The luxury of having a PC..

Today I got a letter from the german TV licence fee collecting agency.

Things you have to registrate:

- Radios (even if it is a car radio, or on your mobile phone, or your PC is able to play the radio)
- novel radio sets (PCs which can go online, PDAs, MDAs, UMTS- and Wifi-compatible mobile phones etc.)
- or both

Then you have another category for

- TV (also: GPS which can transmit TV-programmes, PCs which can transmit TV programmes, DVD/VHS-recorder which can transmit TV-programmes)

and the ones I just mentioned above.


Seriously: Which student does not have a PC?
In my opinion it is a basic gadget you need while you're studying!
So the percentage of students without a PC must be very low.

Then concerning the TV:

In Germany they mostly show OLD, and I mean REALLY OLD, movies and series, so what's the point paying for something which is sometimes even older than I am, and being able to "enjoy" the replays every single year over and over again?

In the U.S. you at least have movies coming out on TV which are maybe one year old.
Here those movies are shown after about 4 years...


Also: I think it is absolutely unfair, to stress the students with just another fee to pay.

We have to pay
1) our flat/room in a flat share
2) if we have our own flat we have to pay for gas/electricity
3) for an internet connection
4) the mobile phone bill
5) a certain fee every semester
6) books you need for uni

Then for basic things like

7) food
8) sanitary articles

Then -in my opinion- we deserve to have a bit fun so

9) clothes etc.
10) cinema, parties, you name it..
11) maybe cigarettes if you are a smoker (ok that's not the agency's problem, that's true)

So that means: students are not even allowed to look up things (for example: for UNI!) on the internet, or keep in touch with people on the internet for FREE?


Of course I'm going to pay my fee, but I think it is exorbitant to ask students to pay such fees.

I am not even sure if it is okay to write a critic like that in public, but it is even written in our constitution that we're allowed to have our own opinion about things. So here is mine.