"Peter Pan" <PeterPanNOSPAM@AkamailNOSPAM.com> hath wroth:

>Funny, you left off the most common answer (and one that I use too).. Why? I
>pay about $9 a month for dialup, and cable is about $50 a month.... Why
>spend about $40 a month, just to get junkmail/spam faster?

Actually, I haven't heard it in quite that form. What I usually hear
is something like, "broadband costs about 3 times as much as dialup.
Will I get more than 3 times the fun/features/functionality on
broadband as dialup?" I guess there are those that don't mind staring
at the download indicator for 3 times as long.

A demonstration of fast browsing, online music, video, gaming,
downloading, updates, and such are usually insufficient. What always
gets their attention is Skype, GizmoProject, X-Lite or other VoIP
phone. These work over dialup, but just barely. You also can't
receive calls on dialup if you're not connected full time. A free or
very cheap phone call to some long lost relative in the old country
usually clinches the sale.

>Or how bout I travel a lot, and the broadband will only work when I am at
>one place, not the 50 weeks a year I travel....:)

That's not an issue for my business and commercial customers. It
might be for a few of my customers that travel, but most of these also
have spouses and families at home that will use the connection.

For those that do travel, I usually advise them that about 1600 to
2000 laptops per day are stolen and that they would be better off
leaving theirs at home. My guess(tm) is about 1 in 4 that have
ignored this advice, have had their laptops stolen while on a trip or
vacation. The issue is not the replacement cost of the laptop. It's
the vulnerability to various breach of disclosure laws if there is
personal, customer, or vendor information on the laptop. Removable
drives and/or encrypted filesystems have saved a few customers from
embarrassing and expensive complications:
<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=605878>

I think my next product will be a laptop destruct device, which
ignites or explodes inside the laptop if someone attempts to use it
without the proper incantations. Your money back if your laptop or
data survives.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558