Measuring Gigabytes

Just how much is a gigabyte (GB)? This question is becoming very popular among those debating ISP monthly usage caps. More to the point, those in the know, or at least those most concerned about it, are wondering whether the hypothetical average broadband user knows what it is.

It's a good question. Unfortunately the discussion tends to generate more heat than light (see commentary under various posts in DSL Reports for some examples). However the marketing tactics of the ISPs is very questionable, and is responsible for much of the anger.

Just how many emails or web pages make up a GB? Silly question; it's silly because if all you do is email and browsing you are very unlikely to have reason to care - you'll never hit the usage cap even in a lower-tier service with caps of 5 GB or even less. Advertising that a cap of several GB is supposedly equivalent to some millions of emails, SMS messages or web pages can only be intended to make the majority complacent, confused, or both, without giving a true measure of what can in fact be accommodated within the cap.

There is an analogous situation with electrical power consumption. I am always surprised when I quiz people who are confused about power usage to find they have a poor understanding of how much is consumed by everyday devices. One popular choice for biggest power consumer in the home is the television (wrong!).

I have found it helpful to make a brief, ordered list of power consumption to help them improve their understanding:

1. Heating (kettle, stove, microwave, refrigerator, space heater, clothes dryer)
2. Motors (lawnmower, washing machine, power saw)
3. Lights and electronics
   

Of course this is an incomplete picture since it doesn't take into account how many and how much of each is used. Still, it does help to communicate the abstract concept of power consumption to those with little technical knowledge.

If we were to do the same with data consumption the list might look like this:

1. HD-DVD
2. YouTube, MP3/music/podcast
   
3. Photos
4. Browsing and email
   

Again, this presentation is incomplete but able to communicate an abstract concept.

Yet the ISPs are proposing a measure using the least burdensome applications. This is dishonest since it misleads the majority who are not technologically knowledgable; sort of like focusing on compact fluourescent lights rather than home insulation. As to why they do this, a popular hypothesis is that this is part of their campaign to impugn the reputations of those who use a lot of rich media, including P2P users. The subliminal argument being along the lines of: "you can do more stuff with your broadband service than you could possibly consume, so obviously those who find 2M emails/month inadequate are abusing the service and it is justified for us to put limits on them. Sure you, too, have the same limits, but you aren't one of them. You are a responsible, law-abiding consumer."

Of course they aren't actually saying this, so perhaps I am unfairly tarring them when their intentions are only the very best. Time will tell if they are being fair or are merely buttressing their existing desire to impair any and all rich media services other than their own, whether absolutely legal or in the nebulous regions inhabited by P2P.

Should the fight against this ISP strategy depend on the average user becoming knowledgable about gigabytes, then I am not confident of success.