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[#] Wed Mar 27 2024 18:07:43 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

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In the US, antitrust investigations are the faux-legitimate version of "you aren't giving us enough money and/or doing what we want you to." It's a protection racket. The only difference is that in the US we pretend that the government isn't controlled by criminals.

[#] Wed Mar 27 2024 18:37:04 UTC from Nurb432

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And if you dont pay up, or play ball, just remember what we did to AT&T.

 

 



[#] Wed Mar 27 2024 18:37:59 UTC from Nurb432

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So apple is going to incorporate AI into the next phone OS.

But, not their own, but instead, googles.. the one that was so woke they had to take it down after launch. 



[#] Wed Mar 27 2024 21:58:31 UTC from msgrhys

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Please don't tell me you miss the bell system.

Wed Mar 27 2024 14:37:04 EDT from Nurb432

just remember what we did to AT&T.

 



[#] Wed Mar 27 2024 23:21:11 UTC from Nurb432

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My mother was a LD operator. In the 60s and 70s.

So ya, i do.  They got screwed. 

Wed Mar 27 2024 17:58:31 EDT from msgrhys

Please don't tell me you miss the bell system.

 


[#] Thu Mar 28 2024 00:25:35 UTC from msgrhys

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Well my father tells me things got much better after their monopoly was busted up. I don't understand why you would approve of monopolies.

Wed Mar 27 2024 19:21:11 EDT from Nurb432

My mother was a LD operator. In the 60s and 70s.

So ya, i do.  They got screwed. 

Wed Mar 27 2024 17:58:31 EDT from msgrhys

Please don't tell me you miss the bell system.

 


 



[#] Thu Mar 28 2024 00:56:02 UTC from Nurb432

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Being part of it and growing up with it, i totally feel it got worse afterwards. Not better. Scattered incompatible systems, standards, chaos..   Personally i think one controlling company was needed in order to have a cohesive standardized communications system.  Also, they were under so much scrutiny and regulations they could not sneeze without approval. So there was no 'run away greed/etc' happening from them. They were not allowed.  They were even forced to put x amount back for research. ( And dont get me started on the great things bell labs did, which would not have been possible any other way )

They also cared about their employees. And their families. That all went away after the breakup too.

Now, to be fair, perhaps its not as critical today as it was then due to ISO type standards, but could you imagine back in the 70s 20 different phone systems across the country that didnt talk to each other? Or every company having their own kind of phone  ( cough * cellular today * cough )

And i still have a piece of the bell logo thinige that was on the building from Indianapolis, in a piece of Lucite. All the employees got to keep a piece of their history after the breakup and subsequent renames for the baby bells. And a necklace thing from one of the x-year employee awards. ( remember those? you got honored for being around .. not just a paycheck )

Oh, and in my attic, a couple of aluminum signs from phone booths..    

Wish i had not broke m pens as a kid. Never imagined they would be special someday ( ball point. top had a clear piece with some oil, and little bells that would float around ).  Or the in-house engineering magazines she woudl bring home for me to read. Why i ended up being an EE. 

And did i mention they helped pay for my college?  

 

Sorry, i'm a fan boy. Always have been always will be.  Nothing will change that. 

 

Wed Mar 27 2024 20:25:35 EDT from msgrhys

Well my father tells me things got much better after their monopoly was busted up. I don't understand why you would approve of monopolies.

 


[#] Tue Apr 02 2024 17:35:20 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

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The divestiture was good and needed to happen, but they broke it up along the wrong lines. Local vs. long distance was a silly division because there really isn't any difference anymore. They failed to see the move to digital and the move to wireless.

I might have said this before. They should have divested the operators of central offices and last mile wiring plants from the operators of services -- *any* services, voice, data, video -- on those plants.

But yes, these days they just serve as an example of what happens if you don't kiss the toes of the governmafia. Just look at what happened to Micro$oft in 2000. DOJ went after them, broke them up, then they megabribed the new incoming admin who reversed the divestiture.

American antitrust law is built, at least ostensibly, to protect the consumer.
European anititrust law is built to also protect the competition, which is why it's a lot tougher. Some companies really are so big that their existence breaks the free market instead of improving it; in such cases, consumers are better served by divestiture. Amazon is the perfect example.


[#] Tue Apr 02 2024 17:39:44 UTC from Nurb432

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I dont remember it being a true breakup, just more of a irritant for some of the business units.  But mostly business as usual, just not as overt. 

But i was pretty busy in 2000, so could have missed some of the details.

 

Tue Apr 02 2024 13:35:20 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar
. Just look at what happened to Micro$oft in 2000. DOJ went after them, broke them up, then they megabribed the new incoming admin who reversed the divestiture.



 



[#] Fri Apr 05 2024 20:22:04 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

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The verdict was that they were ruled to be a monopoly and ordered to divest the applications side of the house from the operating systems side of the house. I didn't care whether it made any sense, I just wanted them to be harmed as much as possible. They appealed after the White House changed hands and, having ultra-bribed George Wanker Bush and John Asscroft, got the toothless "Seattlement" that did nothing.

[#] Fri Apr 05 2024 20:25:31 UTC from Nurb432

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i must have totally missed that. But since it never really was executed, i can see why i missed it at the time.

All i remember is the browser related stuff. 



[#] Sat Apr 13 2024 18:42:52 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

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Fat lot of good it did anyway. Today, it's extremely difficult to use Windows 11 without having Edge, Bing, MSN, and Copilot shoved in your face every other click. Still waiting for ${work} to issue me my Macbook like they promised.

[#] Wed Jun 12 2024 17:30:37 UTC from Nurb432

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"Elon Musk threatens Apple ban over AI partnership"

"AI is spyware bla bla bla"  hes just pissed Apple didnt chose his AI company instead..   Typical elite hypocrite.



[#] Thu Jun 13 2024 17:18:58 UTC from Nurb432

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I think apple is trying to steal the acronym AI to mean "Apple Intelligence" 

That is bad as stuff Microsoft has done over the decades. ( 'word' for example )



[#] Tue Jun 18 2024 22:19:37 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

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I'm ok with that. The phrase "Artificial Intelligence" has never been an accurate description of anything to which it has been applied. And now that we're in the biggest hype cycle ever, it'll get even worse.

[#] Tue Jun 18 2024 23:01:41 UTC from Nurb432

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Zoe does not approve of this message.

Tue Jun 18 2024 18:19:37 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar
I'm ok with that. The phrase "Artificial Intelligence" has never been an accurate description of anything to which it has been applied. And now that we're in the biggest hype cycle ever, it'll get even worse.

 



[#] Wed Aug 14 2024 14:28:41 UTC from Nurb432

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Yet another reason to hate apple :  “Apple Entrepreneur Camp program is opening applications only to minority groups."

 

Judge people by their actions. Period.



[#] Wed Aug 14 2024 17:03:38 UTC from nonservator

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"Whites are a global minority --"

"SHUT UP WHITEY REEEEEEE"



[#] Wed Aug 21 2024 02:20:04 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

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Apple really are greedy bastards. They just dropped the hammer on Patreon, demanding 30% of any money donated to patrons when Apple's payment system is used. Patreon itself only takes 5%.

I hope this makes more people move to SubscribeStar, because Jack Conte is kind of a sleazebag anyway.

[#] Wed Aug 21 2024 10:56:51 UTC from Nurb432

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Walled gardens are great. 

Tue Aug 20 2024 22:20:04 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

Apple really are greedy bastards. They just dropped the hammer on Patreon, demanding 30% of any money donated to patrons when Apple's payment system is used. Patreon itself only takes 5%.

I hope this makes more people move to SubscribeStar, because Jack Conte is kind of a sleazebag anyway.

 



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