InfoWorld: Everybody Wants A Piece Of My Paycheck

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://weblog.infoworld.com/techwatch/archives/000694.html' target='_blank'>http://weblog.infoworld.com/techwat...ves/000694.html</a><br /><br /></div>Ephraim Schwartz over at InfoWorld was tempted by a new subscription that Blockbuster was offering:<br /><br /><i>"The latest news from Blockbuster announcing the launch of its online DVD rental service has me ecstatic. For $19.95 per month I will be sent any three videos of my choosing on DVD, with no return date. Of course I can't rent three more till I return the other three. For $29.95 I could get five DVDs at a time. But looking for more ways to stay tuned into my PC/DVD player rather than going outside, I took the top of the line offer, eight DVDs for a mere $39.95. The only trouble is that when I went online to check my bank account this week it looked rather anemic, so I ran a high end enterprise variance analytics program which measures expected paycheck against actual."</i><br /><br />He goes on to discover he's got 8 technology-related subscriptions, for a total of $413.85/month. 8O I was going to laugh at it, but then I started wondering how many subscriptions have... and... I don't know exactly! I'll have to go dig it out. I'm pretty sure I'm not spending $400/month, but the things are certainly proliferating. What about you?

[brianchris]

I was just wondering about this myself the other day. Lets see.....

High Speed ISP (cable), cell phone, hosted exchange solution, DirecTV, two land phone lines (each with gobs of features), basic cable (for local channels).....

I'm sure there are more than those that I'm forgetting, and I'm actually considering an online backup soltuion which would be yet another subscription. If you don't watch them, they can add up.

[surur]

Does electricity count? :lol: I'm just glad PPCThoughts is included in one of my subs.

Surur

[Sven Johannsen]

It's bad when even your watch has a subscription :wink:

[whydidnt]

I guess it depends on what you consider technology...

Cell Phone with Data - $70.00
DSL - $45
Direct TV ~ $120. (with NFL season Ticket)
Land Lines - $75.00
Netflix - $23.00
Various Technology Magazine Supscriptions - $10.00
Having to explain it all to your wife for the 80th time - Priceless :rotfl:

It adds up pretty quickly - and this doesn't include the ongoing hardware & software purchases. I often wonder how many years earlier I'd be able to retire if I never acquired my gadget addiction. :twisted:

[Janak Parekh]

It's bad when even your watch has a subscription :wink:
Darn. I forgot about including that one in my mental list. I know I have a bunch of annual ones.

--janak

[arnage2]

phone: $112 (landline)
cellphone: $55 (nextel)
cable internet: $55 (comcast 3mbps)
DirecTV: $120+ (totalchoice plus with locals, hbo, max, starz, showtime, TMC, 4 sat boxes, HDTV pack, protection plan, PPV)
http://DI.FM: $4 (basic service)
Sat radio: $10 (XM)
Realone superpass: $10 give or take
Tech magazines: $35+
Web host: $??

[rlobrecht]

Dish Network $100
2 landlines $80
my cell phone free (company pays)
my cell family plan $70
Sprint Broadband internet $45

I got to $300 real easy, and probably forgot some things.

[dean_shan]

I've got a few, not too much though. PPCT used to be on the list but I switched to a Life Member.

[tthiel]

Blockbuster sucks. Buy Netflix.

[CoreyJF]

Cable tv - 50
Cable internet - 40
Cell - 75
Landline - 50
AOL BYOA - 15
Audible - 20
SIAM Digital - 3+
Web Hosting serivce - 6

that is about 260 and I am sure I am leaving stuff off.

[surur]

If were going to be listing things

Sky+ £40 (TIVO-like satellite service in UK)
4 cellphone subs £25 +£30 + £15 + £15 =£85
ADSL £24
Landline £44
Digiguide £1/m
PPCThoughts $4
Real Rhapsody $10

Adds to around $360 (excluding all the electricity it takes to run :) )

Surur

[felixdd]

I often wonder how many years earlier I'd be able to retire if I never acquired my gadget addiction. :twisted:

But how much earlier would your life have ended if you never acquired your gadget addiction? ;)

[dean_shan]

AOL BYOA? What's that?

[rmasinag]

PPCT and Maximun PC only baby! :mrgreen:

[Janak Parekh]

AOL BYOA? What's that?
"Bring Your Own Access". It is used when you only need AOL as your email/IM client and want to use their platform even if you have another ISP. It connects to AOL over the Internet.

--janak

[Kati Compton]

AOL BYOA? What's that?
"Bring Your Own Access". It is used when you only need AOL as your email/IM client and want to use their platform even if you have another ISP. It connects to AOL over the Internet.
Seems to me that should be cheaper than $15. If I'm going to pay $15/mo for an account on top of the actual internet access, I'd want shell access. But I suppose that's just me.

I can see it as being useful if you don't want to give up your @aol.com email address, though. I guess I'm just surprised it's not cheaper.

[ctmagnus]

Primary cell phone - ~$40/mo inc 2MB data
Secondary cell phone - $10/mo pay as you go, voice only
2600 subscription - $52/two years

All Canadian dollars

[dean_shan]

BYOA seems pretty lame. I don't get it. Does AOL really offer that much extra content?

[carphead]

Sky = 18 GBP
Phone = 20 GBP
Mobile = 25 GBP
Adsl = 25 GBP
Usenet = 7 GBP
PPCT = 4 GBP

That's it not so bad :)

[ironguy]

Dish
PPCT
Netflix
3 Cell phones
Internet
2 tech mags


Is that it? I'm behind the times...

[ignar]

1st Cell phone: $35
2nd Cell phone: $20
Web Hosting 1 (Reseller): $30
Web Hosting 2 (shared): $2
Cable TV+Internet: $60
MaximumPC: $1 ($12/year)
MSN Premium: $9.95 (Just for included MLB.com All Access which alone costs $19.95 if purchased separately. Will cancel it when the baseball season is over :))

[Jonathan1]

Internet $60 and that is it. My cell phone is company paid so I'm pretty much set. This is why I'd give up Microsoft's software cold turkey if they even THINK of forcing us into a subscription model for Windows, Office, etc, etc. I pay once for my stuff and that is it. I do not need to get nickled and dimed to death from these companies.

This is why I'll probably get the lifetime subscription for Tivo when I get it this fall. Its expensive at $400 vs $13 a month. But I know if I get into financial problems somewhere down the road its one less bill per month I have to deal with. I'm not dicking around with a payment here and a payment there. All or nothing with me.

PS- $35 or so per month for D-TV. But its not like a have a choice in the matter. If they got the SCI-FI channel on local stations I would drop them as well. :P I can survive a week without my Stargate SG1/Atlantis. :D

[jonathanchoo]

Well luckily I have yet to fall to News Corp (Sky) clutches! And DVB serves me well on my PC/WinTV Nova combo (and its free).

UGC Cinema (not technology but since you included Blockbusters...) 10GBP
Mobile (o2) 30GBP
shared Broadband 15GBP
PC Pro average 2GBP a month

That's it I think. I have other subscriptions but I am glad that its not on tech...

[bjornkeizers]

The only thing I have is that I contribute 5 euro per month for our family broadband access. I don't read any mags, I get my Ebooks and such 'free'. I have several prepaid phones or 0/month contracts.

So, for 5 euro a month, I'm done.

[tthiel]

Better give it up then because they've not only thought about it they've tried it with corporations and consumers are next.

This is why I'd give up Microsoft's software cold turkey if they even THINK of forcing us into a subscription model for Windows, Office, etc, etc. I pay once for my stuff and that is it. I do not need to get nickled and dimed to death from these companies.

[WyattEarp]

Only have a $39.00/mo. cell phone bill since I just moved upstate but I'm debating restarting my other subs.
1. Pocket PC Mag @$26.00/2yrs
2. Maximum PC Mag @$12.00/yr
3. DSL @$29.00/mo (dial-up just plain :evil: )

[szamot]

all best things in life are free, and so is eveything I get. From InfommationWeek, to Network Computing etc.. even my DSL is free as is my cell, since my company pays for it.....so really still free to me. :D

[dean_shan]

Hey for people that are into free try out Ben's Bargains (http://www.bensbargains.net[/url). I get about 5 free mags from them.

[chunkymonkey75]

I must be really cheap:

cell phone for me and wife $70
cable TV $10
LAN Line phone $0
Pocket PC Thoughts $3
MSN Extra Storage $2
PC Magazines $10
Cable Internet $45

$140 per month

[Janak Parekh]

Better give it up then because they've not only thought about it they've tried it with corporations and consumers are next.
Not really. Upgrade Assurance is by no means required. Most of my customers are perfectly happy with one-time licenses, and Volume Licenses restrict restrictions, instead of increasing them.

--janak

[Oleander]

Let's see:

ADSL (2 Mbps) - 133
ISP - 4
land phone - 62
Mobile Phone1 - 5
Mobile Phone2 - 7
VoIP (IConnectHere) - 12
Cable TV - 20
Linux server - 5
Usenet (Alibis) - 12
Usenet (Newshosting) - 15
MSN Extra Storage - 2
Everquest (x 2) - 21
Allakhazam - 2.5
Stardock - 5
USAbox - 10
Digital certificate (mail) - 2
PC Magazines - 20

Total 337 $ per month. Hey! I actually expected it to be higher! 8O
Since I've been issued a new type of VISA/cash card (Dankort (a country-wide forced replacement actually)) just yesterday, I've counted all the stuff on "your side of the pond" that I'm paying for, and so far I'm at 15. I gave up on changing them right now since the first 4 wouldnt recognize the card. Isn't modern life great? :(

[manywhere]

Hmm, not much: ADSL
Phone line
GSM
Cable tv
ServerAll totalling around 110 €... :)


Since I've been issued a new type of VISA/cash card (Dankort (a country-wide forced replacement actually)) just yesterday, I've counted all the stuff on "your side of the pond" that I'm paying for, and so far I'm at 15. I gave up on changing them right now since the first 4 wouldnt recognize the card. Isn't modern life great? :(
Is it a Visa Electron perhaps? I know that the Electron cards generally are not usable on the other side of the "pond". Making it work with Amazon (UK) was a pain in the behind and I finally got it working by reversing the order my name was in (and removing my second first-name). :roll:

Especially the bank (Nordea) that issued my card seems to have put many restrictions on the card and generally says that I need to get the "real" Visa card for internet transactions. But, I haven't got a permanent job (I'm studying currently) which means that I can not get the friggin Visa card... :evil:

[Shuushin]

Well - when I first saw this vote I thought - "must be 1-5".

It aint.

It's 8 and I'm probably leaving something out.


cable w/inet 90
cell 49
xm 10
audible 20
runescape (for kids) 15
msn extra sto 2
domain names 5.50
web host 4

That's 195.50 /mo in USD.

I was just thinking of doing Netflix too; nope - not gonna do it.