首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
考研
The staggering variety of free stuff available on the Internet sometimes seems to have repealed the first law of economics: Ther
The staggering variety of free stuff available on the Internet sometimes seems to have repealed the first law of economics: Ther
admin
2015-07-13
46
问题
The staggering variety of free stuff available on the Internet sometimes seems to have repealed the first law of economics: There’s no such thing as a free lunch. But as so often happens, the dismal science actually has it right. When it looks like you’re getting something for nothing, somebody is paying, and it’s often instructive to know who that is.
I’ve been testing a new phone service called ooma that provides an interesting case in point. Once you pay $399 up front for a box called the ooma Hub and connect it to your phone and the Internet via your home network, you are promised free, unlimited phone calls over two lines, plus voice mail. The system works fine and is simple to set up.
When a voice-over-Internet call has to go to a regular phone number, a service such as ooma usually has to pay a ’termination fee" to a carrier such as Verizon. Skype, for example, charges 2% per minute for calls outside the Skype network. But ooma avoids this by using some of its customers—those who have kept regular phone lines—to serve as gateways onto the local phone network at no charge.
When you want to call outside the ooma network, the call moves from your Hub over the Internet to a second landline-connected Hub within the destination’s local calling area. The Hub dials the target number and patches the call through. In effect, ooma customers with landlines pay to keep the whole system going. You don’t even notice if your landline is being used because your own phone calls go out over your broadband connection, with your flat-rate monthly phone bill covering the ooma traffic. In fact, this improves the efficiency of the phone system by putting idle lines to work. But if ooma ever gains real traction, I expect a legal assault from big phone companies, which are losing income from termination fees.
Web services do take advantage of genuine economies. The phone network is more expensive than the Net. Lots of Net players build on these advantages. Skype relies on selected users who act, often without their knowledge, as "super nodes" to manage the system. FreeConference.com provides calls by taking advantage of regulatory quirks—namely, the stiff termination fees long-distance carriers must pay to certain rural phone companies that handle calls into their territory. In effect, the free conferences are subsidized by customers and shareholders of the long-distance carriers. You may as well enjoy free calls while you can. But it’s always a good idea to read the fine print. If it isn’t obvious who’s paying for a free service, it might well be you.
The ooma system promised free, unlimited phone calls by _____.
选项
A、connecting the ooma Hub to your phone
B、taking advantage of their customers
C、paying termination fee to carrier Verizon
D、keeping regular local phone lines
答案
B
解析
推理判断题。文章第三段提到ooma是通过利用一些使用常规电话线的用户而提供免费无限制打电话的服务,故选B。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/F074777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
Itisatruthuniversallyacknowledgedthateducationisthekeytoeconomicsuccess.Everyoneknowsthatthejobsofthefuture
WriteacertificateforClairishComputersLtd.,clarifyingyourqualificationtocertifythiscompany,yourrelationshipwith
WriteanessaywiththetitleofOnInternetCulture.Inyouressay,youshould:1.talkabouttheInternetculture;2.listthe
Publicimagereferstohowacompanyisviewedbyitscustomers,suppliers,andstockholders,bythefinancialcommunity,bythe
Wesometimeshearthatessaysareanold-fashionedform,thatso-and-soisthe"lastessayist",butthefactsofthemarketplace
In1998consumerscouldpurchasevirtuallyanythingovertheInternet.Books,compactdiscs,andevenstockswereavailablefrom
Scholasticthinkersheldawidevarietyofdoctrinesinbothphilosophyandtheology,thestudyofreligion.Whatgivesunityto
Scholasticthinkersheldawidevarietyofdoctrinesinbothphilosophyandtheology,thestudyofreligion.Whatgivesunityto
随机试题
有时我想,把每天都当作生命的最后一天来度过也不失为一个很好的生活法则。这种人生态度会使人格外重视生命的价值。每一天我们都应该以和善的态度、充沛的精力和热情的欣赏来度过,而这些常常是在来日方长时被我们忽视的东西。当然,也有些人奉行享乐主义的座右铭——吃喝玩乐
如果采用A407焊条,焊缝中容易产生_____。
对诊断原发性肝癌最有意义的是
患儿,4岁。发热,呕吐半月,间断抽搐5天,颈强(+),克氏征阴性,脑脊液白细胞480×106/L,淋巴:80%,中性20%,糖1.2mmol/L。氯化物95mmol/L,诊断为结核性脑膜炎,治疗应选()
甲公司以定向增发普通股股票的方式购买乙公司持有的A公司30%的股权,能够对A公司施加重大影响。为取得该股权,甲公司增发2000万股普通股股票,每股面值为1元,每股公允价值为5元;另以银行存款支付承销商佣金50万元,支付为取得股权发生的相关审计费20万元。取
以其壮观之势,被公认为我国瀑布之首的是()。
训练班级成员的自我管理、自我教育的最好载体是()。
下列属于公务员的是:
为方便市民随时随地免费借书看书,某市计划投建50个“城市书房”,面向不同人群提供富有针对性的阅读选择。下列对这一做法理解不正确的是
TheimprobablechainofeventsthatleadsAlexanderFleming1.______todiscoverpenicillinin1928isthestuffwhichs
最新回复
(
0
)