LinuxSA Mailing list archives

  From: Richard Russell <richardrussell@mail.com>
  To  : Simon Hackett <simon@internode.com.au>
        <linuxsa@linuxsa.org.au>
  Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 00:39:55 +1030

RE: AOL? or best ISP

> I supposed we could conceivably set up an excess charging policy
> which allows up to (say) two excess bills out of 12 months to be
> absorbed by us. Would that satisfy your requirements? Do you think
> other people would go for that?

I think some would, but I suspect it may be too complex to advertise... How
could you advertise it so that people can understand it -- most users have
trouble understanding the terms "bandwidth" or Megabytes" ... :)  Also, you
would have to be careful not to attract leech uses for who leech for 2
months then leave ...

How about offering a service where unsed Mb (or hours) flow on to the next
month. This way, a user could use 20hrs/ month of a 30 hour plan for six
months, and then use it for 90 hours in one month... You could even allow
them to go into the negative for say 10 hours or so, or a certain number of
Mb if that's your vector. This would, IMHO, give your customers the
flexibility that they need, give you the confidence that you won't lose, and
should be reasonably easy to understand. If needed, you may want to put an
upper limit on the number of hours that they can save up. This would also
stop people from doing the "I've got 10 hours to use in one day" thing, and
enable them to use their connection in a manner that is more consistent day
by day, and doesn't spike just before the end of the billing period
(assuming that when people have their bandwidth splurges, it's not everyone
at the same time... :)

hmmm... maybe I'll start an ISP...

rr

PS: re whoever said TANSTAAFOS (there ain't no such thing as a free OS),
this is absolutely true. The development of Linux is funded by many
different groups -- Linux-based companies, other companies doing Linux
developement, companies employing people who do Linux development,
Universties, individuals and so on. If they don't get something back for
their contributions, they will stop. Even an individual hacker needs to eat,
and will want good computer gear. For him or her to contribute effectively,
someone has to pay for their food and their computer (and, no doubt, their
bandwidth). These days though, I imagine that the vast majority of code is
coming from organisations that are conscious of the fact that their
developers are writing GPL'd code. This code must give them some sort of
payback somewhere, otherwise developing it ceases to be profitable, and they
stop developing. This is why, if you read /., you should click on the
advertisers once in a while, and occasionally buy something from that
clickthrough... This is how /. (and others) make their money, and if the
advertisers are not getting a profit from that advertising, they will stop
advertising, and /. will lose money, and close... Advertisers don't just
blindly pay to support a site... Actually, if any organisation supports
something you like, and you decide to buy something from that organisation,
you really should make it clear to them that one of the reasons you bought
from them or noticed them was their advertising on /., or their sponsorship
of the InstallFest, or the fact that you know that they pay for kernel
development, or whatever. In reality, the only way that they will continue
to support such efforts is if they know people are giving them money because
of their support. Likewise, for any business that does or somehow supports
GPL development, it could be worth their while making this known, so that we
know who to support...

hmm... that was a lot of thinking and typing... I think I'll go to bed
now...

PPS: if anyone wants to hire me as a business developement manager or
something, email me ;)

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