9/8     If free market encourages competition, which encourages Comcast,
        Adelphia, Time Warner, etc to compete with each other, how come
        my cable bill has been going up the roof for the past 10 years?
        \_ Along similar lines, how is it that I can have any long
           distance company I want, but only the Bells can install my
           phone line?
        \_ Have you noticed how many more channels you get now?
           \_ Yes but 1/3 of them are Spanish which I don't watch, and the
              rest are purely trash. The exception would be the History
              Channel and HGTV. I guess bundling things people don't want
              and charging a bundle is the business model of the 21st
              century. Bill Gates was right afterall!
           \_ Uh, no.  7 years ago I was paying $32/mo.  I think HGTV is
              just about the only new channel on my service in that itme,
              and the price has nearly doubled.  Fuck off.
        \_ in case you haven't noticed, cable companies DONT compete with
           each other, they all have local monopolies. The only "competition"
           they have is with the satellite operators.  The telco's are now also
           trying to get into this racket.
        \_ Who said that the competition in this particular industry should
           bring the prices down?
           \_ The invisible hand says you need a spanking.