Stickin' it to the Internet

Internet Service Providers (ISPs), like cell phone companies are the worst companies to deal with. They all seem to be pretty lame when it comes down to it. I have had DSL, Cable, Fiber, Wireless, and of course everyone's favourite, Dial-Up. I suppose it comes down to which one will produce the least amount of pain.


We have to have internet, don't we? They are the pieces of technology that make up our world and its nonsense. How else would I be able to write unless I could post to my blog? I could go downstairs and put down a bunch of ideas, but unless I can have the immediate gratification of assuming friends and family are reading this, what good is it?


I have to know every day what my banking account balance is. Before, we had to keep a checkbook and get a monthly balance in the mail to know where we stood. Now, I can go in and freak out everyday.


I have to read the news. I never watched the news in my life growing up. I still don't watch the news, but I have this obsession with constantly being up to date on everything. And what is everything really? Another hiker lost in the mountains of Oregon or California or Utah. Another sports player busted for doping or drugs or slapping a woman. Why am I reading this? Am I really so informed?


And of course, I have to keep up to date on my emails, which comprises mainly ads from Target, Costco, AFX, Barnes and Noble, Borders, Delta, Travelocity, etc. It is just checking off a list. It becomes almost an OCD thing.

These past two weeks we have been dealing with the pain of no Internet from Digis, which is a wireless ISP. They use radios on your roof to point to towers in the area. Most of the year, Digis is fine, but when something went wrong, it took them 10 days to get somebody out. And, they gave us a window of 12pm - 6pm. Based on principle alone, we have to go with someone else. Waiting two weeks to get Internet usage in this day and age is ridiculous.


When I spoke to the Digis lady on cancellation, she stated that that was a long time and that they give businesses a higher priority. That is fine with me. You go with the deep pockets. That is business, but they are not going to get my business as long as that is their model. And if I can influence anyone to go with something different, I will.

We had a guy come out from High Speed Utah. It is a small company which one guy runs with a couple of buddies. We'll see how it goes, but he was out here right away to get us hooked up. It took him less than an hour. It was refreshing to know that a small business guy could get one over on the big conglomerates. He even said that Digis offered to buy him out. But, he likes what he does. And he says he rarely gets customer service calls. His website is nothing great. I really don't know. It may be horrible, worse than Digis or Comcast or Qwest or whoever. But for now, I am going with the little guy.

Grandpa always said that small business was the backbone of America.