*rant*
I remember back in the early 1960s going to the local home and
boat show. Our local Ma Bell office had a demonstration set up
to show us the new Touch Tone service they were preparing us
for. They had a demo with step and pick relays on one side and
DTMF on the other. You got to dial the same phone numbers on
both systems to compare the process to call completion. The big
selling point they were pushing was how much money this was
going to save us. The dial was cheaper to make and maintain,
the lines didn't have to carry DC and could be cheaper, the CO
equipment would be much easier to maintain. This was going to
save us lots of money. Then they discovered that people
preferred TT and decided that we would be willing to pay extra
for it.
I remember when banks were encouraging us to use ATMs to help
save them money on human tellers. Now they charge us fees for
using them.
Pay TV promised entertainment without commercials. Pay radio
sold "no commercial music". I'm getting ready to cancel my
satellite radio service because they keep playing ads and promos
on their popular channels and the irritating DJs feel they have
to talk between each track. If I want that, I'll just listen to
broadcast radio.
Digital TV promised us better quality signals, but came with
reduced signal coverage and now less frequency spectrum.
Comcast introduced broadband by telling us we could use it as
much as we wanted without having to pay usage fees like the
those dial-up ISPs.
Why doesn't this country trust big business? Past performance.
But, I wander. Let's see, where is my high blood pressure
medicine? :)
Skip wrote:
>
>
> Touchtone service was not available from our CO when we put up
> our first box. We use to dial the phone by pounding on the "*"
> key. It was amazing how often we'd actually get the number we
> were "dialing". Luckily the CO got touchtone a couple of months
> later and didn't start *charging* for the privilege of having
> it for another 20 years.
>
> 73's Skip WB6YMH
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