US vs. NZ Internet
The US is a great place to visit after being back in NZ for a while. I don't think Kiwi's realise just how much we are paying through the nose for goods. I am absolutely flabbergasted by the cost of things here and how cheap it is by comparison. However, for me the truly saddest aspect is the broadband situation in NZ. I am currently on a family member's internet connection here in the Bay Area. They have a 12MBps Cable connection which they pay $40 US a month with no cap on data usage. My home "Broadband" is $40 NZ for about 256Kbps but it actually gets about 125K and my data usage is capped at 1GB. I won't even mention my Telecom NZ business Internet because if I tell you my last month's bill I might cry. Needless to say, it ain't 12MBps and it ain't $40 and it ain't uncapped.
I recently noticed the NZ government had commissioned a white-paper on how to increase broadband usage in NZ. Also ComputerWorld NZ's editor also commented in their weekly email last week about giving "broadband service out to the wider market that won't pay $40 a month for fast internet access but will pay $99 a month for 57 channels of Australian soap opera repeats and cheap disease-of-the-week movies". Obviously the media, and the government in New Zealand like to think the general population is pretty much retarded. But perhaps they are just sick of the Telecom monopoly and the government who don't seem to care either way (I don't believe in conspiracy theories but....). Enough Kiwi's travel to know when they are getting ripped. Either way it is nice to be in a country where there is some competition for my dollar and as a consumer I get some real choice.
