more like local television. Dismissing this notion lightly is moronic. Local portals with dynamic customization is nearly a unique tool. Suggest that you drop your linear thought patterns, and mix in billboard and magazine strategies.
The game just changed, again.
Lau |
