TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: Why is Congress Considering Such Anti-Consumer Telecom Bills?

Re: Why is Congress Considering Such Anti-Consumer Telecom Bills?

hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
31 Jul 2006 11:39:55 -0700

DLR wrote:

> My point to all of this is that the world changes and big dominant
> companies hate change. It makes them work to maintain their dominance
> and what they really want to do is coast and talk about what they are
> doing, not actually do something.

You make many good points. However, not all "big dominant" companies
dislike change and are stagnet, indeed, many of them are the ones
developing and pushing the changes.

The Bell System and IBM of the 1960s were behind many of the social
changes in business communication. Reduced toll rates and more
sophisticated technology allowed the telephone to be a commodity than
high cost specialized appliance. Centrex and DDD allowed someone to
call another instantly compared to operator arrangements people were
used to. IBM's reports and punched cards dramatically raised the
volume of information being passed around.

There was much social criticism of the new world of phones and
computers. People pleaded for a place away from the incesant ring of
the phone.

The Bell System was huge. Some parts were better than others, some
quite responsive, others sluggish. From reading responses, I don't
know if NYC ever got over the past service crises.

IBM went through a relatively brief period of stagnation. It did get
too bloated by hiring too many people to fit the IBM "no layoff" model
and ceased being lean.

But plenty of small companies are merely followers of the big guys
with no contribution of their own. IBM was mad at small companies
that cloned the fruits of IBM's research (as in tape and disk drives),
sold them cheaper, then complained when IBM made upgrades that hurt
their clones.

My argument against the first poster was that it seems to be more of a
triade against the traditional phone companies and not one based on
the facts.

I am greatly suspicious when someone holds up a new invention and is
upset that it isn't in everyone's hand the next day. The world
doesn't work that way.

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