weenaak
The internet adventures of Peter Di Cecco.
With the release of Google Instant last week, there has been an influx of similar instant searches for other products. Here is my round up. (I’ll try to update this if I find any others).
In my search for instant searches, I found The Real Live Search. It uses the Bing API, but the interesting thing is that it was developed in August of 2009, just over year before Google Instant.
YouTube Instant - Feross Aboukhadijeh, the developer of YouTube Instant was offered a job by YouTube CEO Chad Hurley! Read about it on Feross’ blog.
Instant Maps
Instant Images
Twitter Instant, another Twitter Instant
Flickr Instant
iTunes Instant
App Store Instant
Reddit Instant
Note that at the time of writing, Google Instant is rolling out to people with Google accounts, and in certain countries. Once you’re able to try it out, you will wonder how you ever lived without it.
Please read and act on this important issue. If ignored, the internet will no longer be free (as in freedom).
A recent decision by the CRTC has the potential to cause major disruption in the internet service marketplace. Fortunately, the decision can be reversed by the federal cabinet, if voices like yours are heard. Here’s the issue in a nutshell.
- As you may know, telephone companies like Bell Canada and Telus built networks over decades supported by federal rules which gave them monopolies over telephone service. This was a form of subsidy by taxpayers, guaranteeing that these companies would be profitable, so that the public could benefit from having telecommunications networks across the country.
- Once these networks were built, and the telephone companies were very well established, the federal government put in rules to help create healthy competition. One of these rules was to require Bell and Telus to allow competitors to connect to their networks, at prices that were regulated by the CRTC. This allowed Canadians to have access to a choice of provider for telephone and eventually for Internet services too.
- This type of competition has been good for Canadians, ensuring lower prices, more innovation, and better service than would be the case if you were captive to a single monopoly provider.
- The CRTC’s recent decision would destroy this framework. It would allow companies like Bell and Telus to set whatever prices they choose for competitor access to their networks.
- If this decision stands, we can all expect massive price increases designed to choke off competition. One way or another, we foresee higher prices, lower service standards, and little if any innovation.
The companies behind this campaign want the federal Cabinet to reverse this decision and ensure a healthy competitive market for internet and other telecom services. Our outreach program is intended to inform Canadian consumers of the issue at hand and make it easy to be heard in Ottawa.
Please take a moment and consider if you can add your voice to ours, and encourage the federal government to reverse this decision. If you want to do that now, click here.
I love the internet on April fools day. So far:
