Amazon UnBox [And Unrelated Commentary]

Amazon is running with a relatively new service UnBox. Has all the usual services we have come to expect from Amazon for over the wire video downloads and rentals. 1-click buys, customer reviews, etc. Heck they even have Episode 1 of the Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles up for free.

What’s the down side? Well my first gripe (and its personal) is it requires a amazon only player. Now that’s ok, but there is not a Linux/Unix variant of the player available. They are targeting Windoze users. The other of course is with Time Warner testing ‘pay by the byte’, depending on the rates provisioning online services like UnBox might die before they get off the ground.

Funny, wireless voice services are slowly reaching the point that it would be cheaper on the backend to go flat rate. Give it 2 years and one of the majors will do so. Countries like South Korea, Germany and France are getting fiercely competitive. Yet here we sit in the US with talk from one of the carriers about raising rates under a tiered pricing scheme.

CongressCritters talk a good game about a broadband future. But its countries like Australia, France and the UK that are DOING it. I have a excellent suggestion for Congress. Throw away the latest CAFE standards. Fact get rid of all of them. Instead change the tax law for the following inducement:

1) Institute the equivalent of the Railroad Act of the 1840’s for Telecom. For every residence that is wired for 1Gb flat rated fiber they get = full deduction of the expense of deploy + $100 housing unit + 12% return for 5 years.

2) Institute a deduction for both the employer and the employee to have home offices. Sliding scale, the more employees that are telecommuters daily the higher the % deduction for both parties.

Imagine what would happen to fuel prices if half, nay even a quarter of the daily commuters went from behind the wheel to behind the keyboard? Hugo Chavez would have a cow. America we talk a good game but we ain’t doin’ it you understand? Entrenched interests and political gamesmanship have trumped innovation and common sense.

Now where was I?