[gtaylor]

> A lot of cities now have fiber to the home, I have 50/50 + tv for 50 euro

I have 50/25 or so plus TV for about the same price in southeastern US. It's not fiber, but I end up with about the same service as you. At the level of service you and I are getting, fiber isn't necessary.

> Google fiber doesn't seem so special to me.

Probably not if you only have 50/50 for 50 euro. That's not nearly as great a value as Google Fiber, in my opinion. For that same amount, you get symmetric 1000/1000 with Google Fiber. Blows the kind of service that you and I are getting away, bigtime.

[zyx321]

70 USD plus taxes and fees is about 70 EUR. I don't know if that's really so much better value.

The utility of an internet connection doesn't scale linearly with speed. Once you're at the point where you can stream HD video, diminishing returns start kicking in pretty hard. How often are you waiting for a >100MB file transfer and can't work until it's completed?

[gtaylor]

> The utility of an internet connection doesn't scale linearly with speed.

Sure, up to a point. But when you've got a family of 4+ sharing an internet connection, 50Mb can be used easily.

A recent example:

* Younger kid running HD Netflix stream downstairs. * Older kid listening to music and downloading a game in his room. * I'm watching an HD Amazon stream movie rental. * Wife is shuffling large PSDs to/from remote storage.

This definitely doesn't apply to everyone, but a family can put some hurting on an internet connection. Particularly during the winter when it gets dark by 5PM.