“Once I rose above the noise and confusion – Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion”
Crrow777“Hey, is that a convict tricking those children into a terrible choice? I’ll deal with him! Sili-Con, tricks are for kids, and I am full grown, you are done here!”
This episode: Eric Dollard, covering the grid, electricity, the sun, and much more, to include reference to the day that the music died!
In the early 1980s I recall the news that “Ma-Bell” (Bell Systems) would be broken up. At the time we were told it was a monopoly. Maybe we could compare it to what Amazon is now, but controlling telephone and communications, not Chinese products. Most of us have no idea why the break up suddenly became important, or what was being “broken up”. Our guest in this episode suggested that the system Bell Systems built could be considered the 8th wonder of the world. It was truly a thing of wonder, and back then when a telephone call was dropped, it was a big deal that was fixed ASAP. Back then, the customer not only mattered, they were always right. The customer was king. How is it we have forgotten how to demand respect when we buy goods and services?
The breakup of “Ma Bell” was initiated in 1974 when the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit and demands. Is it possible that this action represents early planning for future digital systems? Looking back, we gave up a thing of wonder and complexity that was reliable and engineered at the highest levels. What we got in return is a digital control grid that tracks our every move, and remains unconcerned if your calls are low quality or do not go through. And even when your calls do go though, the quality of that connection is low when compared to what we lost… and it is tracked. And by the way, after the break up local telephone rates began to go up faster than the rate of inflation!