Quote:You need to get your head out of the sand and realize the free market is not working in some idealized fashion highlighted by your high-school text book. The number of internet providers has decreased.

 

you need to get your head out of the sand and actually read the context of a post.  I was responding to the idea that Republicans like a shrinking number of producers.  That's not the case.  As you pointed out, the options for people pursuing hard line cable are beginning to truncate.  That is due in part to the fact that hard line cable is dependent upon infrastructure that is by definition finite.  The only companies with access to the infrastructure to bring you hard line cable and internet are generally the cable company itself and the phone company.  As such, the market functions based on much more monopolistic competition. 

 

The good news is that as technology advances, consumers are being provided with more options for entertainment in general.  As some have mentioned in this thread, there are more and more options for people to find entertainment outside the confines of HD cable.  Online, subscription service, Etc. etc. etc.  As technology advances and the means by which dependable internet connections at high speeds can be delivered to consumers becomes more diverse, then cable providers will be exposed to more and more competition for capital and that will ultimately bring the costs down.  In the meantime, it is incumbent upon us as consumers to be as creative as possible in filling our entertainment needs and our personal allocations of our entertainment dollars will provide the most efficient support for the good alternatives as they emerge in the market place. 

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