[geeks] nerd reading for a Friday night ... old-skool waxed twine lacing

[Lionel Peterson]

>From: Bill Bradford <mrbill at mrbill.net>
>Date: 2007/01/27 Sat AM 12:23:47 CST
>To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
>Subject: Re: [geeks] nerd reading for a Friday night ... old-skool waxed 
twine lacing

<snip>

>My main bathroom reading now is the 2nd edition of Engineering and
>Operations in the Bell System, circa '84.  I LOVE THAT SHIT.
>
>I have the '77 edition too, but the '84 version is even neater.  They
>did it as the "final" edition, as there's a preface note about the 
>consent decree/breakup.

That is one lap full of info - you must have some serious tme on your, uhm, 
hands...

>Am I the only person who thought that things worked better when AT&T
>was in charge of it all from end to end?

What, you mena when one company made sure all devices were compatible, 
engineered to work together, and when something didn't work, you only had one 
number to call - you mena then?

I joined Bellcore after the break-up, but before any of the (then) seven 
RBOCs were able to enter long distance market... I remember talking with my 
(then) Director about it, and said it made no sense to me that the RBOCs gave 
up a legal MONOPOLY to get into Long Distance, which with the anticipated 
competition was guaranteed to be a losing proposition (RBOCs can't do 
ANYTHING cheaper then a "regular" company).

I guess in hind sight they needed the approval for long distance to get into 
cellular phone market and offer bundled long distance, but it would take a 
whole lot for me to give up a legal monopoly (esp. with a federally mandated 
profit on every dollar spent!)...

Lionel