Citing 'censorship' concerns, North Idaho internet provider blocks Facebook, Twitter

[hunter]

48. Comcast can go to hell.

I'm fortunate to live in a place with multiple providers.

Our first high speed internet was a so-called alarm line direct to our ISP. This was before Comcast or Pacific Bell offered residential internet service. It's a DSL line now and much faster than it used to be since AT&T ran fiber to their curbside boxes.

One of our neighboring cities offers free internet to ALL residents. The city played hardball with the telcoms and won. This free service is ultimately supported by premium cell phone and cable services in the form of city leases for cell phone tower sites and cable right-of-ways. This free internet turned out to be highly beneficial to students from lower income families when covid-19 came around.

Some shit-hole U.S.A. states and counties, paid off by the telcoms, have legislated against these sorts deals, preserving the predatory monopolistic behavior of cable providers.

My wife and I live in a neighborhood with excellent cell phone connectivity and good broadcast television reception. Many of our neighbors have abandoned cable and landlines entirely for 4G and 5G service. This becomes an attractive option when cell phone providers such as T-Mobile are offering "free unlimited" DVD quality video and Netflix.

Once upon a time the U.S.A. managed to bring roads, electricity, and telephone service to rural area. There's no reason we couldn't do the same with high speed internet.

My wife's parents live in a rural area and don't have many internet choices. By an accident of geography they are line-of-site to a distant AT&T cell phone tower and use that for their internet. It's expensive, but not as expensive as satellite. Many of their neighbors who can't connect to this tower use satellite internet, or worse, suffer dial-up service over phone lines that were last upgraded in the 'sixties or 'seventies and fail every time the wind blows hard enough to knock down trees.

Our children live in big cities and enjoy high speed fiber internet direct to their homes. They don't subscribe to any traditional television services. Neither do their cousins. They pay no attention at all to traditional television or radio. This probably explains all the television and radio advertising directed to sedentary old farts...

Mostly my wife and I watch Netflix and DVDs. We can 'cast other stuff to our television but rarely do. The last time I played with broadcast television was during the switch-over to digital. We haven't watched any broadcast television for more than a decade and never see any television commercials.

Personally, I think television news and opinion is less than worthless. It appeals mostly to our "lizard brains." Traditional television made Trump. Traditional television needs to die.

I read my news. My wife and I still subscribe to an actual paper newspaper and have electronic subscriptions to other regional and national newspapers.