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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 4/25/15 11:54 AM, Karl Newman wrote:<br>
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cite="mid:CAOOwNtK7WAHVkSdqxRe7Vs7eAQFEsWDBAMCFjXUL2gYB2+ycbA@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
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<div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Apr 25, 2015 at 3:31 AM,
Simon Hobson <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:linux@thehobsons.co.uk" target="_blank">linux@thehobsons.co.uk</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><span class="">Stephen
P. Villano <<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:stephen.p.villano@gmail.com">stephen.p.villano@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
<br>
</span><span class="">> I remember, in my youth, there
was *one* company for telephone service<br>
> and long distance.<br>
</span>...<br>
<span class="">> In the Bell Telephone era, you were
strictly regulated by the company to<br>
> use *only* their provided telephone, the variety
being wall or tabletop<br>
> and the colors being white, black or rarely, red.
The number of<br>
> telephones in the house were charged for, claiming
increased costs to<br>
> ring additional telephones and proclaiming harm to
their equipment if<br>
> non-approved telephones were connected.<br>
<br>
</span>Yup, sounds just like I remember it back in "the
good old days" of the Post Office having an actual and
complete, backed by law, monopoly in phone services.<br>
If you wanted a phone line, you got it when they were
happy to let you have it - sometimes a long time if they
were short of pairs and didn't feel like adding any more
cable. Party lines were common (we shared with a couple of
elderly ladies across the road). And as you say, choice of
handset was "limited".<br>
<span class=""><br>
> Touch tone service cost a great deal more<br>
<br>
</span>Ha ha - we didn't even have the option !<br>
<br>
One of my aunts is Polish, and she used to tell this joke
about a Polish guy that goes to buy a car. He goes down to
the showroom to pick from the 2 models available, and pick
the shade of grey. As he's signing the paperwork, the
salesman asks him "you do realise there's a 10 year
waiting list don't you ?" "Oh that's fine" the chap
replies, then adds "but will it be delivered in the
morning or afternoon ?"<br>
<br>
The salesman is taken aback and exclaims "you are waiting
10 years for a car and you are bothered if it arrives in
the morning or afternoon ?".<br>
<br>
"Yes" says the chap, "the phone is being installed in the
morning".<br>
<br>
Like all good jokes, it's based on substantial
exaggeration of actual facts, but my aunt always reckoned
it wasn't so far from the truth from when she was a child.<br>
<br>
<br>
So yes, I agree with the others - you need good
competition as that's what drives service, choice,
quality, value, etc, etc. But you do need regulators who
will step in for those situation where a market doesn't
work (roads and sewers being the classic examples) or
where it's not working as it should .<br>
As an outsider, I'd agree with the comment that US doesn't
seem to have a working market. It looks very much like
it's run for the benefit of corporate interests, and
politicians certainly appear to be working on the basis of
not upsetting their sponsors.<br>
<br>
Over here there are some strict rules and limits designed
to curb that sort of behaviour - but it's only of limited
value when the "reward" may be an intangible ("shift the
law in our favour, there's a juicy non-exec directorship
waiting for you when your done" sort of thing).<br>
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<div>Since it has been decided that corporations are people,
let's take it to the logical conclusion and fight for
corporations' right to vote. Only after they turn 18 of
course. Fight for corporate suffrage! And then qualify
them for the draft...<br>
<br>
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<div>Karl<br>
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I made that very comment on the very day that the Citizens United
SCOTUS decision was handed down.<br>
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