Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1992 16:10:50 -0600
From: rickie@trickie.ualberta.ca (Richard Nash)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: U.S. Cable Television Re-Regulation
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 732, Message 1 of 8

> Smetimes attempts at sarcasm result in arguments that are exceedingly
> silly and off the mark. To wit:

> rickie@trickie.UUCP (Richard Nash) writes:

>> Thanks John, for specifically targeting my comments! I have been
>> very interested in following your tireless responses and attacks on
>> anyone who opposes your view.  I honestly enjoy and appreciate reading
>> from the mind of someone who is fearless in expressing their ideals
>> and challenging those of us that are still learning...

Ok, where is my flint and torch ... Hiss ... Flick, flick,, kaBOOM! ...
Whoosh! ! ! :) :) :) Ouch! Ouch! :)

>> No, you are perfectly free to do what many have done and buy a long
>> distance telephone company and have access to all the inter-carrier
>> benefits. You will be dealing directly with all the other carriers who
>> typically charge less than your PIC does.

> This is not such an outrageous idea. If you make any substantial amount
> of calls, becoming your own long distance company makes a lot of sense.
> In fact, most very large companies do this to some degree or another.
> The costs are not as bad as one might imagine and there are benefits
> that go beyond getting merely cheap long distance.

So if this is so realistic, why haven't I heard about the J.H. Telco
and Auto Repair Kompany? :) :) :)

>>> TVRO too expensive? Then maybe cable is not such a bad deal after all.
>>> But do not say there is no competition. Maybe the problem is that you
>>> do not feel that you should have to pay for the things you enjoy.

>> Telephone company too expensive? Then maybe using the services of one
>> of the existing carriers is not such a bad deal after all. But do not
>> say that there is no competition.  Maybe the problem is that you do
>> not feel that you should pay for the things you enjoy.

> This is where it all falls apart. Comparing the cost of a $2,000 TVRO
> dish to setting up or buying a telephone company is straining
> credibility. Why is it that people must go to extremes in an attempt to
> prop up an attitude?

Yes, you may accuse me of straining my credibility with my sarcastic
parroted remark, but perhaps the spirit of the remark may have evaded
you.  That is, unless the lottery ticket wins substantially, I doubt
that most can or will ever be able to afford the satellite dish, the
legitimate subscription fees, and additional start up and maintenance
costs to support a TVRO. My landlord sure won't let me put up a dish!
Satellite TVRO is NOT an option that everyone can select. High density
housing does not allow this option.  Cable companies know that they
have a captive audience and treat us so, providing the same poor
service that you claim to receive from your telephone company. 

> And let us put this all in perspective. The telephone is essential
> to the continuation of my personal and business affairs. If my cable
> was disconnected today forever, the only probable effect would be
> that I might get more work done.

As you well know, in this age of being constantly bombarded with life
and death drama as played over television screens all across this
nation, television is not an insignificant medium. It feeds upon the
weaknesses of the socially repressed and strengthens the
misrepresentations of political parties. Witness the significance of a
completely fictional character (Murphy Brown) having the slightest
influence in directing the thoughts of the masses to evaluate the
correctness of a presidential hopeful.

What is essential, is very much confined to the perspective of each of
us in our own present circumstances.  Since my cable delivers
information that I constantly use for my personal and business
affairs, (stock market, electronic news, entertainment, current global
social perspectives, etc), this flow of information is essential.
"Information is power!!" someone said.

> The telephone is a utility; cable TV is entertainment. Try to keep that
> in mind the next time you make very silly analogies.

Yes, cable TV is a medium used to deliver entertainment, but is much
more that just a mental escape hatch. You won't agree that the nations
children are partially educated by TV, and that most of it is
delivered via cable TV? Or that nations' leaders use television to
gauge the public reaction to their exploits?

Or that large corporations rely upon successful advertising campaigns
delivered into the homes of between 70-80 percent of all American
homes via cable TV? Perhaps your income and the continuation of
personal and business affairs is tied to their business success? They
lose, you lose.  Nope, both are utilities and have a very similar
monopolistic structure.  In fact I do believe that cable TV wants to
enter the telephone biz and provide dial tone on their delivery
systems?


Richard Nash     Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6K 0E8
UUCP:         trickie!rickie@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca