Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Giant Cable Companies Merging Is Bad for You; Only Savior Is an Uber for the Internet

How much do you like your cable and Internet service provider? The answer is likely to fall on the spectrum from “strongly dislike” to “it is the literal spawn of the devil.”
We all generally feel this way and yet we’re not really sure what to do about it. These guys are the Goliaths and we’re a bunch of Davids. And now the Goliaths want to team up.
Earlier this year, we almost had the Comcast and Time Warner Cable merger, which thankfully never made it off the ground. Now with Comcast, the Goliath-est of the cable/internet providers, on the sidelines, we have the making of a new super-Goliath, with Charter Communications attempting to purchase Time Warner Cable for approximately $55 billion and Bright House Networks for $10.4 billion.
This is bad news for you and will only make the cable company you have and hate now more hateable. And the sad thing is, David can actually beat Goliath — we’ve seen it happen. It’s why the solution is an Uber for the Internet.
On a recent Uber trip, the driver missed a couple turns, causing the trip to last a few minutes longer than it should have been. The driver was cool about it and apologetic — not a huge deal. I gave him 5 stars but made a note about the turn mishaps. The next day I was refunded a third of the trip with a quick email saying sorry. They didn’t have to do it, but that small gesture doesn’t phase Uber and makes me a more loyal customer.
Uber cares if you have a bad experience. Uber gives a shit — whereas your cable and Internet company DGAF. Have you ever had a service interruption and your Internet wasn’t working properly for a couple hours, or days? Ever try to call up your Internet service provider and get some sort of rebate? Please. Your Internet provider doesn’t ultimately care if you have shitty service. There’s no incentive for them to win you over. In most areas, between two-thirds and three-quarters of the country, there is no other Internet option. What are you going to do, stop using the Internet? ‘Ha ha you have no say in the matter, so write your congressman or something (by the way, we own them too).’

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