The Great Exchange

Fri May 29 14:23:34 UTC 1998

On Fri, 29 May 1998, Perry E. Metzger wrote:

> Michael Shields writes:
> > Despite preductions, very few resources have ever actually become "too
> > cheap to meter".
> 
> Television?

A broadcast medium with no mechanism for measurement without additional
hardware.  There are also pay-per-view events which are certainly metered.

> Local phone service in many places?

And the phone company most definitely wants you to switch to metered 
local service.  That's why they offer additional calling areas for people
that switch to area calling.  The stumbling block is that traditionally
it was unmetered because the old switches had no mechanism to measure it.

> Matchbooks?

If i go to Walmart to get matches, they are most definitely metered.  Just
because some places give them away for promotion doesn't mean they are free
any more than caps and T-shirts are free.

> Sewer service?

Don't know where you are from, but I pay for sewage based on consumption.
They don't measure the sewage, but assume it is proportional to water usage.

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