On Wednesday 10 May 2006 23:51, Dean Hamstead allegedly wrote:
<snipped>
> alas the internet has moved forward and modems are painful
> to use now.
I simply don't agree with this statement. Dialup has the disadvantages of
tying up your phone line (the cost of a second line rental is more then some
cheap "broadband" options), the call costs themselves and the comparably low
bandwidth. Having started on a 1200/300 baud modem, I don't consider 48000
baud "painful".
Of course, most people "serious" about the internet are using some form of
high speed connection (ie: most people in software development, web content,
instant messaging, etc), but for them to dismiss dialup users as "living in
the past" is merely a form of bandwith snobbery. They are not an
insignificant minority ( *waves to OS/2 zealots, Amiga users* ;P ).
The funny thing is that dialup users are constantly indirectly benefitting
from the steps developers take to reduce the load on their limited resources
(their distribution servers generally). Of course, the developers generally
only take these steps when they hit their resource limits (no surprise
there), rather then from the start when the only one suffering are those poor
dialup Luddites.
Bleh, I could rant on incoherently about this for pages. One of the reasons
I use Linux is that it allows me to (try to) get the most out of what I
already have, rather then console myself that the "next big thing" will solve
a particular problem.
Cheers,
Malcolm V.
P.S. Anyone want to offer a classification for this sig monster offering, I
gave it a (PG).
--
There once was a Scot named McAmeter
With a tool of prodigious diameter.
It was not the size
That cause such surprise;
'Twas his rhythm -- iambic pentameter.
--
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