Google Connecting Public Housing With Free Gigabit Internet

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This free gigabit internet for low income families is great and all but when is Google Fiber coming to my area!?!? Oh come on, don't look at me like that. You know you are thinking the same thing. ;)

That’s why last year, we partnered with ConnectHome, an initiative by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the White House to accelerate Internet adoption by families with school-age children in public housing. Today, alongside HUD Secretary Julian Castro and local partners, we’re proud to take another step in that commitment by announcing that we’ll be bringing gigabit Internet service to residents in all public housing properties that we connect with Google Fiber. Families in these properties will be able to access some of the fastest speeds, at no cost to the housing authority or to residents.
 
for real though. I'd actually PAY for that. Instead I get to PAY for them to get it (assuming some sort of stimulus money is exchanging hands here)?
 
^ Seriously.

Free internet shouldn't be faster than paid. Where's the incentive to "better yourself" or "better your situation" if things given for free are better than what the rest of us actually pay for?

Yes, I'm a bitter and frustrated Comcast cable internet customer that just received a $3/mo increase, just because they can.
 
In my town Suddenlink just started offering Gigabit service. Problem is the data cap is only 550GB, on top of being pretty expensive ($130).
 
This seems like a great idea. At least Google is actually installing the service in these neighborhoods. The Federal government has paid huge yearly subsidies to the AT&T's and others for America to have broadband internet for decades. Nothing has ever been done before. My area for example has had subsidized broadband installed and the phone lines are too bad for dial up. Yet on the government maps Centurylink says that they took the subsidy and we have Fiber. Pure lies and deceit.

Kudos to Google for doing this. :cool: I wish they would buyout some of these other jokers and install more services.
 
So, poor people who can't afford a decent house are going to get free Internet at speeds faster than I could ever afford? This is like standing behind people in the grocery store, and seeing them buying a shopping cart full of prime rib, ribeye steak, filet mignon, soda pop, etc., and paying for it all with food stamps. Yes, I have experienced this several times. Work hard, earn a living, get jack. Be a slacker, government gives you everything nice for free.
 
Azrak said:
^ Seriously.

Free internet shouldn't be faster than paid. Where's the incentive to "better yourself" or "better your situation" if things given for free are better than what the rest of us actually pay for?

Yes, I'm a bitter and frustrated Comcast cable internet customer that just received a $3/mo increase, just because they can.
Click to expand...

You know the American right is in absolute moral collapse when an act of charity is considered inappropriate conduct.
 
Work hard and make sure you pay your taxes, all those people who don't depend on you.:rolleyes:

I think it's awesome that nearly half my salary goes to the government, and now people who never worked a day in their lives are going to get stuff that isn't even available to me.

Awesome.
 
Hi All

Do you guys feel the same way about the oil companies that also get subsidies that YOU also pay for
 
Twisted Kidney said:
You know the American right is in absolute moral collapse when an act of charity is considered inappropriate conduct.
Click to expand...

What is the greatest lie every created? What is the most vicious obscenity ever perpetrated on mankind? Slavery? The Holocaust? Dictatorship? No. It's the tool with which all that wickedness is built: altruism. Whenever anyone wants others to do their work, they call upon their altruism. Never mind your own needs, they say, think of the needs of... of whoever. The state. The poor. Of the army, of the king, of God! The list goes on and on. How many catastrophes were launched with the words "think of yourself"? It's the "king and country" crowd who light the torch of destruction. It is this great inversion, this ancient lie, which has chained humanity to an endless cycle of guilt and failure. - Andrew Ryan (Bioshock) :cool:
 
jtm55 said:
Hi All

Do you guys feel the same way about the oil companies that also get subsidies that YOU also pay for
Click to expand...

Typical liberal lie.
Those oil company are generally tax breaks that are no different than tax breaks other similar companies get.
These "subsidies" also pale in comparison to subsidies for solar panels, electric cars and other so called green products.

Do you know the government makes more in taxes off oil than the oil companies make in profit?
 
Twisted Kidney said:
You know the American right is in absolute moral collapse when an act of charity is considered inappropriate conduct.
Click to expand...

Except numerous studies have shown that the American right gives a much larger share of it's income to charity than the American left.
 
American right giving to charity is giving to charities of exclucivity. I wouldn't call that being generous personally. But to each their own.

Regardless bitching because a poor person that lives in another city from you gets access to a shared gigabit connection when you have to pay for a sub gigabit connection. REALLY?! Sorry get over yourself. That is beyond idiotic.

What I will complain about is the piss poor internet service available to those that live in rural parts of our country. Just outside of big city borders and the only internet is 3g modems or satellite.
 
nutzo said:
Do you know the government makes more in taxes off oil than the oil companies make in profit?
Click to expand...

And oil companies benefit from that spending as much as anyone because without roads and infrastructure it's kind of hard to imagine what point there'd be in vehicles, the overwhelming majority being powered by fossil fuels today.
 
nutzo said:
Typical liberal lie.
Those oil company are generally tax breaks that are no different than tax breaks other similar companies get.
These "subsidies" also pale in comparison to subsidies for solar panels, electric cars and other so called green products.

Do you know the government makes more in taxes off oil than the oil companies make in profit?
Click to expand...

Hi All

Another Right Wing Lie
 
heatlesssun said:
And oil companies benefit from that spending as much as anyone because without roads and infrastructure it's kind of hard to imagine what point there'd be in vehicles, the overwhelming majority being powered by fossil fuels today.
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It's probably also worth noting that oil companies can't benefit from many of the tax loopholes that other companies are able to use ... an electronics company can establish a corporate entity in Mauritius (or another low tax area) ... They can sell goods made in China to the low tax entity at nearly cost (minimizing their tax burden in China) ... the low tax entity then sells to the corporation in the USA (or other country) at maximum cost (putting most of their profits in the low tax region) ... the end company then sells to the end user at minimal cost markup (keeping their tax burden low in the selling country)

Since raw oil is reasonably low priced right now and it is virtually impossible to transport the higher revenue refined products the oil companies are stuck with their profits in the country they sell into ... with increasing safety and environmental concerns they also receive increasing cost demands ... whether subsidies or tax breaks it is helpful to protect an industry that is strategic to any country needing to constantly consume fossil fuels
 
Azrak said:
Free internet shouldn't be faster than paid. Where's the incentive to "better yourself" or "better your situation" if things given for free are better than what the rest of us actually pay for?
Click to expand...
Got that right. When I'm paying for mine and yours; mine should be exponentially faster by a factor of free...err, three. Free should be limited to minimum broadband speed, ergo, if the minimum is 25Mb/s, then 25Mb/s^3 = 15625Mb/s (15.625Gb/s). I think I could live with that! :D
 
This just goes to show how cheap providing high speed internet really is. The cable companies have been ripping people off for years.
 
I would think giving school age children access to a way to better themselves (equality of opportunity vs equality of outcome) would be a perfectly right-wing thing to do.

Of course, we've moved past any sort of reason nowadays though, so giving kids access to the internet is the evilness of altruism. (Not sure if serious quoting positively a bad game from a video game to make a point.. :confused: )
 
Okay, I look at it this way.

I'M FUCKING JEALOUS!

However, beyond that, I look at it this way.

They're running connections into these areas already for other customers during the setup process.

So it isn't all that much more expensive to run a few additional lines to public housing.

And if the ConnectHome project helps subsidize it, cool. Why not?

Once the physical hardware's in, the cost to provision an individual household in a multi-tenant building is pretty close to $0.

And, as everyone who's EVER bitched about data caps on high speed connections knows, the bandwidth costs at that level are negligible.

As such, I see nothing wrong with giving these people free high speed internet.

It will provide a source of entertainment to help keep these people off the street.
It will allow them to participate in the internet community, allowing them to keep up with advances in state services (online filing, etc).
It will serve as an education aid for children and might, in the future, provide a form of telecommute for children who are home-bound due to illness or injury, and otherwise unable to attend classes.

All of these will provide a leg up for these normally underprivileged children to better themselves and break themselves (and possibly their families) out of the lifestyle that has them in public housing in the first place.

This means we have more, productive members of society. And fewer nascent thugs, thieves, rapists, and other forms of undesirable.

Honestly? You can't put a price on that.
 
want to help kids by giving schools the fast service? go for it

but giving it to the low income families in their homes? pathetic idea
 
What good is free gigabit internet if they can't afford a computer?
 
jmaker said:
What good is free gigabit internet if they can't afford a computer?
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A lot of pretty cheap and decent computers out there. I got my sister a $250 Windows 10 machine for Christmas. Not the fastest thing but plenty capable. Even at $500, if the machine lasts a couple of years that'd be cheaper the gigabit service over the same time frame.
 
maademperor said:
for real though. I'd actually PAY for that. Instead I get to PAY for them to get it (assuming some sort of stimulus money is exchanging hands here)?
Click to expand...

Nope. This is Google being charitable to the poor. You know, that thing that you criticize people and companies for not being, and then turn around and complain when they do because they're not being charitable to you?

jardows said:
So, poor people who can't afford a decent house are going to get free Internet at speeds faster than I could ever afford? This is like standing behind people in the grocery store, and seeing them buying a shopping cart full of prime rib, ribeye steak, filet mignon, soda pop, etc., and paying for it all with food stamps. Yes, I have experienced this several times. Work hard, earn a living, get jack. Be a slacker, government gives you everything nice for free.
Click to expand...

Oh, those poor people, always living high on the hog, getting all the things you can't have. You should be one; then you would be happy! No, really, why aren't you quitting your job and burning all your money and possessions and moving into high-crime neighborhoods with lead in the water so you can start getting all the good stuff? Go ahead, I'll wait. No? Really? Why don't you want to be poor?
 
evilsofa said:
Nope. This is Google being charitable to the poor. You know, that thing that you criticize people and companies for not being, and then turn around and complain when they do because they're not being charitable to you?



Oh, those poor people, always living high on the hog, getting all the things you can't have. You should be one; then you would be happy! No, really, why aren't you quitting your job and burning all your money and possessions and moving into high-crime neighborhoods with lead in the water so you can start getting all the good stuff? Go ahead, I'll wait. No? Really? Why don't you want to be poor?
Click to expand...

Not to send this hurtling into soapbox territory but although being poor may not be desirable it has become too easy to remain poor in modern society. The benefits and requirements for people receiving public assistance should be designed to elevate them out of poor status and not just make their status more bearable. The fact that poverty has become generational in some groups seems to indicate that the system is broken. If we continue to provide more benefits then they should come with more strings attached designed to help people cease to be poor or at least become working poor instead of non-working poor. In this case perhaps the free internet could come with fewer privacy protections so that by analyzing how the poor people use the internet new strategies can be developed to force them out of poverty (then both the giver and receiver are getting value).
 
Am I the only one that the first thing I thought of was alot faster pirated movie downloads and torrents?
 
rgraze911 said:
Am I the only one that the first thing I thought of was alot faster pirated movie downloads and torrents?
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hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1890409

:)

Except in this case it won't be anonymous, and while I don't know Google's policy on getting warnings (i.e. do they protect your anonymity) but something tells me they won't be doing it for long.
 
rgraze911 said:
Am I the only one that the first thing I thought of was alot faster pirated movie downloads and torrents?
Click to expand...

Dude. I downloaded and installed a 10.5 GB game in under 5 minutes just the other day using google fiber.
 
DocSavage said:
Dude. I downloaded and installed a 10.5 GB game in under 5 minutes just the other day using google fiber.
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Dude why are you wasting your money on games if you're a poor person who needs public housing! :D

But yeah, price aside, I held off on GTA V when I had my 6Mbps DSL line because I really did not want to deal with 50+GB download, When I switched over to a 150+Mbps cable connection, oh yeah it was on.
 
On a serious note, some of these poor people in public housing are incapable of making good decisions. Getting them free internet may be the only real way for them to have internet at home. I actually know a family where the dad was actually working and getting a little money and instead of the 7-years free internet for a $300 installation fee (spread over 12 months), they went for the $120/mo full package. 3 months later, it already got canceled. At least this way, the kids can get internet even if their parents are idiots.
 
dkarn45 said:
want to help kids by giving schools the fast service? go for it

but giving it to the low income families in their homes? pathetic idea
Click to expand...

No. Because kids in school should be doing classwork.
Not web surfing.
 
DocSavage said:
On a serious note, some of these poor people in public housing are incapable of making good decisions. Getting them free internet may be the only real way for them to have internet at home. I actually know a family where the dad was actually working and getting a little money and instead of the 7-years free internet for a $300 installation fee (spread over 12 months), they went for the $120/mo full package. 3 months later, it already got canceled. At least this way, the kids can get internet even if their parents are idiots.
Click to expand...

Too be fair this is true a many people, not just the poor.
 
kbrickley said:
In this case perhaps the free internet could come with fewer privacy protections so that by analyzing how the poor people use the internet new strategies can be developed to force them out of poverty (then both the giver and receiver are getting value).
Click to expand...

I want to be outraged about what criteria you would use to choose who gets fewer Internet privacy protections on the Internet, but first, would you please clarify what Internet privacy protections are you referring to?
 
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