Thank you, Nicko for understanding what I meant and expressing it better than I could.
Bad Analogy Guy: If you want to be literal, bandwidth is not a unit of measure, it is a dimension just like length or weight. The unit of measure for bandwidth would be bits/second. The term is, however, commonly used to talk about the capacity that is allocated to a user and thus consumed by this user. It is obviously used in this sense when the article talks about "bandwidth bill" because if it was not consumed, there would be no bill.
If I operate a fleet of tankers carrying millions of gallons of oil across oceans, one might expect that I have a huge fuel bill to power my tankers. But I can have a deal with oil producers that allows me to fuel my tankers without charge, in exchange for some additional service or discount that I give them. My fuel bill might be zero, my cost is not, it is the cost of the service I provide in exchange.
Google may not have to pay for the bandwidth it uses on some carriers because it lets them use some of their infrastructure in return. They paid and continue to pay for that infrastructure, so that's not free to them.
Actually, I think this may be a good thing. The music industry as we know it is on a path to self destruction. They are antagonizing their customers, scr**ing their artists, they even want to start a fight with Apple, who has helped them a lot. CD stores will close at an accelerated rate and everybody will have to look for alternatives. Ultimately, that will open the way for new distribution channels and new business models. I, for one, can't wait.
Today, everybody knows and expects that the computers sold today will be replaced by something better, faster, and cheaper very soon. If Apple had announced a G6 processor that will be available in a year, and be faster and cooler, but require some tweaking of the OS and the applications to take advantage of new features (like hyperthreading), today's G4s and G5s would be just as obsolete just as fast. But somehow, that would be OK, because that's what everybody expected?
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Re: Re: Re: Don't confuse dimensions and units (as jfgilbert)
Thank you, Nicko for understanding what I meant and expressing it better than I could.
Bad Analogy Guy: If you want to be literal, bandwidth is not a unit of measure, it is a dimension just like length or weight. The unit of measure for bandwidth would be bits/second. The term is, however, commonly used to talk about the capacity that is allocated to a user and thus consumed by this user. It is obviously used in this sense when the article talks about "bandwidth bill" because if it was not consumed, there would be no bill.
Don't confuse 'bill' and 'cost' (as jfgilbert)
If I operate a fleet of tankers carrying millions of gallons of oil across oceans, one might expect that I have a huge fuel bill to power my tankers. But I can have a deal with oil producers that allows me to fuel my tankers without charge, in exchange for some additional service or discount that I give them. My fuel bill might be zero, my cost is not, it is the cost of the service I provide in exchange.
Google may not have to pay for the bandwidth it uses on some carriers because it lets them use some of their infrastructure in return. They paid and continue to pay for that infrastructure, so that's not free to them.
Good! (as jfgilbert)
Actually, I think this may be a good thing. The music industry as we know it is on a path to self destruction. They are antagonizing their customers, scr**ing their artists, they even want to start a fight with Apple, who has helped them a lot. CD stores will close at an accelerated rate and everybody will have to look for alternatives.
Ultimately, that will open the way for new distribution channels and new business models.
I, for one, can't wait.
No comparison with Osbourne (as Jacques)
Today, everybody knows and expects that the computers sold today will be replaced by something better, faster, and cheaper very soon. If Apple had announced a G6 processor that will be available in a year, and be faster and cooler, but require some tweaking of the OS and the applications to take advantage of new features (like hyperthreading), today's G4s and G5s would be just as obsolete just as fast.
But somehow, that would be OK, because that's what everybody expected?