Ma Bell, Redux

It’s deja vu all over again — the Baby Bells are intermarrying and re-creating the behemoth that was Ma Bell… the once-and-future-massive AT&T.  They’re even using the same name.  🙂

Is it good or bad?  Kinda depends on who you talk to.  I hear some say that this is a bad thing and should be stopped — it wasn’t good last time, so why is it ok this time?  I hear others say that the landscape of telecom has changed so dramatically that the former stranglehold Ma Bell had on its customers couldn’t be recreated.  Granted, cable tv wasn’t even a glimmer in anyone’s eyes those many years ago, cell phones were something found in prisons, and voice over IP was something you did when you yelled at someone else while you were using the urinals.

So is it really different now?  I think so, although I’m always leary of the monolithic behemoths that have been created out of the massive corporate consolidation of the last 5-10 years.  There’s too much data, too many weirdnesses in the merged corporate cultures, and frankly, if you were to boycott one company for their stance on the war, testing on animals, or belief in the existence of Elvis, you’d end up stinking, starving to death, and unable to drive or blog.  Food chains are deep now, kiddies, and I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.

However, let the cards fall where they may.  In the end, there’s nothing I can do about it.  I continue to pay Ma Bell for my phone service — I don’t really trust the security of VOIP, especially for handling financial transactions — and probably will for a while.  Guess I’m a caveman.

Now, where’d I set down that brontosaurus burger?