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G4EBT > TECH 19.08.06 00:33l 105 Lines 4259 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 002577G4EBT
Read: DL7VBE DL1LCA GUEST DL1RX OE7FMI
Subj: Re: Internet/packet ZR6DHC
Path: DB0FHN<DB0FOR<DB0SIF<DB0EA<DB0RES<TU5EX<7M3TJZ<DK0WUE<GB7FCR
Sent: 060818/2136Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:55572 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:002577G4
From: G4EBT@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : TECH@WW
Dawie, ZR6DHC wrote:-
> Then on the internet I can say this.
>We here in South Africa still do not have a truly affordable broadband,
or >even always on, internet. We are mostly stuck with dial up which at
the >very best still is as slow as a frozen snail on sandpaper. This along
with >Google and Yahoo feeding you with hundreds of non relevant pages and
dead >links then it is easy to understand why we turn to others for help
rather >than sitting here for hours spending hard earned cash.
A very good point.
I didn't realise that SA was so lagging behind in that respect. It sounds
like the UK was maybe five or so years ago. I think most UK internet users
are now on broadband.
I used to use dialup - which as you say, is painfully slow and can be
expensive if you pay by the minute. I'd quite forgotten that some websites
take an eternity to get up and running, which can be really frustrating if
you find it's not what you were looking for anyway.
According to a recent survey, the average British internet user now spends
the equivalent of more than 50 days a year online. (A day being 24 hours -
not 9 to 5!). That backs up claims the net is replacing TV as the public's
medium of choice.
Personally, I only watch TV for a few minutes early morning and late at
night on the bedroom TV to catch up with the news, and I could just as
easily do that online.
The UK TV programmes are now so dire due to there being so many channels
and so few viewers per channel. Just a lot of downmarket low budget tat
and repeats from a bygone age, mostly.
We could happily get by without TV, but I'd be lost without broadband.
Like millions of others in the UK, I check out prices and make all my
major purchases online - airline flights, car hire, hotels both here and
abroad, domestic appliances, digital cameras etc, and use online banking
facilities.
The study shows that net usage has risen dramatically over the past few
years, with surfers now spending an average of 23 hours a week online.
Web surfing is the main activity, taking up eight hours.
Responses from more than 15,000 people to internet polling company YouGov
found users spend an average of three hours and 26 minutes on email.
Shopping and online banking register less than two hours a week but the
survey found almost two and a half hours a week are spent watching online
TV or video. One hour and 52 minutes go on telephone calls over the net.
"Games, TV and telephone are all driving broadband - people are seeing it
as more of an access to other media, rather than just for sending email
and looking at pictures of the kids," said Andrew Ferguson of broadband
consumer website ADSLguide.org.uk. "Listening to the radio online is
normal now, and watching television is getting more like that."
The news is concerning broadcasters and telecoms companies who are
struggling to cope with the rapid shift away from traditional delivery.
The media regulator, Ofcom, has found that British people spend on average
19 hours a week watching television, but figures released this year by web
portal Google suggested internet use was outstripping TV viewing.
The YouGov survey figures have confirmed that trend, a shift accelerated
by recent developments in the speed of connections. Broadband has sped up
rapidly over the past year as the market for internet providers becomes
more competitive and British Telecom is being forced to give access to
telephone exchanges.
Some companies are able to deliver internet connections almost 500 times
faster than traditional dial-up internet, and Britain now has almost 12
million broadband users. The latest figures show that new broadband lines
are being installed at the rate of 50,000 a week.
So, next time you need help for internet sources via packet Dawie, I'll
remember to count my good fortune!
Quote of the day:
Good Fortune"
"One should go invited to a friend in good fortune,
and uninvited in misfortune".
(Swedish Proverb)
73 - David, G4EBT @ GB7FCR
British Vintage Wireless Society Member
G-QRP Club Member, No: 1339
QTH: Cottingham, East Yorkshire.
Message timed: 22:22 on 2006-Aug-18
Message sent using WinPack-Telnet V6.70
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