[botterworkshop]

First, great article and fun thought experiment.

Second, you forgot to factor in the costs of bad management (half kidding).

- We are an ISP, lets rebuild every major app in existence, put our name on it, and deploy it as bloatware.

- We are an ISP, lets acquire a bunch of content and IP so we can provide unique content to our customers.

- We are an ISP, lets acquire company x that has nothing to do with our core services and infrastructure.

Bottom line: ISPs love wasting effort, resources, and time on products and services their customers don't want, and continue neglecting their core services that customers do want improvement on.

[mdip]

Too true. Every time I've had a guy out to install service I've given them one laptop to get connected to the service. When they're done, I hook up my router and put the laptop back in the cupboard. I've been using the same Core Duo Acer laptop for this purpose for years.

Comcast, when I was a Cable TV subscriber offered Video On Demand. With it I could watch about 5 episodes of up to 10 different television series complete with commercials for free. Or I could elect to be able to watch a movie within 24-hours of purchasing for $4.00 or more.

They basically did half of what their internet based competition did for a higher price with more limited viewing options and a $10/mo fee for the box required to use it. So I plucked down $35 a piece for a few low-end Rokus, purchased a Netflix subscription, used my existing Amazon Prime and eliminated my cable TV service all together.

If there was competition in local broadband it makes you wonder if these companies would all go belly up when you look at how terribly their products stand up in markets where there is competition.