I use dial-up, so my modem is necessary. Plus its handy on the road. The options for internet here are:
Charter Cable. Cheapest price: $40 a month. Horrible service, never as fast as advertised and plenty of down time.
Dial up. Take your pick.
Qwest DSL. I absolutely hate Qwest with a passion as they used to pad my bill EVERY MONTH. Remember, they got in trouble and had to give refunds back to their customers multiple times. Arguing with them monthly about my bill was not fun.
I have an MCI land line and until they get DSL to my area, dial up it is.
How many people actually still use a phone line modem?
Don't get out West much, eh?
We have staff in parts of Iowa that are lucky to get a connection at 14.4. 56K isn't even an option, never mind broadband.
It's not just the rural areas, either. Reportedly, Silicon Valley itself was way behind in broadband availability during the dot-com boom (whoops!). Busy and densely urban areas can be very hard to rewire, which is one reason you're seeing a lot of movement toward decentralized wireless networks.
But that doesn't help much out where your nearest neighbor is several miles away, and your ISP is on the other side of a mountain range.
Quote:
And when do you guys think Apple will get rid of it or have an option to not include it?
Between the fact that half the US is still on dialup (including some security conscious people who refuse broadband, and cost conscious people who balk at broadband prices) and the fact that the modem is a $5 part that doubles as a fax now, I expect it to stick around for a while.
Quote:
1. I paid money for something I don't use
2. It takes up space and weight in my laptop, something I want to be as light and as small as possible.
BTO costs Apple, too, so ironically the option to exclude a part that's soldered to the motherboard would raise the cost of both models.
Besides, you're talking about a couple of bucks and a fraction of an ounce in exchange for making the model useful to the entire world, instead of a lucky few.
Comments
Charter Cable. Cheapest price: $40 a month. Horrible service, never as fast as advertised and plenty of down time.
Dial up. Take your pick.
Qwest DSL. I absolutely hate Qwest with a passion as they used to pad my bill EVERY MONTH. Remember, they got in trouble and had to give refunds back to their customers multiple times. Arguing with them monthly about my bill was not fun.
I have an MCI land line and until they get DSL to my area, dial up it is.
I need a phone. I can't afford cable. Cell phone reception here is spotty, and pricey. So, landline + FasterMac.net for my needs.
Originally posted by stevegongrui
How many people actually still use a phone line modem?
Don't get out West much, eh?
We have staff in parts of Iowa that are lucky to get a connection at 14.4. 56K isn't even an option, never mind broadband.
It's not just the rural areas, either. Reportedly, Silicon Valley itself was way behind in broadband availability during the dot-com boom (whoops!). Busy and densely urban areas can be very hard to rewire, which is one reason you're seeing a lot of movement toward decentralized wireless networks.
But that doesn't help much out where your nearest neighbor is several miles away, and your ISP is on the other side of a mountain range.
And when do you guys think Apple will get rid of it or have an option to not include it?
Between the fact that half the US is still on dialup (including some security conscious people who refuse broadband, and cost conscious people who balk at broadband prices) and the fact that the modem is a $5 part that doubles as a fax now, I expect it to stick around for a while.
1. I paid money for something I don't use
2. It takes up space and weight in my laptop, something I want to be as light and as small as possible.
BTO costs Apple, too, so ironically the option to exclude a part that's soldered to the motherboard would raise the cost of both models.
Besides, you're talking about a couple of bucks and a fraction of an ounce in exchange for making the model useful to the entire world, instead of a lucky few.