Talking Points

On August 13th, Microsoft’s motherload of bug fixes, updates, and upgrades landed on the desktop in my office, which still runs Microsoft XP.  From ActiveX Killbits to the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - August edition, some 14 patches adding up to 37 megabytes of data were delivered over my broadband connection.  Considering the fact we maintain three desktops and three laptops here, that 37 megabytes just became 222 megabytes, just for whatever problems Microsoft uncovered this month.

In a usage cap environment, even routine software updates count against your monthly bandwidth allotment.  And don’t forget to include the frequent updates to anti-virus, anti-spyware and other related applications that will bring updates sometimes more than once per day.

While no single application of this type will consume an enormous amount of bandwidth, the impact is cumulative.  A little here, a little there, and suddenly you find yourself over the limit.

It’s just one more talking point to consider mentioning in a broadband world hampered by usage caps and limits.

[Update: A great comment from rreay reminds me of these updates in the last week or two as well.  Anyone have any more to add to the list?]

• The recent iPhone/iPod touch update was 250 MB.
• 60 MB for the last iTunes/Quicktime update.

Robb from Hillsboro, Oregon graciously gave permission to share his own research on what a 5GB cap means in the real world.  Some upset about the usage cap announced by Frontier have suggested that’s almost as bad as going back to dial-up.  But as Robb discovered, you would be better off with 56k dialup!  That’s because an unlimited Frontier dial-up account can deliver more to you in a month than a crippled DSL account with a 5GB usage cap on it.

See the numbers for yourself:

Courtesy: Robb (a/k/a 'funchords'), Hillsboro, Oregon