the dead zone

Tweet

There's a small village on the bus route between Home and City where I always lose the free bus weefee. I don't know why; I may be married to a Geek, but I have no interest in how technological pixies do their magic. It could be due to the dip we go down, mayhaps. I like to think it's more to do with a Time Slip of some sort. Perhaps for those couple of minutes we're stuck in 1934. Anyways, it always boots up again. Well, it usually boots up again, if it booted up in the first place. It may be free and the signal may often be strong, but sometimes it just refuses to play. Do you remember a time when we all naïvely assumed that the internet would one day be available everywhere, for free? It was a fleeting thought, and maybe it was only me who thought it, but it was a nice little idea while it lasted. The best thing about the internet is that once we have an ISP we can go anywhere we want in the world, all for one fixed price {subject to change at contract end}. That's right, we can go anywhere. Do you want to renew your library book or request a prescription? You can do that. Would you like to do some research? Google is your bestest friend. You want to stay in touch with friends and family? Well, hello Facebook! Have medical symptoms? WebMD or the NHS are perfect websites through which to worry yourself silly. You need to book a table at a restaurant. There's a free app for that. Let's go shopping! Until you pop your credit card details in, even that's free! Trump wants to repeal Net Neutrality in America. If this happens you'll probably have to buy a package, like we do with our telly. They'll be a package to suit a social media junkie, another to suit the filmaniac, another for the sports fan who likes to keep up to date with the cricket. If you desire anything that isn't part of your package, you'll be billed extra, like you are with your phone's mobile data and calls plan. The rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world, as Transvision Vamp {and The Kinks} once declared. We may as well go back to living in the Dark Ages. America, sort it out. We don't want to lose our net neutrality, but if you do, we will too.