As internet service providers race to offer faster speeds, a new area of competition is underway. Initially, there was a race to provide the fastest possible internet service. Of late the speed race has outpaced the capabilities of customers’ PCs. This created a new cost consideration for internet service provider. The bandwidth cap is rapidly becoming the new battlegrounds over which these companies must compete.
There are cost limitations on the amount of bandwidth a consumer may use in a month. While customers may sometimes feel like there is a big business conspiracy that prevents them from getting their desired monthly bandwidth caps at a affordable cost, in reality there are realistic hardware costs involved in getting data to your computer at any reasonable speed. On the bright side, though, prices are typically determined by the amount a customer is willing to shell out for a product. Currently, the prices advertised by most internet service providers seem to be acceptable. However, one change in user behavior looms on the horizon. This threatens the present comfortable footing on which service providers design their business models. The typical consumer will eventually want to watch on-demand high definition TV content on their PCs. This will be the death knell of cable TV.
While cable companies certianly have an interest in preventing this by limiting monthly bandwidth, they will be unable to force this price control on the market indefinitely. Wireless internet is being made available all over major population centers at lightning fast speeds. This will make it impossible for the transition to online media consumption to be prevented.
This is wonderful news for the consumer. As companies begin to advertise that they will give you more bandwidth for your money, caps will increase rapidly. Companies that offer hardware to internet service providers will have to lower their prices in turn. This is just the way of the world.
With all the various methods of transferring data, there must be a huge focus on quality. For the consumer that likes to view high quality videos, this will mean a dramatic improvement. High quality content inevitably comes with higher bandwidth demands.
Bandwidth limits will also affecthave an impact on the quality of content produced. Most current media files need to be compressed to meet bandwidth limits. If it’s possible to send more data at faster speeds, these limitations will melt away. This could lead to new advancements in music recording software. Why not create massive music files if they can be transferred very quickly? The same logic would apply for video files and any other content that people may attempt to share online. If a content provider can transfer bigger files, then movie files should be available with increased quality. Over time this will permit for serious growth in the quality of audio and video files.
Online games will share in this boom too. As data transfer rates go through the roof, you can expect games to take advantage of the extra bandwidth. Online games may never tie up as much bandwidth as streaming video or music, but it’s a certainty that the demands of gamers will increase at the same pace.
There is a bright future for online content. While many whine about the current bandwidth caps, the future holds a race between providers to deliver the best value for the money. In the long run, this will be a win for the consumers of high quality online content.
Geek Choice understands that consumers enjoy high quality media. As a nationwide computer repair company, we work hard to help people enjoy the experience with their PCs. If you are having problems with your media center PC, call a customer service representative at 1-800-GEEK HELP (433-5435).
