The connection

On a recent excursion to this year's computer exhibition at the Jakarta Convention Center, I became more and more confused as I talked to the Internet provider advertising their products.

It wasn't only a technological misunderstanding as I am fairly well-versed in the lingo of the Internet. What was initially surprising were the claims for baud rates, for example, which have nothing to do with the reality of living in even a modest middle-class home here.

After speaking with three of the main providers, I noticed a coincidental (?) factor which in other places I have lived and worked would be called "collusion". An ugly word, but probably accurate in this circumstance.

After all, this involved three distinct companies which were all offering the same rate of Rp 90,000 for 40 hours of connect time. Is this supposed to be free market pricing?

Then again, maybe I was just dreaming that I wasn't in Kansas anymore.

SID PERRET

Jakarta