minimum wage

[panteragstk]

You won't use DSL, but it WAS an option, right?

That sort of logic is like "you won't eat the moldy bread to survive, but it WAS an option"

Yes it's an option, but why is that the ONLY option for so many people?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

You won't use DSL, but it WAS an option, right?

To rephrase your question: let's say your daily (pre-covid) commute to work - it only takes 30mins by car but 6hours by bus. You won't use BUS, but it WAS an option, right?

I also said broadband, not the internet. Broadband is defined by FCC (including previous GOP controlled) as 25/3 mbps service. DSL doesn't meet this requirement.

Edit1: beat to punch by panteragstk
Edit2: This idea is reeking of FYIGM crowd notions.

 

[Irvrobinson]

You won't use DSL, but it WAS an option, right?

Yes, it was (and is) an option, but DSL sucks compared to cable and I refuse to use it. I don't think I would live in a place where DSL was the only option.

 

[highfigh]

Yes, it was (and is) an option, but DSL sucks compared to cable and I refuse to use it. I don't think I would live in a place where DSL was the only option.

I hate ATT with the fire of a thousand suns, so I understand your thoughts on DSL. Spectrum hasn't been totally pain-free, but it has been far better for me than for most of my customers.

If ATT was the only way, I wouldn't move to that place. If I had no choice, I might start drinking.

 

[GO-NAD!]

For the most part this isn't true in my experience, or it's a gross exaggeration. In the US at least, anti-trust laws are obnoxious enough that sometimes a company will help fund a competitor so as not to be a true monopoly (e.g. Microsoft investing in Apple in 1997). Even subtle bad acting can result in costly lawsuits and fines (e.g. Intel paying Dell not to use AMD CPUs). Amazon is in the news recently for copying designs of some consumer products listed in their marketplace and using their volume buying to sell them cheaper than the original, but that's nickel and dime stuff. The closest US company to being a monopoly currently is probably Google with internet search, with about 90% market share, but based on current laws it's a tough argument to make, because Google gives away search capability for free, and US anti-trust laws have financial harm provisions. CEOs aren't as dumb as you think. Well, at least not in anti-trust matters. The VW smog testing cheating case for diesels does make me wonder if recreational drugs were involved.

My post was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. While monopolies/cartels may be difficult to implement, much less get away with, what CEO would complain if he could get away with it?

 

[highfigh]

To rephrase your question: let's say your daily (pre-covid) commute to work - it only takes 30mins by car but 6hours by bus. You won't use BUS, but it WAS an option, right?

I also said broadband, not the internet. Broadband is defined by FCC (including previous GOP controlled) as 25/3 mbps service. DSL doesn't meet this requirement.

Broadband and DSL are fundamentally different, too- DSL is an assigned feed (like a phone line), broadband is shared by others in the area and redistributed from the pole.

Is 25Mbps the highest speed, or the average? Here, some areas haven't been updated by ATT, so they can only provide 25Mbps as the max speed, but if the user has fiber, it's gigbit. Since Spectrum took over for Time Warner, the minimum speed is now 200Mbps.

 

[highfigh]

My post was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. While monopolies/cartels may be difficult to implement, much less get away with, what CEO would complain if he could get away with it?

Well, they could complain that nobody is left to overrun once they have all fallen.....

 

[highfigh]

That sort of logic is like "you won't eat the moldy bread to survive, but it WAS an option"

Yes it's an option, but why is that the ONLY option for so many people?

Why would a provider spend billions to serve a very small number of people? Low population density is the main reason wireless broadband INTERNET access is used in those areas. It's just not economically feasible to install the service and sometimes, it's physically impractical or impossible.

OTOH, it could be due to not paying the right people, in order to be the provider.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Broadband and DSL are fundamentally different, too- DSL is an assigned feed (like a phone line), broadband is shared by others in the area and redistributed from the pole.

Is 25Mbps the highest speed, or the average? Here, some areas haven't been updated by ATT, so they can only provide 25Mbps as the max speed, but if the user has fiber, it's gigbit. Since Spectrum took over for Time Warner, the minimum speed is now 200Mbps.

This is a vast oversimplification. DSL isn't just DSL, but 6-7 vastly different technologies. Cable internet is already at least on the 5th or 6th generation. The same goes for fiber etc...
The bottom line is DSL average download is between 1.5 and 3mbps down simply isn't compatible with current covid reality. Kids learn remotely. Zoom/Webex video meetings many times each day.
Seeing relatives - again back to Zoom etc. Watching movies? Netflix/amazon etc.. - good luck with streaming even 720p on a 1.5mbps internet line.

Why would a provider spend billions to serve a very small number of people? Low population density is the main reason wireless broadband INTERNET access is used in those areas. It's just not economically feasible to install the service and sometimes, it's physically impractical or impossible.

OTOH, it could be due to not paying the right people, in order to be the provider.

Let me ask you a counter-question - Why would major providers spend billions to upgrade their equipment then it could few millions to lobby governments to prohibit deployment of smaller (faster) alternatives?

Municipal Broadband Remains Roadblocked In 16 States - BroadbandNow

For decades, municipal broadband operations have been subject to a minefield of restrictions and barriers designed to make the prospect of establishing or maintaining a community broadband network costly, difficult, and unsustainable. The Biden administration initially pledged that the Broadband...

broadbandnow.com

This is exactly to my original point of not everything is a "free" market.
Wired Telcos are unfortunately a natural monopoly. If they to be treated like a utility (which I strongly support) then they should be regulated like utilities are. This is one of the cases where the free-market simply can't fix the situation.
Even richest companies in the world (Google, SpaceX) are struggling to bring significant options.

 

[Irvrobinson]

My post was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. While monopolies/cartels may be difficult to implement, much less get away with, what CEO would complain if he could get away with it?

I've never met a CEO who wanted to see what he could get away with. Some second or third level management people have been more risk-taking, and they're usually the ones responsible for most of the trouble in my experience.

 

[GO-NAD!]

I've never met a CEO who wanted to see what he could get away with. Some second or third level management people have been more risk-taking, and they're usually the ones responsible for most of the trouble in my experience.

Do you not have any imagination? It could be any random member of the executive suite. I mean, who wouldn't want to be in Standard Oil's position...before it was broken up, of course.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Do you not have any imagination? It could be any random member of the executive suite. I mean, who wouldn't want to be in Standard Oil's position...before it was broken up, of course.

Nope. I'm totally unimaginative.

 

[lp85253]

My Randian influence use to make me think we didn't need it. The free market will take care of it and decide a livable wage. However, I'm coming to see that if we did that there isn't sufficient reason to believe that would happen. Obviously some would, but some might not. If Shapiro is getting excited about a low minimum wage, well..... any thoughts?

It's always been the fact.. Employers pay employees *only what they have to* to keep the wheels turning.. It's been this way for my entire adult life .. It won't change.. Caveat: there ARE some employers who buck this trend, and they tend to have better employees, but those employers are in the minority...

 

[lp85253]

Fast food is the most common area where people talk about the $15/hr wage but with the huge amount of wasted food and the high cost of being engaged in that kind of business, it's not going to be a calm, peaceful discussion. The workers don't seem to understand that going from $10/hr to $15/hr will cause the price of fast food to skyrocket, yet many people at that wage level eat a lot of it because it's A) convenient, B) it's filling and C) it's cheaper and less time-consuming than buying/preparing/cooking groceries. I could spend $3 on fast food for every meal and it would be enough. It would eventually kill me, but I wouldn't go hungry. I would also save a helluva lot of money.

I expect kiosks to replace a lot of people at fast food places.

That's already happened here( raising min. Wage).. It wasn't the end of the world.. A much more important issue is to raise social security to a living amount...

 

[Hetfield]

It's always been the fact.. Employers pay employees *only what they have to* to keep the wheels turning.. It's been this way for my entire adult life .. It won't change.. Caveat: there ARE some employers who buck this trend, and they tend to have better employees, but those employers are in the minority...

Costco is one of those employers that goes above and beyond. They pay their employees very well. I have to be honest, it's a reason I like to shop there and spend money there.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[lp85253]

Costco is one of those employers that goes above and beyond. They pay their employees very well. I have to be honest, it's a reason I like to shop there and spend money there.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

Heartily agreed.. The one exception is the sample people.. They are independent contractors that get much less from their company( i can't remember the name).. But other than that costco workers get paid well and are very good.. Disney was that way as well , idk if they still are, but i would assume so....

 

[Hetfield]

Heartily agreed.. The one exception is the sample people.. They are independent contractors that get much less from their company( i can't remember the name).. But other than that costco workers get paid well and are very good.. Disney was that way as well , idk if they still are, but i would assume so....

Yeah the sample people are an outside company which I always going odd but the employees there are treated well. My coworkers wife is a bakery manager at the one closest to my house and she does very well.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[panteragstk]

Costco is one of those employers that goes above and beyond. They pay their employees very well. I have to be honest, it's a reason I like to shop there and spend money there.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

In n out burger is the same way. I think their starting pay is something like $13/hr. It just tells me plenty of companies can pay their employees and still make a profit. If they can't, then maybe they aren't that good of a company.

 

[Hetfield]

In n out burger is the same way. I think their starting pay is something like $13/hr. It just tells me plenty of companies can pay their employees and still make a profit. If they can't, then maybe they aren't that good of a company.

Holy cow, that I didn't know. Interesting info though.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Holy cow

I doubt that, I think the treatment of cows in In-N-Out burgers doesn't quite compare to cows treatments in India ;-)