- johnjoseph
- Member
- Posts: 9299
- Joined: Mon. Sep. 15, 2014 6:05 pm
- Location: Aroostook County, Maine
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KA-6
- Other Heating: pellet stove, oil boiler
And that monopoly gave us shitty providers in rural areas and it continues to this day in my neck of the woods. Sprint, Verizon and the like can't turn a dime here because it costs more to maintain than what they make.
- lsayre
- Member
- Posts: 21781
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 23, 2005 9:17 pm
- Location: Ohio
- Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S130 Coal Gun
- Coal Size/Type: Lehigh Anthracite Pea
- Other Heating: Resistance Boiler (13.5 KW), ComfortMax 75
Ma-Bell, being a government made monopoly, was a true monopoly in every sense of the word. There has never been a true free market monopoly, though Tesla comes close (due in big part to its hand-outs from the government, combined with tax breaks to consumers). There are always alternative choices in the free market. It's up to consumers to use them, not the government to break up companies or force them to raise prices.
- Sunny Boy
- Member
- Posts: 25754
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 1:40 pm
- Location: Central NY
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
- Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
- Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
- Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace
Except, that with Ma Bell there was no competition - you couldn't use long distance unless you used their long distance, or use non-Bell telephone equipment with their system. They owned and rented you the phone and wires in your home, plus the street poles, overhead and under ground phone lines and all the rest of the system.
I spent a year just making drawings of NY Bell's system in Queens NY when they were converting their blue print maps over to microfilm. Bell and their regional companies, like NY Bell, owned it all - above and below ground - and there was no way for another system to compete without digging up thousands of miles of city streets and rewiring 100's of thousands of buildings. The costs would have run into the billions back then, just to try and compete.
With Google and big social medias acting as one with their censorship, it's become much the same as Ma Bell and her regional Bells - our way or no way. And, the anti-trust laws may have a way of treating censorship like price-fixing ?
We'll see what happens. Twitter is already caving in some to the back lash.
Paul
I spent a year just making drawings of NY Bell's system in Queens NY when they were converting their blue print maps over to microfilm. Bell and their regional companies, like NY Bell, owned it all - above and below ground - and there was no way for another system to compete without digging up thousands of miles of city streets and rewiring 100's of thousands of buildings. The costs would have run into the billions back then, just to try and compete.
With Google and big social medias acting as one with their censorship, it's become much the same as Ma Bell and her regional Bells - our way or no way. And, the anti-trust laws may have a way of treating censorship like price-fixing ?
We'll see what happens. Twitter is already caving in some to the back lash.
Paul
- Richard S.
- Mayor
- Posts: 15262
- Joined: Fri. Oct. 01, 2004 8:35 pm
- Location: NEPA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Van Wert VA1200
- Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat/Anthracite
Let's take Youtube for example. Estimates are that Youtube made little or no profit for years, given Google's enormous infrastructure it's difficult for another service to compete with free let alone make a profit. Now they have dominated the market they increase the ads on videos, an advertisement company they also own.
Let's talk about the advertisement company. What's a good rate of return on ads I display n this site though competitor of Adsense? I have no idea because there is none, do you know? Adsense when I first implemented it was reasonably profitable, revenue steadily declined over the past few years and it was literally peanuts near the end when I removed them.
You know my leanings are typically conservative especially with business but there is limits to that. Alphabet inc. is a monstrosity with their fingers in everything. Monopolies are never good and inevitably lead to higher consumer costs and less innovation. The multiple divisions including Google search, Gmail, Youtube and their advertising divison are monstrosities in their own right let alone combined. Split them up and they are still dominant forces.