even more Communistic Cast

Well well well.  I recently quit cable TV cold turkey, and it has been something of an adjustment - but I'm happier every day that I'm not paying these greedy bastards any more of my hard earned money.

Besides spending more time doing more creative and productive work generally, I have proven that every bit of media I care to watch can be watched without Comcast, and watched at a time that I choose.  But of course, the tete a tete with Comcast is not over.

I found out that they've been over-charging me for "high speed internet" for more than ten years, to the tune of $10 per month (plus tax).  I've been monitoring my average download/upload speeds, and it's far below the level I'm paying for.  When I pointed this out to a phone representative from, I assume, Bangladesh, I was told that I would be given a "promotional rate" from now on.  That's not good enough, considering I've over-paid them about $1200 so far - but it will have to do for the moment, as I can't prove that they've been short-changing me in that regard; I only noticed it recently.  In looking at a number of blogs and complaint sites - I find that I am not an aberration, but the norm.

But as big of an idiot as that makes me, I must confess, I'm a much bigger wanker than I myself would have ever believed.  Who among us rents a "cable modem" from the cable company?!  Being in this business, I knew I was being ripped off, but Jesus, I got out the calculator and added it up today.  As a minimum, I have paid about $5000 for a modem that costs $55 at Best Buy or even Walmart.  And yes - it's the same one.  So I ran the numbers today.  If all of Comcast's 23 million subscribers have done the same thing, for let's say 10 years (and that's an absolute minimum for most people) - this company has raked in $184 billion dollars for "modem rentals" in the past decade.

People, I implore you - let us send a message to these media conglomerates - these mega-monopolies who aspire now to even charge us for viewing web sites,  charge us for every single page view - send a message and let them know, we can and will find our entertainment somewhere else!