dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
 ·Comcast
| reply to Jumbo Lump
Re: The Comcast Newsgroups Service Discontinued
Look pal, it doesn't matter when you signed up, the service was never added to the price of our connections.
Neither was McAfee, Rhapsody, or Fileplanet.
You are losing out on something that cost *US* nothing!
No only was it free(whether you want to see it that way or not, it was), it sucked!
I'm happy for you calling in and getting promo pricing - the fact still remains that this service was free.
$42.95 - free = $42.95.
I'm going to be a man about this and disregard a freebie going away.
No calling and crying for me... I'm too old for that.
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera |
|
Jumbo Lump
join:2003-01-19
Linden, VA
2 edits | said by dadkins  :I'm going to be a man about this and disregard a freebie going away. No calling and crying for me... I'm too old for that. Good for you, buddy. Never let 'em see you sweat!  Especially over freebies or spilled milk! 
Your stance on the subject has never been one who would call and complain. I never meant to imply that you should call in for compensation.  |
|
dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA | Just out of curiosity...
Do you use the McAfee that Comcast provides?
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera |
|
beerbum
Premium
join:2000-05-06
Reading, PA
clubs:
| reply to dadkins
said by dadkins :So, because 100k people(conservative guesstimate) of HSI customers happen to use the 2GB newsgroup service, that means Comcast should just keep throwing $7.99 for each of the other 14.3million customers each month? Comcast isn't paying for the service based on total number of potential users.. they buy (or were buying) block user licenses..For example if they had 75,000 users signed up through Giganews, then Comcast was paying for 75,000 or 100,000 users, not 15 million users..
I bet their monthly cost for Giganews access was pocket change.. I guess they needed to be making a 49.7% profit off HSI instead of the 49.3% profit..
Some say it was because of the threats by the NY Attorney General about going after ISP's who allow access to child porn on usenet. If that is so then they took the easy way out, what are they going to do when he switches from usenet to e-mail and www? Censor all e-mail and www traffic? |
|
dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
2 edits | Perhaps. Highly unlikely though.
This is what is so comical - Comcast didn't charge us for the service and yet people are here acting like they lost a arm or a leg and expect a reduction on their bill.
Not gonna happen!
If they(Comcast) want to trash any/all of the freebies they offer and become a Dumb Pipe... Rock N Roll!
Everything they offer *US* for free can be attained elsewhere, in one form or another, for that same price!
There is no logical reason for all of this from y'all, aside from maybe the pleasure(?) of complaining. 
It accomplishes nothing!
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera |
|
funchords
Hello
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Washington, DC
 ·Verizon Online DSL
 ·Skype
| Dadkins,
Comcast didn't charge us for the service and yet people are here acting like they lost a arm or a leg and expect a reduction on their bill.
Not gonna happen! Who says?
Then they should call and try to get one. So far, I haven't heard anyone say that they called and didn't get some kind of deal that made it worthwhile to stay on with Comcast.
As for not charging us for the service, they do charge us for the service. It's a package deal. Nothing -- nothing is free. For as few people that use newsgroups, the cost divided across the entire userbase was probably negligible. But for those few, the loss is significant to them. For others who are protesting, it's more the principle of the thing for them. The balance (including you and me) really don't care.
But it isn't free.
--
Robb Topolski -= funchords.com =- Hillsboro, Oregon
More features, more fun, Join BroadbandReports.com, it's free...
|
|
dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
1 edit | Sorry Robb... but we are paying for the connection.
For a long time there, that's all it was.
Then, out of the blue, new things were offered at *no charge*.
Last time I checked, *no charge* means free.
Yeah, Comcast is using part of the monthly payments we send in each month - what was happening for all those months/years that there wasn't "freebies"?
Where was all that money going?
When I see more and more items appear for me to have/use from Comcast, and my monthly bill does not increase - it is equates to either we were getting burned for all that time and Comcast is trying to make amends... or, they are actually digging into their operating costs (and/or profits) and making things available to *US*.
Which do you choose to believe?
Were we getting burned all that time?
Or, are they taking a hit to profit margin and offering to us for no additional cost?
Either way, it didn't cost any more when they added it, it will not mean lower monthly bills when it's gone.
*Provided* NG be going bye bye... period. Right?
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera |
|
funchords
Hello
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Washington, DC
·Verizon Online DSL
·Skype
| said by dadkins :For a long time there, that's all it was. When and where?
These ISPs have always packaged things. I agree that connectivity is the common theme (and it's all I care about).
said by dadkins :Or, are they taking a hit to profit margin and offering to us for no additional cost? Profit margin, roughly, is subscription revenue (formerly our money) and operating expense (costs to provide the services). So, now Comcast gets the same money and provides less services. And, when something later is added, Comcast gets the same money and provides more services. But it's always a package and its value is different to different people.
Take Comcast mail, ("please", ...rimshot...). Is that a freebie, throw-away item? To me it is of no effective loss, but I know that my subscription fees underwrite some of it. To some consumers that spend an hour or two each day in it, that would be a huge loss. In no respect is it free.
--
Robb Topolski -= funchords.com =- Hillsboro, Oregon
More features, more fun, Join BroadbandReports.com, it's free...
|
|
dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
3 edits | When? 2003.
If there was newsgroups, they had them hid rather well(no forums and the Help page was well, not much help).
Do you remember when Comcast added McAfee? At today's going rates, that's $120.00.
Do you remember when they added Rhapsody radio? That's $60.00 yearly
Game Invasion - $120.00 yearly
That picture software was too buggy to even mention - but it was said to have a pricetag on it as well.
When I signed on, there was... not alot!
I had the connection.
More and more things were added to this "package" as you call it, but my monthly bill never went up.
So I guess we will have to assume Comcast got them for free and just passed them along because they were feeling generous?
I doubt that's it.
At some point, and at some cost to them, Comcast added these things to this "package" - at no additional cost to us.
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera |
|
funchords
Hello
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Washington, DC
·Verizon Online DSL
·Skype
| said by dadkins :At some point, and at some cost to them, Comcast added these things to this "package" - at no additional cost to us. I covered this once before. @Home had newsgroups, and Comcast@Home had newsgroups. AT&T Broadband had newsgroups and continued to have newsgroups. Sometime after the transition, Comcast farmed out its servers to Whoevernews. Surely, this isn't the point. Even if your version of the history was true (that it was at one point added), it makes no difference. Things will rotate in and out of the package.
This reminds me of our utility argument. Like this one, either result of that made no difference.
Customers that feel the loss ought to call in and gripe. The rest of us ought to just get on with life.
--
Robb Topolski -= funchords.com =- Hillsboro, Oregon
More features, more fun, Join BroadbandReports.com, it's free...
|
|
dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
| Agreed!
But for people to come here and posture about expecting a discount for something that was never a "Cost Add-On"... is well, silly!
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera |
|
ophelus
join:2004-01-11
Denver, CO
| reply to comcastcares
MacAfee isn't a value added service.. it's a joke.. surprised someone try and list it that way.. it was more likely there idea to do it.. to lower their call center calls about adware/malware and it probably didn't work at all.. because it's crap..
Too bad there newsgroup is going.. I liked to use it on occasion.. I keep wanting to stay with powerusenet (cheaper giganews) as my provider but keep running back to giganews for that high retention rates.. ahh well.. |
|
funchords
Hello
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Washington, DC
·Verizon Online DSL
·Skype
| said by ophelus :MacAfee isn't a value added service. No, it's a "utility."
ba-dum-pomp! |
|
joetaxpayer
I'M Here Till Thursday
join:2001-09-07
Sudbury, MA
·Comcast
·Comcast Formerly ..
| reply to dadkins
said by dadkins :Agreed! But for people to come here and posture about expecting a discount for something that was never a "Cost Add-On"... is well, silly! I've read your posts on this topic, and can agree with this last post. But - Usenet was part of the internet before a Graphical User Interface was available and before the WWW 'was' the internet. To me, usenet was not a 'free addon' it was the first way I accessed the internet. I bet you are under 30, right? It just gives you a different perspective on what usenet is (or for you, 'was') I am not 'ranting' I don't expect a reduced rate, or anything like that, but try to understand that some people view usenet a bit differently than you.
Comcast had to make a business decision, to eliminate a feature that was used by a small group of their users. Truth is, Google provides pretty decent access to the groups I frequent, so I'll not have too much of an issue. I read about 4 groups, all text only.
(you mention Rhapsody - I can understand that if they pull the free access, some people will be upset. 25 free songs per month. For those on a tight budget with kids who use this every month, they expect it now. Me, I don't care, but I can understand it.)
If I've not been clear - you are right - just might want to understand how others might feel this is a 'take away'.
Joe |
|
dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
1 edit | No, I'm 46... how old are you?
I used BBs back before "The Internet". What's your point?
At the time of me getting Comcast in 2003, there was no mention of provided newsgroup access.
I am aware that I could have went to some news service and paid, NO MENTION of it being offered by Comcast.
There was no mention of anything besides email - and that was spotty.
No where was it displayed, and nowhere was there an address for any news service from Comcast.
So, when it was finally shown, it was 1GB. That means to me that it was added at that time.
They soon bumped it to a whopping 2GB!
If you got Comcast 1-2 years ago - yeah! Newsgroup access was clearly accessible.
Thing is, it was not from Comcast, it was Giganews.
Not on Comcast's own servers - outsourced! Retail(?).
So, now Comcast is dropping the *provided* NG service(that didn't cost us anything over and beyond the service price) - No cost then, no reduction now, right? Right!
Comcast will not be blocking newsgroup, they just aren't paying for it and giving it to us.
Oh well!
Here:
»forums.comcast.net/comcastsuppor···id=10014
"The Comcast Newsgroups service, powered by Giganews has been discontinued effective 9/17/08. Existing customers will continue to be able to access the service until 10/25/08
This decision is in alignment with other ISP’s that have recently terminated their Newsgroups service due to the declining popularity of Newsgroups as customers chose other methods, such as RSS feeds and web browsing to access information.
While the majority of Newsgroups are safe, newsgroups have been found to be a source of child pornography on the internet. This is just one of the child protection measures Comcast has taken to help reduce access to child pornography."
So...
It didn't cost us anything to begin with. Cool!
It is now going away. Oh well.
Since it didn't cost us anything to begin with, there will be no refunds and no reduction reflected on our bills.
The free well is dry - move on. 
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera |
|
joetaxpayer
I'M Here Till Thursday
join:2001-09-07
Sudbury, MA
·Comcast
·Comcast Formerly ..
| said by dadkins :No, I'm 46... how old are you? I used BBs back before "The Internet". What's your point? The free well is dry - move on. Ok. I am 45. My only point is that I never viewed NG access as an extra perk, it was part of the internet. Admittedly, I never paid attention to the fact that it was accessed by Comcast through a third party. I'd ask you, is FTP a free ride as well? Maybe that's a tangent to this conversation. I'll access through Google, not cry in my beer.
Joe |
|
dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
| FTP? Specify.
As a program that runs on our machines - Sure:
»filezilla-project.org/
Server or client. Grab both! I did!
Internet access is just that - access to the internet.
Anything else is content.
You never viewed NG access as an extra perk... in actuality - it is.
Perspectives I suppose, but it is what it is.
Now it doesn't matter - it's a memory.
No more free NG provided by Comcast.
Plenty of freebies out there or people can pay for service.
Nothing to get worked up over. It's gone.
Next...
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera |
|
funchords
Hello
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Washington, DC
·Verizon Online DSL
·Skype
| reply to joetaxpayer
said by joetaxpayer :said by dadkins :No, I'm 46... how old are you? I used BBs back before "The Internet". What's your point? The free well is dry - move on. Admittedly, I never paid attention to the fact that it was accessed by Comcast through a third party. I'd ask you, is FTP a free ride as well? Joe -- this will be a sea-change of thinking for you -- but the Internet isn't the content, nor is it the servers. The Internet is the conveyance.
Giganews's news servers and Comcast's mail servers or www.comcast.net and www.yahoo.com -- these aren't "on the Internet" as some see it, or even "in the Internet" as others see it. They're simply attached to the Internet or reachable through it. The Internet itself is the routing-and-forwarding network. And when you subscribe for Internet service, you're generally asking to attach one of your computers or devices to the Internet.
FTP and NNTP (the protocol used in newsgroups), that you mentioned, are the method by which your system attached to the Internet converses with another system attached to the Internet. These aren't meant to be turned on or turned off by your ISP -- your ISP is generally in the customer-connecting and packet-shipping business, and as long as you're not interfering with others and staying within the bounds of your access class, it shouldn't care what legal things you do on it.
What Comcast was eventually doing was to provide "newsgroups" via a small subscription to Giganews to those users who wanted it. This means we all -could- get it, but Comcast only had to pay for those who actually did get it. Comcast is now ending that arrangement. Prior to that, it did run its own servers, (perhaps inherited some of these servers from @Home and @ATTBI). Neither was actually "the Internet" or even a part of it, they were simply servers attached to and accessible via the Internet.
We don't speak of the Internet correctly. "We watch movies on the Internet," for example. No, we don't. Maybe "we watch movies streamed across the Internet" or "We download movies through the Internet and watch them on our set-top box."
The highway is the asphalt, and perhaps also the shoulders, road signs, and traffic controls, but it's not the stores, theaters, and homes that are attached to it. When you see a movie, you don't say "We watched a movie on the highway." You rode on the highway to the theater. (We won't even talk about "hitting the road.") 
--
Robb Topolski -= funchords.com =- Hillsboro, Oregon
More features, more fun, Join BroadbandReports.com, it's free...
|
|
joetaxpayer
I'M Here Till Thursday
join:2001-09-07
Sudbury, MA
·Comcast
·Comcast Formerly ..
| I give. Uncle. I just understand how others can make the same assumptions I did, and think this (usenet) access was a normal part of internet access. I am now set straight, I've gotten over it, moved on, etc. I've changed my paradigm, in fact. And I'm on track to use 9GB of transfer this month, so I doubt I'll be posting about caps.
I do, however, want CNBC in HD, but that's another story, another subgroup here.
Joe |
|
funchords
Hello
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Washington, DC | No need to cry uncle. It's not a contest.
I learn something new here every single day. |
|
