Dustin Puryear wrote:
> I tend to agree with you Tim. I'm not sure why the city government in
> Lafayette feels it's need to use tax payer money to provide broadband.
> Yet, a case can be made that if the private sector isn't providing a
> good solution then government should step in and do something about
> it. I guess it depends on your political leanings.
>
> Personally, I'm not sure it's a good use of tax payer dollars.
>
>
It smacks of socialism, but I'm ok with that. IF the service
provided was of high quality, and IF they had a regulated schedule of
upgrades and maintenance, then I think a government-provided broadband
carrier can be a good thing. It would certainly bring broadband to the
lower classes which can't afford it, and that can only be a good thing.
But, unfortunately, I believe the reality would be different. When
I think about how the government (local, state, or otherwise) runs
things, it would probably be unbearably slow, unbearably unstable, and
would have such a long cycle of upgrades that private sector providers
would still have a healthy market. Forget about technical support. The
last thing I would ever want to do is have to get help from some of the
complacent, rude, ignorant government employees which seem to be present
in any office I've ever had to do business with.
However, the lower classes...poor people...would have access to the
Internet, and again, this can only be a good thing. I think each and
every child coming up in America today should have a computer, and
access to the Internet. It can only make them better citizens in the
future, or at least more prepared for a computer-driven workplace.
David
