There was a time about fifteen years ago when you paid for X number of hours on the internet, and people did it because it was the only game in town. My senior year in high school AOL started to offer 19.99 unlimited access (This is when I got an Internet connection at my house) funny thing happened people signed up. As broadband began to take hold ISP’s used the same unlimited model, but you paid more for the faster speed no one complained too much. What can only be described as two big steps back the big providers are talking about metering your bandwidth like its 1994. Now you might ask; Keith why do I care I don’t download a lot, and I might use 50 gb a month? That’s the argument the big boys are using saying that it would only affect the top 5% of all users. I could lay out a ton of reasons why not only is that the most idiotic thing I have ever heard, but that in fact the mid level users would pay the price with higher prices and more headaches. However I would like to focus on how it affects the people who come to this site.

The question at hand is how this would affect the Apple TV user, or for that matter a user of any set top on demand box like vudu and the ruku Netflix box? First the obvious, every movie, tv show, podcast, or music you download or stream over the net would count against your allotted bits. In this day of HD, even with good compression, the files are big and the GBs will add up. Factor in a household Mom, Dad, 2.5 Kids all getting the above entertainment plus schoolwork, bills, and shopping you will hit the “Cap” faster then you think. Are AT&T and Verizon not looking at their Cell model that clearly shows people want unlimited data and voice, when they started to offer all you can eat data and text on their networks more people signed up for it, and now all are offering unlimited voice with success.

Maybe not so obvious, or maybe it’s the conspiracy theorist in me, that 6 of the top 10 ISPs are also trying to push TV. No I don’t believe this is the driving force (money is) but it is an issue that seems to go by the wayside when main stream media talks about the metering. No doubt that set top boxes including our beloved device is a threat to cable PPV; more people than ever want al carte, on demand programming, and IPTV like Revison3. We also want it when we want it this is shown in the amount of Tivos, DVRs, and portable video devices in the wild. All of takes lots of bandwidth and the ISPs are pouncing on it. I for one don’t want to have to pay bit by bit I want them all, all I can eat for a flat rate like I have been paying for the last 7 years. I don’t want to be in a place where I have to decide should I rent this today or next month because I might need more bandwidth at the end of the month.

Tell me what you think in your comments.

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UPDATE:

A reader posted this article in the comments.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/technology/15cable.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

Tonight 6/18/08 was the first time I read it, however my inspiration for the piece I wrote came after I listened to Twit (This week in Tech) on Monday. But credit is due where credit is due and NYT article points out many of the same things I did and was published before me.