We don't have room in print for all your letters and blog pingbacks in full, but here online we do - so here they are. The big issue? Dialup vs broadband. Click through for the full text..
GOT BROADBAND? As one of the '1.9 million or so dialup users' the most important factor is the lack of provision of an adequate broadband service. I rarely get anything like the claimed speed for dialup. As an advert from BT in the Guardian recently pointed out in vary small print 'factors affecting speed include line test and distance from exchange'. As for cable I, like many other people, live on a shared drive and it is too much hassle and expensive for cable companies to provide a connection. As I write this I can see the junction box on a cable system about 5 metres from where I am sitting. A check on availability based on postcode shows that my address and my neighbour's are not included. Unless some organisation shoulders the responsibility for upgrading the existing telephone line when dialup is dropped by ISPs I shall be in a worse position than I am now as I will be without any form of internet access . Lauri Nelson, Derby
If you're enumerating the "innovative schemes" whereby folks are tempted into broadband, you could add the latest Orange ploy to delight their customers, i.e., closing down the Anytime Dial-up service and moving people over to broadband (unless they shout loud enough and quickly enough in which case they'll just lose their service with nothing to replace it. John Dean, Oxford
Tim Johnson, speaking as analyst of broadband and its growth - "Why has the growth of broadband adoption slowed?" would appear to be not a disinterested party in the debate. I depend on Broadband - for my business and many other things these days, including radio. But many people I know do not have broadband, nor internet or not even a computer. Just like the many people I know who don't have TV. Whilst agreeing that broadband and the internet can play a role in economic and social advantage, the many people I know with no interest in computers and the internet do not fit this category and live extremely contented and fulfilled lives without it. Rather than being disadvantaged, they are the opposite end of the spectrum to those who live their whole lives cyberland, in that the live and enjoy all that the reality of the big world bestows on them. Being without a specific medium is therefore rather an advantage to many, rather than a deficit. Sean O'Donoghue, Hay-on-Wye
I was interested to read the article in Technology Guardian ( 8 Nov) about the slowing of broadband growth and the recent reliance of ISPs on converting dialup users. I am a dialup user with Orange as my ISP and last month the evening and weekend rates for dialup users were doubled - to 4p and 2p per minute respectively. The daytime rate increased from 4p to 5p per minute. These increases are clearly intended to penalise dialup users and push them towards a broadband contract. I have contacted Ofcom who informed me that regulations on price changes only apply to contract subscribers so now I have the prospect of at least a doubling of my dialup costs. Websites comparing ISPs are largely for broadband users and I can find no up-to-date comparison surveys for dialup ISP rates. Can anyone suggest a better value and reliable dialup ISP? Rod Bloor (no post town given)
The slowing in broadband adoption would not be anything to do with cost would it? My BT broadband Option 1, not including calls, costs more than my gas bill and more than my electricity. This is for a three bedroom, mid terrace property with central heating Perhaps I should apply for Option none. Richard Matta, Budleigh Salterton
It's great to see the digital divide recognised as something more than merely the preserve of public and third sector do-gooders (Why has the growth in broadband adoption slowed?, 8 Nov). This is an issue the technology industry as a whole needs to be worrying about. Addressing digital inclusion isn't a fluffy CSR aside, it makes very real business sense. The realisation that late-adopters or laggards are not going to catch up with the pack any time soon is already dawning, and we're seeing real commitment from some organisations to making their wares work for the ICT-wary. However, to make a real impact we need to see more cross-sector co-operation. It is only by working together that the private, public and third sectors can make a real difference to individuals, communities, and (at the end of the day) to bottom-lines. Helen Milner, Managing Director, UK online centres
I am paying Virgin £24.99 a month for a high speed broadband connection (letters November 01 2007) but it downloads painfully slowly - last week a document of 7MB took nearly an hour to download onto my computer. Virgin has always been slow but it's just getting worse. I emailed my ISP asking them for advice and help and telling them I would be reporting back to the Guardian. One month later, they haven't even bothered to reply. Bob Sutton, Guildford
…AND BROADBAND SPEED.. Ref the letters about ISP speed (What's My Line? November 1st). Alan Paterson asked, " Does any other business routinely deliver around 10% to 15% of what it promises…?". BT customers should think themselves lucky. As a Virgin Media (nee NTL customer) I signed up for the 20Mbps service. The most I have seen is 15Mbps whilst I have seen it as low as 600Kbps! The explanation I had from a Virgin media engineer was that living in an inner city area with a very high student population, mostly with Virgin Media as their ISP, the Virgin media Infrastructure could not scale. I think that this is plausible especially as numerous tests (I use www.speedtest.net) showed the highest connection speeds in the morning (especially Saturday morning) and the lowest around 7.30-8.00 in the evening, demonstrating a correlation with minimum and maximum student activity! Incidentally, I have complained to Virgin media on several occasions but have never received a satisfactory resolution. Mike Vaughan, Cardiff
STINGY USERS >> In the early days of the web (I'm talking ten years ago here) selling "premium" content was seen as the pathway to riches online. Until the producers of such content realised that no one (or very few people) were actually prepared to pay for it. People like Jennifer Ringley may have, however, made a reasonable go out of selling "top shelf" content, but they tended to be the exception, not the rule. http://www.disassociated.com/
FREE 192.COM's DATA? 192.com allows some searches for free, other information requires you to buy search credits. What annoys me is that if you have bought credits, they then get used up even if you then do a "free" search, unless you take care to log out, and they don't tell you this. I tried asking for a refund, and a request that credits should only get used up for searches that required them, but never got any response either from email or by phone. I think they should put their house in order before telling others to "free their data". Mike Whittaker, Stapleton
THE MEDIUM IS... The message is the massage? Those spiritualists always rub me up the wrong way. John D Dalton, Frizington
APPLE'S RAM-RAIDING Mr. Arthur has rendered a great service for those new to the Mac platform by pointing out (Apple goes Ram raiding, November 9) the outrageous prices Apple charges for adding RAM to all of their computers. Apple's official explanation some years ago was that they were protecting themselves from fluctuations in the RAM markets. While this might have once been a valid point, the trend for the last five years has been towards cheaper RAM, with hardly any uptick, and certainly not anything that would justify Apple's RAM prices. Furthermore, since the switch to Intel CPUs, Apple is using bog standard components (although it should also be pointed out that the transition to "regular" components began much earlier). Apple really has no excuse for their practice, other than that they seem to be able to get away with it. I'm a long time Mac user and I learned early on to buy my RAM from reputable third party sellers and installing it myself. With the exception of the early G3 based iMac, Apple has made this a painless proposition, and even the early iMac wasn't too difficult for those mechanically inclined. (I upgraded many a friends' iMac, usually earning me a soft drink and a big bag of crisps, or even a pizza from the more generous.) Oddly enough, the professional computers of the same era were well designed to allow for easy upgrades of both RAM and hard drives. Upgrading RAM on the current crop of machines couldn't be easier and third party RAM couldn't be cheaper. I add my voice to Arthur's in urging new Mac users to forgo Apple's upgrade and do it themselves. Also, while not as RAM hungry as Microsoft Vista, Mac OS X really does like quantities of More, so the new user should get as much as they can afford. It's really helpful if you use multiple applications concurrently or have lots of windows open at the same time. Please don't get me wrong. I love my Mac Powerbook and lust for the MacBooks and MacBook Pros. The overall prices of Mac computers has come down and is more in line with that of other PC makers, and in some cases is equivalent or even slightly cheaper. But RAM prices have always been a sore spot for me. Marcos El Malo (no post town given)
…AND MORE LEOPARD I noticed Charles Arthur's piece last month about how no-one was interested in Leopard. I gather it sold 2 million copies in two days, which is almost 10% of the estimated OS X worldwide crowd. Shame I didn't take you up on a bet... Jason Davies, London
LETTERS ON SETH... I have also read Seth Finkelstein's articles and, like your previous correspondent, have mostly failed to understand him. John Creek, Twickenham
