"the building faces (?!?!?!?!)" as in which way our balcony (where the satellites are mounted) face.

I know I'm alone on this for the most part, but I love and have never had a single issue with my Comcast service. GM on the other hand........

@Radi0logy:

If you've never bothered to own an American car, you're just talking out of your ass. My Chevy SUV is the best car I've ever owned, and before it I'd only ever owned Japanese cars.

@Radi0logy:

85750. I can't get satellite, so Comtrash is it.

Ironically, in your case you appear to have a plethora of options, from SBC Yahoo!, Charter and even Earthlink, in addition to the satellite options like HayesNet and DeepBlue. Why you chose to go with the "monopoly" (lol) instead of your other options is beyond me.

GM, on the other hand, has failed to innovate and improve their business. And isn't innovation and improvement really the American mantra?

Voting GM.

She lives about 3 miles north of me, and is "unluckey" enough to not even have the Comcast Monopoly to subscribe to.... and I live too far away from the phone computer switch to get their DSL - so I'm stuck with Comcast.

@perruptor: The HughesNet plan I linked to (cause I'm too lazy to search for others) is $60/mo. Comcast is $42.95/mo. Difference of $17 a month. I'm sure there are other satellite providers that offer a broader range of pricing options. Wildblue for example offers plans starting at $40 a month. While not as fast as Comcast, its cheaper.

There's really no such thing as equivalent alternatives. Your "alternative" to a GM is a Ford or a Toyota, which achieves the same thing, but does it in a different way. It won't cost the same, it won't have the same performance, it might have a different interior and the salesperson might be a lot nicer - but for the basic functionality - driving you to work every day, it is identical. Just like Satellite vs. Cable. the price might be different, the speed might not be identical, and the latency won't be the same, but after you finish, you've checked your email with both of them.

Both of this weeks bracket picks are really tough to decide. We have 2 car companies who are in trouble because they failed to be competitive. A major bank that failed in engaing in basic fiduciary restraint. And, a cable company who fails at not being evil. I'm going to have to think this over with cocktail or two.

You're proposing an alternative that is not equivalent.

I live in a condo with no view to the sky for Satellite TV. Verizon won't run FIOS to this building even though the townhomes across the street can get it. Verizon DSL took two months to properly order for some reason and several months after that they still couldn't get the line working. So Comcast was my only functioning option.

Thankfully XOHM is now available to me so I'm going to be giving that a try soon.

@eightfifteen: At least GM is trying to do something about their predicament.

Comcast has twice in the last two years increased my monthly cable TV bill and decreased the number of available channels, and that's on their cheapest $12/month (well, probably about $14/month now) plan.

I don't mind them decreasing the number of channels I get, as long as it comes with decreased cost to the consumer... but it costs me more! How does that make sense?

Toyota's been employing thousands of Americans to build their cars in America outside of the UAW

DSL, Cable, and satellite however, DO the exact same job.

As for this line "They make agreements with other cable providers to not encroach on each others territory making it mandatory you HAVE to use comcast for cable" doesn't even make sense, as then the other cable company would have people complaining about how XYZ company is a monopoly in their area.

Go figure.

They make agreements with other cable providers to not encroach on each others territory making it mandatory you HAVE to use comcast for cable, even if there is another provider working right across the street.

Thats why they are going out of their way to prevent FIOS, because it actually removes their monopoly over cable by providing another line in.

Satellite anything just doesn't cut it here. Its not the same service, nor is it really better. A hard cable will always beat radio waves.

This makes no sense. It SOUNDS like your apartment complex won't allow you to put the dish on the top of the building, where the reception should be exceptional, no matter which direction "the building faces" (?!?) Ergo, complain about your apartment complex, not Comcast - it isn't their fault that your apartment manager is limiting your choices of high speed Internet and television selections.

Thats funny. You realize that this is Consumerist, run by Consumer Reports, the same publication that doesn't rate any American vehicle in the top 10 in reliability?

Anyways, I didn't provide anecdotes, I don't own an American made automobile and likely never will.

"You do realize that every automaker is in trouble right now, not just GM? Nothing is selling, nobody is buying anything."

Um yeah they are in trouble - guess what though? There's a little company called Ford that didn't take any taxpayer pitycash. Their cars aren't selling either, but they don't need a bailout because - guess why? - they aren't as shitty a company as GM.

@Radi0logy: Lovely anecdotes but too bad they're not always accurate. I have one of my own. I own a 2001 Chevy Impala, base, that's been running for nine years with minor maintenance. It's just shy of 150,000 miles and is still running very well and gets great gas mileage. If you hate GM so much then please stick to buying from foreign-based companies. Before you come in and say "but GM isn't American LOL!" I know some of their cars come from overseas, my Impy was made in Canada.

As far as shafting the economy? You do realize that every automaker is in trouble right now, not just GM? Nothing is selling, nobody is buying anything. It's hard to remain competitive in a market that's completely frozen.

Also, pro-tip for you: Try driving your car sensibly. This "American cars suck!" garbage is ridiculous. You will be hard pressed to find a car that is unreliable these days, but it's certainly easy to discover the weaknesses of a car when one drives like an idiot and stomps the gas and stomps the brakes constantly just to race someone else to a red light on your morning commute. I guarantee if you drive like a normal, non-retarded person and give your car basic maintenance, you'll probably be fine for a long time unless you got one of the unlucky few cars out there.

Re: "satellite internet is available EVERYWHERE"

False. Our apartment building doesn't face south so even if we wanted DirecTV, we're SOL.

By your logic, you also don't NEED a car and can use public transportation, or a bike, etc. I too, needed Internet access for classes and other reasons... this isn't the 70's; in some cities, Internet access is not as "luxurious" as you may think -- it's more of a utility.

Not to mention the fact that if you don't like GM, you can buy a vehicle from another car company, whereas Comcast holds monopolies in certain areas, so either you get Cable/Internet from them or from NO ONE.

Any others?

So how is that Not a monopoly?

Comcast is teh Evil - and must die.

But yeah, it sucks you had to wait an extra 4 days to play counterstrike. So yeah that's definitely the worse of the two.

You hate Comcast cause they charge you a $2.00 convenience fee? Oh boo hoo. Go talk to the guy thats had to replace the engine in his Lebaron four times since 2000.

tough choice but I went with GM because its GM

If you don't like Comcast - well for me, that is my only choice of internet (without spending at least twice as much or dial up).

They're both asshats, but Comcast isn't asking for a multi-BILLION dollar bailout. And if you think it's a 'loan', I got a bridge I'd like to sell you...

As for Comcast being a choice, they're not where I live. I live in an apartment building, I can't have a satellite or have an antenna showing. If I want internet it's Comcast as well. They've done everything in their power to prevent FIOS from coming to my city and in the main part of the city they've done so.

GM is at least trying something, Comcast knows it sucks and just doesn't care.

GM has been making mistakes for a long time. It's just, with the state of the economy, they can't afford to be inefficient anymore. If they'd gotten their act together years ago, nobody would be paying to bail them out. The only thing that's worse than having to bail them out is knowing that it could've been avoided if proper action had been taken.

Anyway, that's still not the point. Regardless of how GM got our money, they're still getting our money. You have a right and ability to refuse paying Comcast. The government, not so much.

Don't like Comcast TV? Get DirecTV or stick with broadcast television. Don't like Comcast High Speed Internet? Get DSL from another company that offers it. Don't like Comcast Digital Voice? Go with your local traditional provider or another digital provider, or just go with straight cell phones.

@nforcer: Good idea on paper, and in an ideal world, would probably see GM "winning" this battle instead of Comcast, however, the fact of the matter is that Comcast has a monopoly on 33% of America whos options for an ISP is Comcast, Comcast, and more Comcast.

For that very reason, comcast is not avoidable. Unless you're telling me there's some secret fiber optic laying by my house underground I'm not aware of. I honestly would love for that to be the case.

I'm sick of people blaming the bailout on the failing companies. It's not their fault - companies fail all the time. It's our Congress who voted for the extravagant and futile spending.

Besides, middle management isn't usually the problem.

If we had any kind of worker protection in this country, unions might be as irrelevant as some like to claim. Until then - or until we learn from our friends in Argentina - unions are about all that guarantee workers some kind of voice in their company, and assure some kind of protection against abuse from management.

Don't like Comcast TV? Get DirecTV or stick with broadcast television. Don't like Comcast High Speed Internet? Get DSL from another company that offers it. Don't like Comcast Digital Voice? Go with your local traditional provider or another digital provider, or just go with straight cell phones.

Comcast is avoidable; GM's cost to the American public isn't. I've never had problems with Comcast either. I'm really appalled at these results.

Just because your internet's a little slower than you think it should be on a saturday night while you're downloading too much porn, and they raise your rates a couple dollars every couple of years?

GM's a company that wouldn't exist right now if the government hadn't given them billions dollars. When was the last time they even made a profit?

@nerdtalker: Comcast is a monopoly in many areas and wil no doubt hinder, cripple or stall the broadband for all plan that Obama has been working on. They lock competition out fo markets and force municipalities to declare themselves illegal so comcast can be the only provider in a small market.

(Comcast still got my vote though :-p )

Throttling and being generally crappy versus terrible cars, responsible for absorbing billions in taxpayer dollars, failure to adapt, more billions in taxpayer dollars...

This should be a no-brainer!

Comcast, on the other hand, is degenerating in all those areas.

We had to put weights on top of our cable box in order to get certain channels. Meanwhile, a ticket cannot be opened for someone to come out and fix it because "there is a problem in your area and when it's fixed, all the tickets are closed".

Nice excuse!

I HAVE, however, known people who have had to deal with Comcast's bullshittery... so I guess they get my vote.

Comcast...

Unlike Time-Warner, whose cable apparatus is a part of a larger company, Comcast solely exists as a cable company- and you'd think that would give the FOCUS.

instead...

They are responsible for being players in most anti-net neutrality legislation, started the ball rolling on passing laws preventing competition by municipal ISPs, etc. THEY ARE EVIL.

Kidding aside, I am not a fan of unions, especially UAW. I am for worker's rights but a union isn't the way to go. Instead, I think a manager should be evaluated by his or her underlings and the manager's job lies in the outcome.

GM for sucking off the taxpayer's tit