Viva La Net! Viva La Revolution!

Pop quiz hotshots, who here has broadband? Hmm that many of you... Now who on a plan which limits the amount you can download a month? I see. Last question how many of you think that sucks? All of you, really how about that.

I like the Internet, it is my squishy. Apart from performing an emergency tracheotomy on the side of Mt Kilimanjaro there isn't much you cant do with it, except I suppose with what you see in most Hollywood movies. But the point remains we love the net, its a highly complicated system of tubes which allow the global to become smaller.

I speak regularly with people on the other side of the global with instant messager. Email delivery staff are significantly less likely to go postal then your common mail carrier. Online games have shown Actual Intelligence is much more effective foe then Artificial. And the torrents - oh how we love the torrents.

But there is a blight on our fair emerald city which is the ferry man who asks for his 2 pieces of silver as we board his little boat to cross the river there and back. Much like a 7 year olds allowance we need to figure out exactly how much we can spend on redskins and still have some change to last til next month. If your on a Internet plan like this I expect you know exactly how much you can download a month and furthermore how much that equates to per day before you get cut down to either paying for it or a slower pre-broadband speed.

I'm sure if we think back there were other things like this, novelties which used to cost per kilo but overtime became so commonplace that they were just as easy to charge per serve. The way we get charged for Internet hasn't really changed much over the last 10 years or so with the only advancement being more carriers and more things you can do with your connection. The Internet will one day be on everything, cars, phones, TVs, white goods - think the Jetsons without the world working on Cogs.

For now while the Internet is still in it's early teens, usage should be more like Paytv - not that you get to watch so much TV then it turns off or switches to 24hr Antiques Roadshow. No you get a basic package (say most functions that allow browsing or mail), then you click into your extra channels you might want (maybe online game functions) and then you've always got the movie channels which may still be so many per month then you pay (maybe say FTP or something).

Unlimited Internet isn't such a bad idea, there is a school that might tell you that if everyone was downloading 24/7 365days a year the infrastructure in place should be upgraded which will drive up the cost of providing. But think about that, your in a chocolate shop, you like chocolate, not lactose intolerant and your allowed to eat as much as you want all for a dollar. Whats going to happen?

At first your going to gorge yourself on Willy Wonkas fine treats and blow up to the size of a balloon. That's at first, but your allowed to come in tomorrow too so what do you do then? Probably have a little less as you've tried most things already, then a little less again and eventually the novelty will wear off and you will just be coming in and getting your fix for the day and leaving again.

I believe the Internet could be used like this, no one can use it 24/7 without having Opera rescue them from their house with a crane - no matter what you download or view or do theres only so much TV, blogs, games or hell, porn you could look at before the populous' commonly low attention span limits hits.

This all comes back to one thing... Jetpacks. The Internet is part of the promised future of the Jetsons - flying cars, robot housekeepers and jetpacks. Unlimited Internet is something everyone should want as it aids in global collaboration that will one day yield such technological wonders. So if you want the Internet to be the horn of plenty that helps connect everyone to everyone then call your ISP and say "Where is my damn jetpack!"

In the meantime I'm going to believe that somewhere, someone, at sometime is already onto this and will revolutionise how we get billed for the Internet which will significantly change how the casual user uses it. Someone like the A-Team or MacGvyer holed up in the Pons Institute with a box of matches, ball of yarn and a trusty pocket knife which will emerge not with a bus converted into a tank but something a little more shiny.

Until then I'll be waiting for my Jetpack.

Andy. Hoping for a Future without Australian Idol.