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Usenet and the message boards being referred to are ‘proto-internet’ services. Think BBS, where your computer dialed into a service, and you could interact with that builiten board, the messages and users on it, as well as any files it had available for download.
Usenet had newsgroups that were very diverse and specific, and originally were just like message boards, but at some point, the major remaining Usenet servers started just sharing to each other, or maybe more appropriately, they would reference each other.
As someone mentioned before, it’s a protocol just like HTTP. There’s a bunch of servers all hosting webpages made in hypertext, and we just jump between them with links. Likewise, there’s a bunch of servers out there hosting newsgroups, but you have to find a gateway to get started. The reason there’s no ‘one’ company is akin to asking why all websites aren’t hosted/owned by one company.
If anything… It’s kinda like lemmy/fediverse stuff. You make an account with one instance, but since the protocols are the same, you can use your account on that one instance to talk to the whole fediverse network, multiple instances.
Why it costs is because at this point, it’s an archive. A huge archive, of not just text discussions, but also all the files that have been posted since a very long time ago. And just like the currently ‘free’ archive.org, it costs money to host all of that. Usenet is a bit less resource intensive than a modern website, so it can just basically sit… But they just ask that you pay to access it, pay to have an account. In this case, you’re paying to access a network that is separated from the rest of the internet at large.
I can’t wait for the EV future and even work for a manufacturer building them… But this post is the reality in the US market right now.
The cars are too expensive, the charging infrastructure is not there for people living in apartments (which at least where I live, accounts for the majority of new housing construction), our local power grid is already sagging because we haven’t built a power plant in decades… And a significant amount of people have commutes totaling or exceeding 80mi (round trip) because the jobs are in the city, but don’t pay well enough to live there, so they have to rent in the more rural towns and rely on the interstates to get around.
Could we, in America, make the 2030 deadline? Perhaps, but only if the government actually did something about it. We would need a massive infrastructure investment, we would need some regulations that define the cars requirements that are something other than “doesn’t blow smoke”. We would need a more aggressive subsidization program (like most of the other countries that are attempting to push heavy EV adoption)… And above all, it needs to be affordable to everyone, not just the person looking to swap out their BMW or Lexus for the new hotness. It’s gotta be affordable to the blue collar hard worker that is currently driving a late 90s pickup truck, or an early 2000s Camry. It’s gotta be affordable to the family that is buying a four-owner minivan. And it can’t be just because you point out “But the electricity is cheaper than gas! You’ll save in the long run…” Because they’d rather pay for the convenience and peace of mind that comes from knowing there’s a filing station every 10 miles, vs having to plan their existence around 30min charging stops.
If battery tech improves and range anxiety disappears, along with better rapid charging? None of this will be an issue anymore. Because that’s what everyone I’ve talked to is worried about: range and charging time. They want their replacement car to be BETTER than what it replaced. As would everyone, no? Especially when dealing with Americans, asking them the assign value to ‘being efficient/good for the environment’ doesn’t work. So yes, you’ve spent more up front, you’ve reduced the total distance you can drive on a full tank, you made refueling a hassle, and have to also hire a contractor to wire up charging capability in your garage. But you are now personally less responsible for carbon emissions!
…it’s a hard sell. What’s also a hard sell: I am one person. I do not need an SUV. I drive a coupe Civic right now… Where’s my compact econobox EV? Do I have to buy a big luxury sedan or SUV (or truck! Though I appreciate Ford and Rivian for making those options available) just to have an EV?