by
dane » Tue Jul 26, 2016 11:45 am
ankh wrote:I wish you'd open a tip jar or a kickstarter to keep Sonic's Usenet alive.
You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
The trouble is that the platform would require a complete re-work of the hardware. It's just very old systems at this point, and they're all beginning to fail at an increasing pace. The software, administration, updates etc are all a challenge too, so it'd take a lot of staff time to re-work.
The number of Sonic customers who use our Usenet services is about 300 in total, so it's not a large pool of users. That makes the shift of staffing and financial resources in this direction a challenge, because we'd be pulling those away from our core focus, fiber construction, software tools and service delivery automation.
The other key for me is whether it's something we should or must do because it's not available elsewhere. In other words, can the service be easily replaced "over the top". Do we need to offer pay per view video rentals? Nope, you can use Vudu or an Apple TV. Similar for Usenet; can you get access to it elsewhere? Yes, through Google Groups or any of the outside Usenet services. On the other hand, fiber to the home, we must do - consumers don't have an alternative if we don't bring it. This isn't always black and white, for example, should we do satellite TV, or home security, or email for that matter. Each requires some thought about how we can add value, benefit our customers, or drive the economic engine that builds more fiber. Something like satellite TV, consumers could get direct, but we can add value by selling a complimentary bundle at a lower total cost, while driving dollars into construction as a side benefit. Other features like Email could be delivered by others, but a huge percentage of our customers make use of it, appreciate the support that is available, and we can provide an umbrella of privacy that they may not get from a free email provider "over the top".
This isn't a zero sum game. Every choice we make here regarding what we focus on, spend, build and do results in other things that we cannot focus on, spend, or built. I'd love to have unlimited resources, but in regards to great people in particular, we've got to keep our team focused on the things that will make the most difference for the most customers in the long view.
Hope this helps provide some background and understanding regarding the decision to end Usenet service. It's not something we've taken a casual approach to, Usenet has a special place for us too here. It was one of the key features Sonoma Interconnect provided from day one.
