So, the people's next big uprising needs to be..

[Riku'sTwilight]

About how poor their internet connection is.

That's literally all I've heard for weeks and weeks and weeks.
"My internet is so poor it can't do X, Y or Z"

If you don't like getting the shaft from Microsoft, why do people put up with it from their ISP?
I live in the UK, in a rural area, in the middle of the field, miles away from anyone or anything, yet still have unlimited data cap broadband, at a fairly decent speed.

That's some of the excuses I've heard in the past few weeks "I have rubbish internet connection because I live in the middle of nowhere" Well so do I, and my internet is fine.

If the majority of Americans complained to their ISP for a better, faster service or they'd leave then the companies would have no choice but to go about meeting the demands of their customers. Case in Point: Microsoft switching it up.

The companies who provide internet in America are charging you high prices for a crappy service, and getting rich off it. If you don't think that they can give you a better service then that's false, as pretty much the rest of the developed world has broadband (though admittedly not all do)

They have the power, money and technology to do so, yet don't because they are happy with the way things are going so far.

 

[omega 616]

It's not quite the same though, MS changing policy is quite easy compared to replacing the internet.

Anyway, it's already started in Kansas (I believe) google fibre is being rolled out. When everyone's internet is top notch then MS can bring out the xbone they wanted 'cos at the moment it's just not that great, inconsistent speeds, slow speeds, some unreliable places etc.

In a decade or two internet will be everywhere, at the moment we can't even keep a phone signal!

 

[Foolery]

OP, I don't think you know the meaning of middle of nowhere. Try living in rural northern British Columbia for a bit. It's not an excuse that people's internet is lousy, it's a fact. The infrastructure isn't there. My options are a cell phone connection, shitty local ISP or satellite. Fibre is a pipe dream here. Options are limited. Company choice is severely limited in an awful way. Considering there was some controversy with Telus policies not that long ago. And some people have less choice than that. Often it's between internet or no internet. But hey, you were the guy advocating the Xbox One, so this thread doesn't surprise me much.

 

[ClockworkPenguin]

Just to clarify, 'uprising' is hyperbole and you really mean just calm petition and/or the exploration of legal action or boycotts right? 'Cos I can think of a lot of better reasons for civil war than shoddy internet connections.

 

[Tom_green_day]

Just to clarify, 'uprising' is hyperbole and you really mean just calm petition and/or the exploration of legal action or boycotts right? 'Cos I can think of a lot of better reasons for civil war than shoddy internet connections.

No! We must march on our capitals and DEMAND the better connection to the interwebs that we deserve as entitled citizens. Fast internet is not a luxury, it is a necessity. They don't have it in the Middle East as much and look what happened there. We should follow in their footsteps to create a better internet connection for our children and grandchildren.
And P.S. Yeah I'm being sarcastic. This isn't a huge issue for me at least.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Already tried that with Bell, got a petition of 200 dissatisfied people in my home city and everything and sent it in. No response. None. I quit them out of spite but they're doing good business still.

McDonald's sells crappy food but they will continue to thrive for decades to come even if I've sworn to never eat there.

 

[Madman123456]

We have a bit of a stunted growth here in germany because of the dominance of the bigger ISPs. There are some local providers in the bigger cities able to break free of that grasp but in rural areas there are very few options. Either i go with the company who provides slow internet and pretty good service or i go with the faster internet with faster download but slower response times and a service that's not as good.

We even have some areas where people have to use dial up internet.

But i'm actually fine with my DSL 2000. It's reliable and most websites are loaded quickly.

Ok it would be nice if it where faster but it's not a immediate concern.


My WLAN router annoys me from time to time, i'd have to move things around or run cables to supply any consoles with internet access.
One console required internet connection, the others do not. Easy Choice.

 

[senordesol]

'Take my business elsewhere' is the last bastion of consumer rights, but take my business to whom? My choices are basically AT&T and Comcast. So do I go with moderately decent internet at an affordable price, or do I get fast internet and get charged up the butt?

Boycotting internet altogether is not an option. So those are my choices.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Internet connection wasn't an issue for me and I still didn't like what Microsoft was trying to do with the Xbonehead. I never EVER want to see that. Besides, for some people it's a choice between really expensive shitty internet or less expensive shitty internet or no internet. Not much of an option there.

 

[tilmoph]

As others have noted, in a lot of rural areas, their isn't anther option for internet; it's slow and crap or nothing at all, And because they're such small markets, losing them won't really hurt any companies bottom line very much. Also, do keep in mind that the US and Canada are HUGE in terms of land area; the sheer distance between a rural population and it's nearest metro area can be about the same as the distance between two European capitals, not uncommonly more.

Also, the main problem wasn't "what if my internet goes out". That was a concern, but just as concerning was "what if MS's servers have a hiccup" or "what if some bit in the packet it sends to let me play my games gets corrupted" and then you're locked out of everything, even if your internet connection is powered by lines of angels and wizards who all love you.