This week’s link roundup also includes simple rules of thumb for buying everything from coffee to a home, and insights as to why personal finance can be as tricky—and messy—as potty training.
Comcast
Big Cable Isn’t Scared of Netflix, or That People Are Too Poor to Pay Monthly Bills
At an industry event this week, cable executives laughed off the idea of large-scale “cord cutting,” or that Netflix and Internet video could one day replace their businesses. They also justified high prices charged for cable …
Surprise, Surprise: Basic Cable Costs More in Towns without FCC Regulation
Guess what happens when regulators don’t restrict cable rates, and when there’s not much legitimate competition in the marketplace? Cable companies jack up the rates. Whodathunkit?
180 Money Tips, Holiday Gift Edition
Including links to more than 80 unusual and unusually thrifty gift ideas, along with money lessons from “The Simpsons” and money lessons for irresponsible 20-somethings, smart financial moves to make for the holidays and dumb financial moves that’ll make you fat.
All the Rage: Customer Service Rage
At some point or another, haven’t you ever felt like taking a hammer and bashing the computer of a customer service representative?
Pay TV and At-Home Movies, by the Numbers
Here’s a big roundup of statistics revealing just how much we love watching TV and movies at home, how much couch potatoes are willing to pay for such services, and also where it looks like things are heading from here.
The Reward for Bad Customer Service
In this case, the “reward” is one you must demand in exchange for putting up with awful customer service.
Let Someone Else Figure Out Which Pay-TV Option Is Right for You
BillShrink made its name by offering services that help consumers to choose cell-phone plans (there are something like 10 million possibilities, absurdly enough) and decipher credit card legislation. Now, the website introduces a free search engine that’ll help you pick the most cost-effective pay-TV package.
Is the Internet an Information Service or a Telecom Service?
And why should you care either way?
TV A La Carte: One Man’s Dream
Actually, the idea that you could pay for only the TV channels you actually watch, not a bundle of channels determined by cable executives behind closed doors, is a dream for a lot of consumers. But this one guy especially.
With Internet Access, “Unlimited Usage” and “Speeds Up to” Are Meaningless
A Comcast brochure offered high-speed Internet service with these words: “Unlimited usage for a flat monthly fee.” But as one consumer recently found out, the service is unlimited only so long as limits his usage to 250 GB per month. So it’s not “unlimited” at all.
Time to Pull the Plug on Paid Cable TV?
There’s a lot of grumbling among consumers and media types that cable TV is not only overpriced, but that it should be free—and what with the growing number of free alternatives on the web, it might have no choice but to be free.