Kasz216 said:
The market more or less dictated it DIDN'T want to be charged by usage. |
The problem is that subscription services are generally unsustainable, and lead to demand problems. Of course the market doesn't WANT to be charged for usage, everybody would prefer to have unlimited usage, hell, everybody would prefer it if it was completely free.
Problem is, it just can't work like that. Simple theory dictates that without price for rationing, demand is unlimited... unless you have unlimited supply, you're going to run into problems. It's the same reason why in the UK thered is a shit tonne of congestion (you pay for your roads once a year in a one-off road tax fee - and then you get unlimited usage), and in places like Florida there is very little congestion because of toll roads controlling congestion.
Not only does it control congestion, but toll roads are often in far better condition than roads in countries on road tax - because the funding can be better invested (if you know a road is very important, because millions are prepared to pay a toll to use it, then you know that improving and maintaining that road is more effective than a road with half the demand).
Despite this, I bet if you were to ask 99% of people out there, they would prefer the road tax unlimited usage situation over the toll system. As evidenced by the fact that our Government tried to introduce a pay-as-you-use system for our motorways a few years back, and eventually gave up due to the massive public opposition.
---
There was this bar in a town near by me, and they used to offer unlimited drinks: you pay £10 to get in, and then you can drink as much as you want... trouble is, they were losing money, because it was essentially a subscription service with limited supply. So, they decided to increase the ticket price... except that model still didn't work, because fewer people came in, and those who did, still outdrank the ticket price. In the end, the bar had to go back to the conventional pay-per-drink model, and now it's functioning fine. Probably gets lets custom, but the custom it gets is more profitable.
---
You can tell the market for unlimited broadband is pretty bad... there is no incentive for better routed investment, so, no matter how much you're willing to pay, you cannot get decent speeds in certain areas (short of renting a direct line to the exchange for thousands of dollars a month), and, not only that, the fact that companies are having to put caps in place show that they are no longer willing to subsidize the free lunch.
