Speaking of wanting to be more than they are, what's up with ISP's?

Why is it that the big ISPs seem to think that people want some kind of content from them? I'm going to pick pn Verizon for a bit only because this is my most recent experience. I've had similar experience in the past with Cox and Earthlink in the past.

When you go to the Verizon FiOS Online Services page, it tells you that you can "Kick start your FiOS experience". FiOS experience? I thought it was a fiber-based DSL service.

The rest of the page goes into how they're offering "Verizon Yahoo! for FiOS" or "Verizon FiOS Internet wirh MSN Premium." Both are basically Verizon FiOS branded Yahoo and MSN Premium offerings. When I had my FiOS install done actually, I had to insist a couple times that a) I don't want MSN Premium or Yahoo whether it's free or not and b) I don't want them to install any other software on my computer.

I have something to share with internet providers out there....

All I want from my internet service provider is a pipe. I want them to get bits from my house to the internet and back. That's it. There's enough "content" out there on the internet that I don't need my ISP's marketing team trying to make it into a "Verizon FiOS" experience. It's like picking up the phone and chatting with the Verizon 411 operator because you want to talk to someone. Why would I do that?

Please, just give me what I'm paying for and get out of my way.

I do have to say that once you get past the marketing push, Verizon hasn't stepped in on my "experience" so far. On the install and the pre-install marketing they make it look like you need all of this extra crap, but you don't need any of it. That includes the setup/config software and their router. I just wish I didn't have to go through the marketing obstacle course to get there.

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