Comcast Away

On a scale of 1-10, Comcast is a 0.

It's been three months since I first contacted them about billing me for services I don't have, and three months later, I'm still getting billed for them. While it's great that they're trying to put on a nice public face with things like a Twitter account(@comcastcares), at the end of the day, if your service is shit, it just doesn't matter.

And Comcast's service is shit.

I've called multiple times, I've email multiple times and yes, I've tweeted multiple times -- my billing issues remain unsolved. I've stopped paying my bills in protest, but I know that will really only hurt me (my credit score) and eventually Comcast will just turn off my service.

Which would be ABSOLUTELY fine with me, I've long weaned myself off cable, but I am very much addicted to the Internet. And right now, where I live, unfortunately there aren't really many other options.

And that is forcing me to keep Comcast, which despite me only having basic cable (and only having that because it's only something like $5 more a month with Internet than getting Internet alone -- a rip-off) I'm getting charged for phone service (which I haven't had in a few months), premium cable service (which I haven't had ever since my cable box died over 6 months ago -- and Comcast never fixed despite calls) and HD service (which I don't think I've ever had here). It's bullshit.

What I find most laughable about this is that even if Comcast was the picture of perfection when it comes to customer service, they're screwed anyway cause their offering sucks. Sure, they're not going to die overnight or even anytime soon, but without a change in business plan, they will die at some point down the road.

You see, eventually all content is going to be served over the Internet. For me, it is already. I don't ever watch cable, but I am always watching my Apple TV, Xbox 360 or streaming stuff to my computer. The one reason you need cable now is for live sports, other than that, it's easy for anyone with Internet access to ditch it.

I would say the future of companies like Comcast is just to be Internet providers, but that too will change. Eventually, that will all be done wirelessly -- and Comcast doesn't do wireless.

Their death might be prolonged a bit if their service (relating to their content) was any good, but it too is crap. You're forced to pay well over $100 a month if you want the compelling options (like HD and movie channels), and with that you're served hundreds of channels of absolute crap that you don't want and will never watch.

They could potentially save themselves by going to a-la-carte packages, where you pay only for what you want, but that's been talked about for years and it still hasn't happened. Instead, we get more shitty channels shoved down our throats for the wonderful deal of a higher price.

Eventually, I'm sure the Internet video revolution will force the cable companies into a-la-carte, but by then it will probably be too late. And it's not just the content, it's the experience that is crap too.

Their cable boxes' UI is an absolute joke. Usuability is a nightmare. They all look like shit. And the speed on them is even worse. A product like this cannot last when there is competition -- and it's coming -- fast.

Now I realize that every user in America is not like me -- I live in the tech center of the country and it's my job to try out gadgets and know the latest things in tech. But in 10-15 years does anyone really have any doubts that we'll all be consuming all of our content over the Internet on things like the Xbox 360 and Apple TV rather than through cable company television service? I have no doubt.

And the cable companies are too stupid and slow to do anything about it. The whole industry has become an overgrown forest. It needs to be purged.