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The staggering variety of free stuff available on the Internet sometimes seems to have repealed the first law of economics: Ther
The staggering variety of free stuff available on the Internet sometimes seems to have repealed the first law of economics: Ther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
106
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The staggering variety of free stuff available on the Internet sometimes seems to have repealed the first law of economics: There’s no such thing as a free lunch.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.
It could be concluded from the passage that the ooma service _____.
选项
A、worked illegally by losing termination fees
B、improved the efficiency of the phone system
C、was paid by the ooma customers
D、covered the ooma traffic by broadband connection
答案
B
解析
推理判断题。文章第四段倒数第二句提到ooma利用了闲置的电话线路,提高了电话系统的使用效率,故选B。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/G074777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
Ifthereisanyendeavourwhosefruitsshouldbefreelyavailable,thatendeavourissurelypubliclyfinancedscience.Morally,
Ifthereisanyendeavourwhosefruitsshouldbefreelyavailable,thatendeavourissurelypubliclyfinancedscience.Morally,
Mike,oneofyourfriends,issoaddictedtomakingfriendsontheInternetthathehaslittlesocialinteractioninreality.Yo
Publicimagereferstohowacompanyisviewedbyitscustomers,suppliers,andstockholders,bythefinancialcommunity,bythe
Publicimagereferstohowacompanyisviewedbyitscustomers,suppliers,andstockholders,bythefinancialcommunity,bythe
In1998consumerscouldpurchasevirtuallyanythingovertheInternet.Books,compactdiscs,andevenstockswereavailablefrom
Scholasticthinkersheldawidevarietyofdoctrinesinbothphilosophyandtheology,thestudyofreligion.Whatgivesunityto
随机试题
急性心肌损伤后,哪种标志物最早会恢复至正常水平
挤压综合征主要是指伤后出现
蜜丸变硬的原因是
A.舌面板B.树脂基托C.腭杆D.腭板E.舌托上颌8765∣678缺失,可选择
对降低慢性心力衰竭患者总死亡率较为肯定的药物是
【背景资料】某矿副井井筒工程项目,井筒净径6.5m,井深726m,井筒穿越地层为第四系、白垩系和侏罗系。其中,第四系冲积层厚102m,基岩段岩层多为泥岩、砂质泥岩及中粗砂岩,普氏系数为2~13。第四系及白垩系地层设计为双层钢筋混凝土井壁,侏罗系地
企业自营工程建造固定资产领用本企业自产产品,应当计算增值税销项税额,将其计入工程成本中。()
我国居民王某为某大学会计学院的教授,2016年9月在本职工作之余为A单位提供咨询服务取得收入5000元;到B学校讲学4次,每次收入均为2000元(合同注明讲学收入为税后收入)。则王某就上述收入在2016年9月份应缴纳的个人所得税为()元。
在希尔排序法中,每经过一次数据交换后()。
FromBostontoLosAngeles,fromNewYorkCitytoChicagotoDallas,museumsareeitherplanning,building,orwrappingupwhol
最新回复
(
0
)