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Question of the Day: Which is the most hair-raising South African mountain pass you've driven?
What can you do with a ridiculously tiny 40MB data bundle?
buffalobill
Senior Member
Frankly, I regard this as irresponsible and possibly litigious marketing. At the least, it’s an absolute insult and possibly dangerous.
I’ll tell you why. Firstly, it’s supposed to be broadband. In my book, broadband means always on, high speed, high capacity and cheap. 40 Mb is certainly not broadband by that definition.
Always on and 40 Mb is dangerous in the least. To stay within this limit the subscriber will not be able to apply the latest Microsoft updates and we know there are many security flaws that need regular patching. At the same time he/she will not be able to update antivirus or firewall programs.
So what we have is a computer that’s always on, with fatally flawed security that is in effect wide open to hackers and all thanks to this so-called broadband offering. After all, as we are told, this is enough for some casual browsing and e-mails.
Now imagine Mr Newbie subscriber starts feeling a bit empowered. Perhaps he wants to feel the power and try some of this online shopping and banking that he’s heard about. Nothing big – perhaps some flowers for his daughter’s 40th and just a quick look at his bank balance. Perhaps how much his eBucks are worth and whether he can get those plane tickets to see his grandchildren in London.
Oops. Without knowing it, the Russians or some Eastern Europeans have installed a key logger on his system and before he knows it, goodbye bank balance and eBucks, and hello credit card bills.
Is it his fault or does his ISP bear some responsibility for not warning him of the very serious potential risks associated with his 40Mb “broadband”? I would say an onus of responsibility rests with the ISP for reckless marketing. They're pitching at at the clueless noob level, therefore they have an educational responsibility that goes with it.
Banks are expected to educate customers about card and ATM fraud, why should an ISP be different?
It’s also reprehensible for the Internet community at large. Unsecured computers are targets for viruses, zombies, spambots and all the other nasties on the Net. This affects us all.
Did the ISP make an effort to educate and inform the customer about the risk? Did the ISP tell the customer to only switch on when absolutely needed and only then for the shortest period of time? Because that’s the only other way Mr Newbie could have some measure of protection. But that’s not broadband, is it?
Anyway, the potential exists for some expensive litigation.
Now, if I was a competitor and I didn’t want to fall into this me-too trap, I’d seriously consider going the other way. “We don’t offer 40 Mb packages because that would be hazardous to your health. What we do offer is the most competitive per Gb pricing.” That sort of thing. Do it as a public health warning, even. It bears thinking about.
I’ll tell you why. Firstly, it’s supposed to be broadband. In my book, broadband means always on, high speed, high capacity and cheap. 40 Mb is certainly not broadband by that definition.
Always on and 40 Mb is dangerous in the least. To stay within this limit the subscriber will not be able to apply the latest Microsoft updates and we know there are many security flaws that need regular patching. At the same time he/she will not be able to update antivirus or firewall programs.
So what we have is a computer that’s always on, with fatally flawed security that is in effect wide open to hackers and all thanks to this so-called broadband offering. After all, as we are told, this is enough for some casual browsing and e-mails.
Now imagine Mr Newbie subscriber starts feeling a bit empowered. Perhaps he wants to feel the power and try some of this online shopping and banking that he’s heard about. Nothing big – perhaps some flowers for his daughter’s 40th and just a quick look at his bank balance. Perhaps how much his eBucks are worth and whether he can get those plane tickets to see his grandchildren in London.
Oops. Without knowing it, the Russians or some Eastern Europeans have installed a key logger on his system and before he knows it, goodbye bank balance and eBucks, and hello credit card bills.
Is it his fault or does his ISP bear some responsibility for not warning him of the very serious potential risks associated with his 40Mb “broadband”? I would say an onus of responsibility rests with the ISP for reckless marketing. They're pitching at at the clueless noob level, therefore they have an educational responsibility that goes with it.
Banks are expected to educate customers about card and ATM fraud, why should an ISP be different?
It’s also reprehensible for the Internet community at large. Unsecured computers are targets for viruses, zombies, spambots and all the other nasties on the Net. This affects us all.
Did the ISP make an effort to educate and inform the customer about the risk? Did the ISP tell the customer to only switch on when absolutely needed and only then for the shortest period of time? Because that’s the only other way Mr Newbie could have some measure of protection. But that’s not broadband, is it?
Anyway, the potential exists for some expensive litigation.
Now, if I was a competitor and I didn’t want to fall into this me-too trap, I’d seriously consider going the other way. “We don’t offer 40 Mb packages because that would be hazardous to your health. What we do offer is the most competitive per Gb pricing.” That sort of thing. Do it as a public health warning, even. It bears thinking about.
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Billboards does not have links, they stand next too highways
so the only place they advertise this is next to highways? weird.
I was using the 40MB package for a while, and simply adding a GB on to last me two months... This worked out at 50c per MB.
But many older people only need to send the odd email... I have one client who has ADSL and 1GB TelkomDon'tBroadband, and she never uses more than 25MB.
She types letters which she sends to her kids in Oz, and they do the same... attach a few photos of her grandkids for her and that's all she does... she has no desire to use a browser or anything else...
But many older people only need to send the odd email... I have one client who has ADSL and 1GB TelkomDon'tBroadband, and she never uses more than 25MB.
She types letters which she sends to her kids in Oz, and they do the same... attach a few photos of her grandkids for her and that's all she does... she has no desire to use a browser or anything else...
boerseun
Senior Member
Holy ****, then I must be a serious internet user! I use close on 11 G per month!
Dude... I develop websites and t!h$ for a living... I don't even touch on 1GB unless I have stuff to download...
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Chevron
Serial breaker of phones
Last month I didn't really DL anything at all and I used 7gigs.
Check your machine out dude... you may have malware or something running... go to www.geekstogo.com for more...
Haha! The latest Windows Vista patch is 56megs 
The Register have a wibble about it here : http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/11/vista_update/
The Register have a wibble about it here : http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/11/vista_update/
The_Unbeliever
Honorary Master
Haha! The latest Windows Vista patch is 56megs
The Register have a wibble about it here : http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/11/vista_update/
And, according to El Reg, it's a dictionary update.
So glad I don't use Vista
I don't update opensuse either, just wait for the newer version to be released, then download that
The_Unbeliever
Honorary Master
LethalChicken
Expert Member
It's like them selling you a car where they pay for your petrol for the year, but you only get 40ml of petrol a month. I mean if you need to drive more then that then you are obviously abusing the south african roads.
Actually, it should take you about 1.7 days... not counting stopping for breaks/work/sleep
We call ourselves a restaurant, we serve full meals for only R50:
2 mushrooms and a free toothpick. what a joke
yeah - 40 megs worth of super fast surfing can seriously tire you out, breaks will be needed.
don't forget to disconnect your modem if you go to sleep / take a 30-minute nap though...
And, according to El Reg, it's a dictionary update.
So glad I don't use Vista
I don't update opensuse either, just wait for the newer version to be released, then download that
Yes, but the kind of person who buys a 40Mb iBurst package is just the kind of noob who'll get Vista (and leave the default auto-download and install options as is)
Yes, but the kind of person who buys a 40Mb iBurst package is just the kind of noob who'll get Vista (and leave the default auto-download and install options as is)
And you'll find that he got sold the iburst by the same person who sold him vista, who is earning comm on both, and if a friend disables auto update, the sales guy will change it back when the PC comes in for a check up...