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A new program from cable, telephone, and Internet provider Comcast will provide discounted web access, a low-cost computer, and free Internet training for qualifying low-income families in the US. The service is called Internet Essentials and is expected to help bridge the divide that poor families face regarding technology.
The program comes as a result of Comcast’s acquisition of NBC Universal earlier this year. As part of that deal, the FCC required that Comcast make broadband subscriptions available to 400,000 poor households for less than $10 per month.
Families interested in the $9.95 broadband service and $149.99 computer must meet a few criteria.
First, you must be living in one of the 39 states that Comcast currently serves. Furthermore, said family must have at least one child enrolled in a free lunch program through the National School Lunch Program. You must not have subscribed to Comcast Internet service within the last 90 days and finally you can’t have any overdue Comcast bills or unreturned equipment.
The broadband service is rated at up to 1.5Mbps down and 384Kbps up.
Hardware specifications on the sub-$150 computer are bleak but Comcast claims it will be a netbook-style laptop that supports wired and wireless Internet connectivity. Each system includes a copy of Windows 7 Starter edition and can be loaded with Norton Security Suite and parental controls for free.
Internet Essentials will be available starting in the 2011-2012 school year and will run for three full school years. Those who sign up will not see a price increase during this period, nor will they have to pay activation or installation charges or equipment rentals. Potential customers can sign up today by calling 1-855-8-INTERNET.
User Comments: 40
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So much ridiculousness in these comments.
If you want a better, stronger America, then you should be freaking excited about this program. Why? Because we have more jobs requiring a high level of education than we can fill. Why? Because we have horrible class divides and it's very difficult to get out of poverty. Why? Because of people with the Tea Party mentality who think that anyone who earns less than they do, is lesser, lazy, stupid, and unworthy of compassion or help.
We need to strengthen our workforce with skilled, educated employees.
If you don't see how this connects to the article, do some more research.
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first of all i bet most of this families who cannot afford internet have cable...what the hell...cancel your cable and get the internet your kids need.
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1 person liked this |So much ridiculousness in these comments.
If you want a better, stronger America, then you should be freaking excited about this program. Why? Because we have more jobs requiring a high level of education than we can fill. Why? Because we have horrible class divides and it's very difficult to get out of poverty. Why? Because of people with the Tea Party mentality who think that anyone who earns less than they do, is lesser, lazy, stupid, and unworthy of compassion or help.
We need to strengthen our workforce with skilled, educated employees.
If you don't see how this connects to the article, do some more research.
You should live with some of these people, then we wouldn't have comments like this
So much ridiculousness in these comments.The cell phone has made controlling street drug sales so much more difficult for the police to deal with. It doesn't take much to imagine that virtually free internet will compound the issue.The trouble with suburban liberals is they are so out of touch with reality, they exist in a tea party world, while being possessed by the spirit of Ted Kennedy. Or in language closer to the street you pretend to have knowledge of, you need to yank your head out of your a** bro....
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"It doesn't take much to imagine that virtually free internet will compound the issue."
Pure doggerel. Costs for DSL available now to everyone for 1.5/384 has been found as low as $14.95, and with Comcast's broad bandwidth combined with sandvine, I'm pretty sure they are close to breakeven, if not slight profit for each line. And they can make additional profit via on demand movies, should they offer it.
@"Flannelwarrior"
I agree with many of your points. It's obvious certain people see the world as black or white only, there are no shades of grey at all. Their cynical view is always correct, and they are never wrong.
Of course they are only good at pointing the blame, and not working hard enough to find common ground or finding real meaningful solutions. It's only cut!cut!cut!. Never mind there are real, legit poor working class families, many not by choice; Thru loss of job, loss of spouse (main provider), or simply a family member whose medical expenses or bad investments have brought financial ruin. Nope, according to them, poor people are all subhuman crackheads, not fit to even enjoy LCD tv's, which BTW are much more affordable than ever before.
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Here again, I suggest you come to my "hood", before you start running your mouth.
. Nope, according to them, poor people are all subhuman crackheads, not fit to even enjoy LCD tv's, which BTW are much more affordable than ever before.
Never mind there are real, legit poor working class families, many not by choice; Thru loss of job, loss of spouse (main provider), or simply a family member whose medical expenses or bad investments have brought financial ruin.I'm aware of "poor working families", and I sympathize with them deeply. In this economy, the lower middle classes are being demoted to poor, people are losing their homes, and on. These are people that have actually had jobs, and I surely don't envy their predicament. You again are applying middle class sensibilities to people that are not worthy of that consideration.
As far as "bad investments", 22" chrome rims are always bad investments. And those are the only "investments" being made that I've seen or heard about recently.
As far as "loss of spouse" in the examples I'm being presented with, there never was any, "spouse", to lose. Just some girl talking to friends about someone known as, "he be the father of my baby".
And as someone who gets Emails from Newegg, goes into Walmart, and belongs to a tech website, I don't need some pedantic clown telling me how much LCD TVs cost.
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Affordable internet will enable easier access to online job hunting/online learning sites. Of course certain people simply want to prolong the existing state of condition, instead of applauding efforts to improve it.
"As far as "bad investments", 22" chrome rims are always bad investments"
I expected a languid response from such an obstinate point of view. It's called a hobby. Or is purchasing legal goods not a guaranteed right by our constitution? Who are you to judge & jury determine what is, or isn't a bad investment? If your hobby is playing computer games butt naked, is it a bad investment to buy a new cpu or memory? If your hobby is with cars, is it a bad investment to buy new tires or rims? Or does it only count when YOU think it counts?
Shame, the unadorned thought of "less government, more freedom" applies only to you but not anyone else, or other classes.
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Affordable internet will enable easier access to online job hunting/online learning sites. Of course certain people simply want to prolong the existing state of condition, instead of applauding efforts to improve it.Are you complaining more about my point of view(*), or the resale value of chrome rims? A $500.00 car, with 2 12" subwoofers, loud mufflers and a set of rims, if that's what it takes someone to delude themselves that they're worth something, by all means, knock yourself out. I'd consider it a personal favor if you wouldn't drive by my house with it. Of course, opposite opinions being what they are, I suppose I wouldn't be "entitled" to that level of courtesy, now would I?
"As far as "bad investments", 22" chrome rims are always bad investments"
I expected a languid response from such an obstinate point of view. It's called a hobby. Or is purchasing legal goods not a guaranteed right by our constitution? Who are you to judge & jury determine what is, or isn't a bad investment? If your hobby is playing computer games butt naked, is it a bad investment to buy a new cpu or memory? If your hobby is with cars, is it a bad investment to buy new tires or rims? Or does it only count when YOU think it counts?
Shame, the unadorned thought of "less government, more freedom" applies only to you but not anyone else, or other classes.
((*) Which is actually observed fact).
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this is a wonderful deal for low income families that rely on internet usage.
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Just an update on this program. Comcast has upped the speeds to 3mb dl and 756k ul.
Does that make you even more cranky? Grrrrrrrr! F-ing poor people get all the good deals! Free food, free health care, free money...
Lowest priced internet in my area from comcast 62.50 a month, $50 for basic cable. now THAT is something to be mad about. I don't care what people in need get, if they need it then those of us more fortunate have an obligation to help any way we can. But being constantly squeezed by those in a better position than I when they to have an equal obligation to help, well that is just wrong and completely unnecessary. Greedy pigs, just a bunch of greedy dirty pigs. We could use a little anarchy, lol as if there were such a thing...
Feeling bad or angry about people getting more than you is juvenile. Like a kid crying about his sister getting a bigger piece of cake than his. Being grateful for what you do have, that is the lesson I would try to pass along. Someday one of you angry birds may need a free worm and there is no shame in that. The shame is when there are no more free worms to be had so we are forced to eat dirt and die slowly, painfully.
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Just an update on this program. Comcast has upped the speeds to 3mb dl and 756k ul.
Does that make you even more cranky? Grrrrrrrr! F-ing poor people get all the good deals! Free food, free health care, free money...
Lowest priced internet in my area from comcast 62.50 a month, $50 for basic cable. now THAT is something to be mad about. I don't care what people in need get, if they need it then those of us more fortunate have an obligation to help any way we can. But being constantly squeezed by those in a better position than I when they to have an equal obligation to help, well that is just wrong and completely unnecessary. Greedy pigs, just a bunch of greedy dirty pigs. We could use a little anarchy, lol as if there were such a thing...
Feeling bad or angry about people getting more than you is juvenile. Like a kid crying about his sister getting a bigger piece of cake than his. Being grateful for what you do have, that is the lesson I would try to pass along. Someday one of you angry birds may need a free worm and there is no shame in that. The shame is when there are no more free worms to be had so we are forced to eat dirt and die slowly, painfully.
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Oops, apologies for the double post. It didn't seem to post the first time and there does not seem to be a way to remove it now. Lucky it is an old thread, like so much on the internet these days, old news lingers for an eternity on the web. It was so much better back when AL Gore first invented it.
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davislane1 said:
I expected a languid response from such an obstinate point of view. It's called a hobby. Or is purchasing legal goods not a guaranteed right by our constitution? Who are you to judge & jury determine what is, or isn't a bad investment? If your hobby is playing computer games butt naked, is it a bad investment to buy a new cpu or memory? If your hobby is with cars, is it a bad investment to buy new tires or rims? Or does it only count when YOU think it counts?I've never seen a point fly so far over someone's head before. I really hope you're just some random know-it-all teenager, otherwise I'm afraid one of our illustrious colleges or universities ripped you off for 20-80 grand. In which case, good luck paying off all of that student loan debt. You're going to need it if you don't know the difference between an investment and a ******* hobby.
As for this program being a great thing for building a stronger America...Fat chance. This is PR for Comcast. A few people will identify and take advantage of the opportunity this presents, but the marginal poor person will ultimately do neither. The problem with the U.S. education system (other than the ****** it produces) is that it's based on an old model that is helplessly inadequate for today's world. Giving people more access to the internet (and consequently "education" and "training"
is great, but will accomplish nothing by means of preparing them for a globalized system. It will also do nothing to solve or prevent the social and economic problems that will crush the lower and middle classes over the next decade or so. -
I expected a languid response from such an obstinate point of view. It's called a hobby. Or is purchasing legal goods not a guaranteed right by our constitution?No, it isn't. The "right to purchase crap you can't afford unless you've sold drugs to pay for them", is not in any part of the body of the U.S. Constitution, its Bill of Rights, or any subsequent Amendment to to U.S. Constitution.
The only thing even remotely related to such a "right", is the fact we've outlawed "debtor's prison".
I don't care who told you otherwise, the NAACP, Occupy Wall Street, any other ridiculous cause, person, or voice in your head told you, "the right to buy stuff", isn't in the Constitution. You have the right to hold real estate. There's nothing new there though. In fact, that right was carried forward from the "Magna Carta", which was signed in Runnymede, England, June 15, 1215 AD, by "Richard the Lion Hearted's" younger, not too swift brother, "John Lackland".
Feeling bad or angry about people getting more than you is juvenile. Like a kid crying about his sister getting a bigger piece of cake than his. Being grateful for what you do have, that is the lesson I would try to pass along. Someday one of you angry birds may need a free worm and there is no shame in that. The shame is when there are no more free worms to be had so we are forced to eat dirt and die slowly, painfully.This is painfully naive, to the point of being symptomatic of a developmental disorder.Unless you yourself are siphoning money out of the system in return for "feeling sorry for the less fortunate", (IE, being a social worker), you might be the one who ultimately has "dirt for dinner..., again", because the fed is printing big ole checks to the people whose cause you're championing.
What amazes me in all these late night TV ads to "sponsor a child", is where the parents, who are ostensibly not able to provide for them, get the food, resources, and energy to propagate them in the first place.
Wouldn't you just like to be a bug on their hovel's bedroom wall? The "pillow talk" probably goes something like this; "Well, we don't have food, electricity, or decent clothing, plus you have malaria, and I've been diagnosed HIV positive, I think it's high time we have another baby, don't you"?
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"This is painfully naive, to the point of being symptomatic of a developmental disorder"
I wouldn't expect someone with such a closed mind and heart to understand the seemingly twisted concepts of generosity and compassion. Nor have I ever heard of naivety being symptomatic of a developmental disorder, but then again the source of that comment is steeped in anger and resentment. So, if someone cares for their fellow human being and feels that everyone on this planet is obligated to help each other whenever able is naive, what does that make someone who is terrified and angry about all those naive folks acting on behalf of those less fortunate and feels utterly threatened by those being assisted? Talk about symptoms of a disorder. Take a look in the mirror friend, if you can tolerate it.
Peace
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"This is painfully naive, to the point of being symptomatic of a developmental disorder"No, you're full of s***, and Comcast can either collect off the government with your tax money, or use this as a business write off. They'll probably take a shot at both.
I wouldn't expect someone with such a closed mind and heart to understand the seemingly twisted concepts of generosity and compassion. Nor have I ever heard of naivety being symptomatic of a developmental disorder, but then again the source of that comment is steeped in anger and resentment. So, if someone cares for their fellow human being and feels that everyone on this planet is obligated to help each other whenever able is naive, what does that make someone who is terrified and angry about all those naive folks acting on behalf of those less fortunate and feels utterly threatened by those being assisted? Talk about symptoms of a disorder. Take a look in the mirror friend, if you can tolerate it.
Peace
I don't really think I need compassion for "at risk children". There never seems to be shortage of them, and we already have more than we can shake a Federal Entitlement Program at.
As for "caring for my fellow human beings"' goes, with 6+ billion and counting, how would a person know where to start?
That' 6+ billion sob stories, and there's only so much tax revenue to go around.
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