Definition Of Opportunity Cost

US cable TV giant adding Skype calls

SAN FRANCISCO — US cable TV giant Comcast announced plans to add video chat to television viewing through a partnership with Skype.

Comcast said customers would soon be able to make and receive video calls through high-definition televisions using Skype.

"TV has evolved into a social experience, and Comcast and Skype will be delivering a product that personalizes the TV experience even more," said cable company president Neil Smit.

"Our unique relationship with Skype not only will change how our customers interact with their TV, but also will create new and meaningful ways to bring our customers closer to the people they care about," he added.

Comcast envisioned enabling people to make low-cost Internet video calls on "the biggest screen in the house" while watching big televised events or celebrating special occasions.

"We can bring video calling to the heart of the home, allowing people to share life's experiences both big and small," said Skype chief executive Tony Bates.

The service will work on high-definition television screens using an adaptor box, a video camera, and a TV remote control adapted for text messaging.

Comcast planned to begin testing the Skype service with customers in the coming months.

The partnership came in the wake of Microsoft cutting a deal to buy Internet voice and video leader Skype for $8.5 billion dollars.

The purchase of Skype, which reportedly also attracted interest from Cisco, Facebook and Google, is the largest ever by Microsoft and gives it control of one of the few companies whose name has become a verb, as in to "Skype."

Skype, one of the top applications on Apple's iPhone and on smartphones powered by Google's Android software, has some 170 million users who will now be able to "Skype" using Windows-powered phones or even Xbox game consoles.

"Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world," Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer vowed while announcing the Skype acquisition last month.

Microsoft said Skype will become a new business division within Microsoft with Skype CEO Bates assuming the title of president of the Microsoft Skype Division, reporting directly to Ballmer.

Skype users can make low-cost or free phone calls over the Internet using their computers or smartphones. Skype bypasses the standard telephone network by channeling voice and video calls over the Web.

Krugman-in-Wonderland: Paul Krugman: government eliminates ...

If goods truly are collective, then it ultimately is up to that most collective entity, government, to "distribute" them. Pay no attention to the real problems that arise out of the notion of collective things, which is nothing but socialism using different terms. And even Paul Krugman cannot "solve" the central problem of socialism: economic calculation. But inflation-adjusted premiums on private health insurance rose more than 700 percent over the same period. So while it’s true that Medicare has done an inadequate job of controlling costs, the private sector has done much worse. And if we deny Medicare to 65- and 66-year-olds, we’ll be forcing them to get private insurance — if they can — that will cost much more than it would have cost to provide the same coverage through Medicare. And then there’s the international evidence. The United States has the most privatized health care system in the advanced world; it also has, by far, the most expensive care, without gaining any clear advantage in quality for all that spending. Health is one area in which the public sector consistently does a better job than the private sector at controlling costs. I cannot believe for a second that Krugman would claim that medical care is a non scarce item, yet, he writes about medical care as though it is not scarce. For example, take his long-held view that medical capital drives up costs . If that were true, then it would be the first time in economic history that the presence of capital (at least developed in a free market) forced real costs to be higher than they would be in the absence of capital. I live in Canada where all my medical bills are paid for out of my taxes. Since my doctor retired some months ago, I have been unable to find a replacement. The clinic were he partnered has been unable to find anyone willing to work as a GP for the kind of rates that the government mandates. When they do find someone, the only way to make ends meet is to jam as many patients through the doors as is possible in the course of a day. Naturally, the quality of care suffers immeasurably.

I buy roadside assistance insurance through AAA. I pay around $75 annually which is affordable for virtually anyone. If government compelled AAA to pay for new tires, oil changes, spark plugs, headlamps, break lamps, timing belts, wiper blades, batteries, and filters, then the cost of the insurance would be many times higher. This is precisely what has happened to health insurance.

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