tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3791487.post-80975182623453366792008-01-19T23:10:00.001-05:002008-01-19T23:17:43.971-05:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.lordalex.org/uploaded_images/videotron-722089.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.lordalex.org/uploaded_images/videotron-722082.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Now when we finally have the technology (like flash video) and bandwidth enough to get decent video/audio quality over the internet and are even experiencing the birth of DRM free content, you may think the convergence of TV and Internet are finally here and is unstoppable.</p> <p>Well think again, companies like Videotron, and similar telcos in Canada and the US have different plans that may actually slow down things significantly. A few months ago I received a letter saying my unlimited internet plan was not so "unlimited" anymore placing a cap of 100GB upload/download combined instead and a penalty of $1.50 per additional GB but wait for it, here come the best part: -no monthly limits.</p> <p>The excuse is to stop people downloading large amounts of data. So my question is why in this world would you want to prevent people from downloading large amounts of data in a "high speed extreme" plan advertised for years as "unlimited" and clearly aiming at users that consume large amounts of bandwidth in the first place?</p> <p>I think the reality that no one seems to be talking about is, the days of cable tv as know it are numbered and this scares the hell of these companies as much as the music industry was afraid of mp3 back in the days.</p> <p>I guess the reality is that soon, free video in youtube and other streaming services are not going to be so "free" after all. You might be actually paying top dollars in bandwidth fees to get access to video online and god help those parents who's kids have torrent software installed in their computers and are not properly aware of the new pricing scheme.</p> <p>Well that is the end of my rant, if you have comments on this please voice your opinon and meanwhile if anyone knows about a company still offering real "unlimited" internet plans in the local Montreal area please, drop a line in comments section.<br /> </p></div>LordAlex Leonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078212780680450260lordalex@gmail.com