[vonskippy]

"Cutting the cord, in Comcast’s universe, just doesn’t save you very much money."

And this is why (in general) Americans are in debt. They don't understand that ANY savings, is savings. And that "just" saving 20,30,50 dollars a month adds up over 5-10 years.

I went thru this with my daughters a decade or so ago. We kept track of all the "Gee Dad, it's only 10 bucks" conversations. At the end of the year we reviewed what they accumulated, which was almost nothing, their items were either used up, no longer needed/wanted, broken, or tossed away. On the other hand, the $1400+ dollars, all stacked up in a nice pile of $20's looked like (and was to them) real money, a nice weekend trip, a new bike, a new laptop, etc. I'm happy to say my daughters did much better after that living experiment.

Unfortunately for most Americans, they just can't say no to the moment, and banks (and other service providers) are all to willingly to exploit their lack of judgement.

[sliverstorm]

You miss what that sentence was actually leading to:

Comcast has carefully set up pricing to get you whether you watch shows the old-fashioned way, on a boob-tube fed with a cable, or whether you prefer to veg out with Netflix on your iPad

They aren't talking about "Oh it's only $10 more, so why not". They are talking about how you can't escape most of the Comcast Tax, even if you ditch cable. That's the whole theme of the article.

[ChristianMarks]

Insulting if you asked me.

[joe_the_user]

And this is why (in general) Americans are in debt. They don't understand that ANY savings, is savings. And that "just" saving 20,30,50 dollars a month adds up over 5-10 years.

Oh, clearly. It's that rather than the terms of student loans and such. Wouldn't want reality to get in the way of depression-era morality plays ... "up hill both ways, in the snow!!" if that makes you feel better.

[philwelch]

Look at the numbers for credit card debt alone if you're unconvinced.

[RickS]

I agree that financial ignorance keeps Americans in debt, but I don't think that blindness to savings is a major component.

Just look at JCPs recent situation - they tried to eliminate sales, implementing consistent, standard pricing on all merchandise (instead of the previous mark-up-to-mark-down method), and consumers hated it. The metrics were a disaster.

If the JCP numbers are any indication, consumers know the price of everything and the value of nothing - they'd rather pay more than they should after a fake 40% discount because "full price is for suckers", regardless of the actual quality:price value ratio.

The problem with cable pricing isn't that consumers are ignorant to the deals - they're most certainly eyeing price and discounts. It's that cable companies have established a false baseline to decrease the effectiveness of cord-cutting.

As a pricing strategy, it's nothing new. You can get 2 liters of soda for 99c, and a 12 oz bottle for 1.50. It's a psychological price bump - not based on value, but manufactured to steer the "savvy" (read: performing as expected) buyer to the "smart" (read: preselected) choice.

It's just a little more disheartening when its application moves from soft drinks to the spread of human knowledge.

[sliverstorm]

You can get 2 liters of soda for 99c, and a 12 oz bottle for 1.50

Usually it's $1.50 for a chilled 12 oz bottle, and $0.99 for a warm 2 liter. It's a convenience charge.

[thwarted]

Convenience also in that few people want to consume 2 liters at one sitting, so not having a left over, partially filled 2 liter that you have to look after until you get to a place where it can be stored is often worth the addition 50¢.

[sliverstorm]

Let's not forget the convenience of not having 2 liters tempting you.

[MichaelGG]

So was the actual utility from all those "$10 items" zero? I've spent more than $1400 on "needless" food in a year but I feel as if I've gotten a fair amount of value from it. I'm sure I would not trade all those meals for half of the price of a great laptop.

Anyways, I think Comcast is getting at that they throw in Internet or TV for "free" with triple-play combos, so you literally aren't saving anything. In some cases, you actually pay more (for a limited time?) to decline services.

[ItendToDisagree]

Honestly you frequently pay 'more' when you decline services. In my area Comcast at one point was charging more for just internet than it was for Internet+Cable+phone. It seemed that they were just looking to make sure that you were 'locked in' to all of their services.

[catinsocks]

Just so you know after introductory prices a few years ago it was cheaper to have the "basic" cable + internet than just internet from comcast. It may have changed since I don't live in their service area anymore.

[ams6110]

This is the case still, at least it is for me. Comcast recently added two more straws to the camel's back though: a new "broadcast fee" for the "cost" of carrying broadcast channels, and encrypting even basic cable so you need another stupid box.

ATT Uverse is now available in my area, their internet is a little more than half what I'm paying for Comcast Basic + Internet, and since I can't watch the TV anyway because I refuse to use their box, I don't need any TV component of the service. I've heard mixed stories about Uverse but they seem to do better than Comcast in the Netflix rankings so I'll probably give them a try.

[sokoloff]

It's the same way for us (by about a dollar, I think). It used to be cheaper by almost $3/mo, but last year they raised the cost of "ridiculously basic" cable.

We don't even watch the cable TV that we "pay" (-$1) for, as our actual programming comes in via (free) over-the-air antenna mounted in the attic and recorded onto 2 TiVos.

[tsotha]

There's a reason for that. Certain content providers (HSN, for instance) pay Comcast on a per customer basis. Comcast makes more money when you have the lowest tier TV package and it doesn't cost them anything.

[jcc80]

Great idea and thanks for sharing. We've been trying different methods to teach savings but so far the pure excitement of "I want it!" has defeated all logic. We've been stuck making choices for him instead of him learning to make them on his own. Definitely going to use this the rest of the year. Will be easy to keep track of on the phone.