Proposed: Hostile Takeover of IDT
kdjhds
This is some of the most absurd stuff I have ever heard of in my life.
First IDT on the radio "Internet access $19.95/MTH", OK I call up, sorry
that is only shell. OK give me a ppp, $29.
Then IDT goes public with an IPO and they got slammed big time, I was able
to short sell them and made a nice profit.(Their stock went from $10 to $7
in no time) Their stock tanked because of AT&T and MCI is $19.95/mth and
people like us who are getting the word out about IDT/IOS. If only the
analysts were reading alt.internet.services.
Next, they announce ppp's for $19.95(or $14.95 if you use them as your
long distance provider, imagine that I have enough trouble with AT&T) for
new users. Great, but they will not switch me, becuase they don't respond
to E-mail. But wait, that is not a premium account, that one is $29.95.
They just send out software and hope you do not ask too many questions. I
feel like I am getting the run around, you?
This company is now public, and that means we can do a lot more now.
They are responsible to their investors. All they are doing is trying to
prop up their stock price by trying to suck $29.95 out or every
subscriber.
Listen, their stock is very low right now. I say we attempt the first
hostile takeover organized on the Internet. If we can get enough capital
together we can do it. I am sure the workers are good, it is the
management that needs to be ousted. Any venture capitalists out there?
Wouldn't it be ironic that an ISP would be taken over by something
organized on the Internet itself - let us use their very business against
them.
Any comments welcome. Flame away if you feel fit.
Of course, as soon as IDT management reads this my password will fail to
gain access(nothing new). 8)
EEjack
> Listen, their stock is very low right now. I say we attempt the first
> hostile takeover organized on the Internet. If we can get enough capital
> together we can do it. I am sure the workers are good, it is the
> management that needs to be ousted. Any venture capitalists out there?
> Wouldn't it be ironic that an ISP would be taken over by something
> organized on the Internet itself - let us use their very business against
> them.
>
> Any comments welcome. Flame away if you feel fit.
>
> Of course, as soon as IDT management reads this my password will fail to
> gain access(nothing new). 8)
>
While I feel that your idea is maybe the most poignant one I have heard...
I am fairly certain that the majority of stock is still held by the
current management, meaning we could buy up all of the publicly held
stock and have no real say in the running of the business.
However I personaly believe that after the AT&T internet attempt fails
the worth of IDT/IOS will skyrocket making those shares worth something.
Just a thought
EEjack
kdjhds
Rightfully so EEjack, I think there are about 9.6 million shares
outstanding. I don't know what percentage that is, but it probably is no
more than 15%. I say a board seat then. Personally, I think their stock
will continue to fall in the long run. As long as this thread doesn't get
serious and drive the price up as a result ;)
Hopefully, they will try to raise more capital soon by selling shares. I
guess the fact that we are talking in the open about acquiring stock is a
hopeless cause; but I think it signifies how mad we are.
EEjack
In article <4mhemt$r...@news2.ios.com>, kdjhds <2425...@gramercy.ios.com> wrote:
> elmw...@chelsea.ios.com (EEjack) wrote:
> >
> >While I feel that your idea is maybe the most poignant one I have heard...
> >I am fairly certain that the majority of stock is still held by the
> >current management, meaning we could buy up all of the publicly held
> >stock and have no real say in the running of the business.
> >
> >However I personaly believe that after the AT&T internet attempt fails
> >the worth of IDT/IOS will skyrocket making those shares worth something.
> >
> >Just a thought
> >
> >EEjack
>
>
> Rightfully so EEjack, I think there are about 9.6 million shares
> outstanding. I don't know what percentage that is, but it probably is no
> more than 15%. I say a board seat then. Personally, I think their stock
> will continue to fall in the long run. As long as this thread doesn't get
> serious and drive the price up as a result ;)
>
> Hopefully, they will try to raise more capital soon by selling shares. I
> guess the fact that we are talking in the open about acquiring stock is a
> hopeless cause; but I think it signifies how mad we are.
A board seat would go a long way, and I am sure that no amount of discussion
in this group would affect the price of the stock.
There have been many open discussions on how mad many of the ios users are
about a mulitude of topics. I think the biggest problem IOS/IDT has is the
lack of communication on their part in this group.
If they make an upgrade of equipment, or do something to help the routing,
or anything that could be considered a positive they never tell us.
They never tell us up front what changes are coming about or what problems
they are facing. We as users get to hear it as drips and drabs, usually
as a poorly presented excuse.
Many of the users here would be more understanding if IDT/IOS just took the
time to talk to us.
How many times has someone said FIX_THE_DAMN_NEWS. Yet no one from IOS/IDT
has told us what the problem is...and they have been asked and they have
said they are working on it...but what is the problem?
I personally would feel more comfortable if there was more communication, and
maybe a seat on the board is what is necessary to get that communication.
EEjack
Haviland
EEjack wrote:
>
> However I personaly believe that after the AT&T internet attempt fails
> the worth of IDT/IOS will skyrocket making those shares worth something.
>
Don't forget that MCI, Bell Atlantic and your local cable company will
be offering some competition as well.
Adam M. Charney
I think you are missing the pont about software company IPO's and why
they do them and who benefits.
Fora fairly luciod explanation of how the deal works, see this weeks
NY OBserver. "Back of Envelope" column on page 1.
The concept, in general, is that the market is overhyped about
software or comm. stocks, will pay a lot of money for it. Stocks
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS fall off from tehir original IPO prices, since
the incentive for the marketmaker to control the stock price
significantly after the IPO is osmewhat reduced (Although they will
still support it in general terms, barring the penny stock scams which
are now back in vogue, which the IDT offer is NOT)
THE IPO cashes out the founder at a nice profit and poises the company
to either take over (as in the case of McAfee) if the PE is high
enough or be taken over (Cheyenne) if it is not. At the rght price,
the principals of the target can make a wad laod of money again as
they sell off the stock they get from the buyer.
Short term stock price has little to do with producte sold or quality
thereof, at least int he case of these types of offerings.
Adam M. Charney
acha...@village.ios.com
kdjhds
This usually happens(as you state) when management can cash out because
they received stock so cheaply; or large investors didn't get a quick
enough profit and jumped out. The management didn't pay $10, they might
not even of payed anything. But IDTC is not a software company; they are
an ISP and long distance telephone provider. By contrast, look at other
Internet related companies like NSCP and Yahoo; they are not off their
IPO price. Why, probably strong management, and the willingness to look
longterm.
There is much hype in this industry, as a software designer put it " I can
get three other co-workers, form a company, put N-E-T on the end and take
it public with no problem. Has IDTC attempted to cash in on the hype, yes
I do believe so. But there is nothing wrong with that; conversely there
is nothing wrong with customers demanding representation and adequate
information.
IDT is laughing all the way to the bank, and our $29.95 a month, or
whatever is going with them. If we can't take them over then let us
organize the support of existing stockholders. Did the workers get stock,
lets try an employee buyout, if all else fails then let us all chargeback
our monthly charge from IDT; I think almost everyone could find a reason
to dispute their charge. They certainly are not delivering what they
promised.
James A. Hafer
A takeover is overkill. And we'd still face the same problems.
IDT subscribers need representation. Perhaps an association or advisors group.
IDT subscribers could elect knowledgeable representatives (volunteers) who would
interact with IDT with the long-terms best interests of both in mind.
The current lack of communication stems from an organizational shortfall -- in that
IDT has made no provisions for channeling employee and customer feedback to proper
destinations.
BOGO
Please! Do you think that IDT management would allow an advisors
group of "knowledgeable" reps. First of all, if you could even figure
how to use USENET or any other aspect of the Internet, you probably
are more "knowledgeable" than any of the IDT management. Secondly,
management doesn't want our feedback or complaints, if they did, they
would have a lot more representation in this group and thye would
actually answer e-mail. All they want of us is our $$$. My friends,
our gripes and complaints are falling on deaf ears!
--
James Bogosian
jim...@chelsea.ios.com
http://chelsea.ios.com/~jimbogo
Let's Go Rangers!
Mr. Sam
In <elmwoode-050...@ppp-5.ts-7.hck.idt.net>,
elmw...@chelsea.ios.com (EEjack) wrote:
>However I personaly believe that after the AT&T internet attempt fails
>the worth of IDT/IOS will skyrocket making those shares worth something.
>Just a thought
Why do you feel AT&T's going to fail? From what I've heard, they are
backlogged with orders.
--
Mr. Sam: member, talk.politics.misc troll patrol
channel operator, #Sci-Fi - Undernet IRC sci-fi/fantasy channel
http://www.cyberstorm.com/~rockd/sci-fi.html
Rick
big and thier is $$$ to be made as a isp.If they provide good service
,(they got a repetation to consider)thier is no reason to think they
won,t be THE primery isp.It,s a good bet that the reason they
are backlogged,is they are going to have more than ample eqipment in
place before they start up 100%.(keep down the bad blood,unlike some
isp,s ;-)) Just my $0.02,s,rick p.s. AT&T has been my LD co.for a long
time. Never a prob.$0.02 more.
James A. Hafer
I canot believe that appropriate IDT senior management would
intentionally turn a deaf ear to customer representatives who have IDT's
future best-interests in mind. Knowledgeable customers can provide a
wealth of information and assistance.
I believe that any existing mechanisms for the tracking problem reports
and user suggestions are broken. A working problem tracking system would
provide for initial report, delivery of known solutions, escalation for
new or unsolved problems, and notification to effected users upon
availability of a final solution.
This idea could be furthered along by any of the IDT rep's in this
newsgroup with the initiative to forward it to appropriate management
personnel in Ops, Sales & Marketing, Engineering, etc. If IDT support
personnel are unwilling or unable to do so, then users who frequent this
newsgroup could create a plan to get the attention of IDT senior
management in some other manner. As a public corporation, the names of
the board of directors and major shareholders are a matter of public
record.
Perhaps some knowledgeable user(s) can suggest a method for identifying
the e-mail addresses of subscribers. (Is it possible to do a
"whitepages" search for this info?) With a list, it would be simple
matter to notify interested users of the formation of a user's
association. If there is no simple way to obtain such a list, then a
notice can be posted in all IDT support newsgroups on a regular basis,
prompting interested users to subscribe to a moderated newslist.
Just a few ideas.
~Jim
James A. Hafer
Mr. Sam wrote:
>
> In <318D4E...@tribeca.ios.com>, "James A. Hafer" <jha...@tribeca.ios.com>
> in /etc/passwd. Of course, you have to already have an account on the server
> to be able to log on :-(
>
> --
> Mr. Sam: member, talk.politics.misc troll patrol
> channel operator, #Sci-Fi - Undernet IRC sci-fi/fantasy channel
> http://www.cyberstorm.com/~rockd/sci-fi.html
OK. So one "volunteer" from each IDT server is designated to copy the
list. (Is this legal?)
Placing announcements in the IDT newgroups has a safer feel to it.
kdjhds
>
>IDT subscribers need representation. Perhaps an association or advisors group.
>
>IDT subscribers could elect knowledgeable representatives (volunteers) who would
>interact with IDT with the long-terms best interests of both in mind.
>
>The current lack of communication stems from an organizational shortfall -- in that
>IDT has made no provisions for channeling employee and customer feedback to proper
>destinations.
I agree, but how would you propose we do this, IDT will not even respond
to E-mail, phone messages and faxes about technical and billing problems.
What incentive do they have to give us representation.
Mr. Sam
In <318D4E...@tribeca.ios.com>, "James A. Hafer" <jha...@tribeca.ios.com>
wrote:
>Perhaps some knowledgeable user(s) can suggest a method for identifying
EEjack
> In <elmwoode-050...@ppp-5.ts-7.hck.idt.net>,
> elmw...@chelsea.ios.com (EEjack) wrote:
>
> >However I personaly believe that after the AT&T internet attempt fails
> >the worth of IDT/IOS will skyrocket making those shares worth something.
>
> >Just a thought
>
> Why do you feel AT&T's going to fail? From what I've heard, they are
> backlogged with orders.
>
> --
> Mr. Sam:
I think that as a telephone company AT&T is the very best. I would use no
other for myself or my business.
However they are a very management oriented company in the midst of a major
reorganization and massive layoffs and AT&T has not had any success with
non telephone ventures in the past. There is a big difference between
customer support for phone and for internet services, and very different
approaches to problem solving. I think that for AT&T to do well they will
need to modify the AT&T way of business which has been so successful and
modify it to computers.
An interesting view on this. AT&T has hired IBM to maintain there internal
computer systems because IBM gave them a better price than another division
of AT&T and had a better track record.
Yes they do have a huge amount of resources to draw from.
They do have a household name.
They have a very dependable reputation.
They do phone better than anyone else.
They don't do computers.
Just a thought
EEjack
EEjack
In article <318C8D...@soho.ios.com>, Haviland <havi...@soho.ios.com> wrote:
> EEjack wrote:
> >
> > However I personaly believe that after the AT&T internet attempt fails
> > the worth of IDT/IOS will skyrocket making those shares worth something.
> >
>
> Don't forget that MCI, Bell Atlantic and your local cable company will
> be offering some competition as well.
I wonder how it will all turn out.
Interesting article in this months internet world about the canadian cable
companies and internet access. Someone is devolping a 30MPS cable modem.
Wow.
What does a T1 provide?
Just a thought
EEjack
Alvin Nichter
Rick (rti...@198.4.75.47) wrote:
: >
: >>However I personaly believe that after the AT&T internet attempt fails
: >>the worth of IDT/IOS will skyrocket making those shares worth something.
: >>Just a thought
: >
: >Why do you feel AT&T's going to fail? From what I've heard, they are
: >backlogged with orders.
: >
: >--
: > channel operator, #Sci-Fi - Undernet IRC sci-fi/fantasy channel
: > http://www.cyberstorm.com/~rockd/sci-fi.html
: I can think of no way that AT&T could possibley fail.They are just to
: big and thier is $$$ to be made as a isp.If they provide good service
: ,(they got a repetation to consider)thier is no reason to think they
: won,t be THE primery isp.It,s a good bet that the reason they
: are backlogged,is they are going to have more than ample eqipment in
: place before they start up 100%.(keep down the bad blood,unlike some
: isp,s ;-)) Just my $0.02,s,rick p.s. AT&T has been my LD co.for a long
: time. Never a prob.$0.02 more.
AT&T may encounter, or may already have encountered, growing pains.
However, even if Johnny-come-lately AT&T messes up, there's still MCI;
while AT&T had all the hype, MCI has quietly been an ISP for over a
year, so they've been there, done that.
Regarding investment in IDT stock: Why? Instead of risking so much
capital to get a minority voice, why not just go out and pay for the
best service you can afford? When you figure in the opportunity cost
(unless you expect IDT stock to take off), you're probably better off
doing this. Also, it's much more realistic.
---Alvin H. Nichter
Alvin Nichter
EEjack (elmw...@chelsea.ios.com) wrote:
: In article <318C8D...@soho.ios.com>, Haviland <havi...@soho.ios.com> wrote:
: > EEjack wrote:
: > >
: > > However I personaly believe that after the AT&T internet attempt fails
: > > the worth of IDT/IOS will skyrocket making those shares worth something.
: > >
: >
: > Don't forget that MCI, Bell Atlantic and your local cable company will
: > be offering some competition as well.
: I wonder how it will all turn out.
: Interesting article in this months internet world about the canadian cable
: companies and internet access. Someone is devolping a 30MPS cable modem.
: Wow.
: What does a T1 provide?
: Just a thought
: EEjack
Cable modems are in limited field tests in a few locales in the U.S.,
according to the Motorola rep I spoke to about two months ago at a
serious trade show (not a wowie zowie open-to-the-public affair).
Although they're theoretically capable of 30 Mbps, real-world capacity
for the typical connection will probably be around 10 Mbps. Of course,
that's the capacity inbound to your home machine; outbound capacity
will be much less, but that's OK in most applications.
Cable modems are a rather pricey, although the price is expected to be
around $500 in large quantities. That's quite a capital outlay for a
cable company (I doubt that they'll let you supply your own), and that
doesn't even include their host machines, very high speed Internet
connectivity, etc. Also, many cable companies are, how shall I put it,
technically challenged. Don't hold your breath waiting for this service.
BTW, T1 speed typically is 1.544 Mbps. There's more than one way to
use the channel capacity on a T1, each with a somewhat different
data rate; the value I gave above is for one particular type of
connection (protocol, if you will) over T1. The well-heeled
Internaut can get T1 to the home, but it costs serious kilobucks/year.
Also, as far as technical support goes, you're pretty much on your own.
However, it has been done.
You can always dream, EEjack.
---Alvin H. Nichter
EEjack
In article <4mjt93$1...@news2.ios.com>, anic...@gramercy.ios.com (Alvin
Nichter) wrote:
> Cable modems are in limited field tests in a few locales in the U.S.,
> according to the Motorola rep I spoke to about two months ago at a
> serious trade show (not a wowie zowie open-to-the-public affair).
> Although they're theoretically capable of 30 Mbps, real-world capacity
> for the typical connection will probably be around 10 Mbps. Of course,
> that's the capacity inbound to your home machine; outbound capacity
> will be much less, but that's OK in most applications.
>
> Cable modems are a rather pricey, although the price is expected to be
> around $500 in large quantities. That's quite a capital outlay for a
> cable company (I doubt that they'll let you supply your own), and that
> doesn't even include their host machines, very high speed Internet
> connectivity, etc. Also, many cable companies are, how shall I put it,
> technically challenged. Don't hold your breath waiting for this service.
>
> BTW, T1 speed typically is 1.544 Mbps. There's more than one way to
> use the channel capacity on a T1, each with a somewhat different
> data rate; the value I gave above is for one particular type of
> connection (protocol, if you will) over T1. The well-heeled
> Internaut can get T1 to the home, but it costs serious kilobucks/year.
> Also, as far as technical support goes, you're pretty much on your own.
> However, it has been done.
>
> You can always dream, EEjack.
>
> ---Alvin H. Nichter
There was a few links in the article
http://www.cox.com/modemfaq.html for a tutorial called Cable Modem FAQ
http://www.home.net for a company profile of @Home which is supposed to be
a big player in the cable internet field
I have been avoiding upgrading my existing rig because of the multitude of
options availible to me. Do I go ISDN...33.2(?)...full duplex for phone...
or wait for something else. Do I stick with my Macs or go to the IMHO more
difficult to use ibm style machines? Recent surveys show an increase in Mac
use on the net and maybe that will mean better software.
And yes..I can always dream
Thanks for the info Alvin.
EEjack
Adam M. Charney
My comments apply equally to ISP's. There are a number I can point
to, but I'm at home, not in my office right now.
The general notion,a s you have pointed out, is that market is a
sucker for anything perceived as being Net related, regardless of the
underlying fundamentals of the company. Personally, I believe the
loca ISP is doomed to fail because at the end of the day, they will
not have the capital to invest int he technology that TelCo or ATT
can. In any event, IDT's LD business is poorly advertised, even in
its advertising does not address certain basic issues (like making a
call from a place where there is an operator --such as a hotel --
which is a long time intrnational traveler is the place I make all of
my int'l calls from). It's not clear to me why IDT has abandoned that
business in favor of ISP-hood, other than the quick buck.
I have not seen IDT's offering statement and don't know how much stock
Jonas & Co. still own, although it is clearly a controlling interest.
Your best bet is to interest some other regional ISP in acquring them
and incorporating their customer base into their own network.
Best regards.
kdjhds <2425...@gramercy.ios.com> wrote:
Adam M. Charney
acha...@village.ios.com
Mr. Sam
In <318D88...@tribeca.ios.com>, "James A. Hafer" <jha...@tribeca.ios.com>
wrote:
>OK. So one "volunteer" from each IDT server is designated to copy the
>list. (Is this legal?)
It's legal, but you'll piss off a lot of people.
>Placing announcements in the IDT newgroups has a safer feel to it.
Yup.
Dagda
kdjhds <2425...@gramercy.ios.com> wrote:
>This is some of the most absurd stuff I have ever heard of in my life.
<SNIPPED INFORMATION ON STOCK OFFERINGS, ETC.>
You know it really has gotten pretty bad. When I saw the title of
this thread I didn't think of Gordon Geckoesque financial wizardry.
No, I thought of and angry mob of people storming the offices with
pitchforks, other gardening implements and torches. Hmm, perhaps I
have become so frustrated that I am beyond constructive thought.
Where is the main office for IOS? Would pickets be of any use?
Cheers,
Dagda
Jacob Krommenhock
You said:
>> >However I personaly believe that after the AT&T internet attempt
fails
>> >the worth of IDT/IOS will skyrocket making those shares worth
something.
>>
This may be true but I would rather invest in Microsoft. I hate Bill
Gates but there seems to be a track record of profits.
>> --
>> Mr. Sam:
>
>I think that as a telephone company AT&T is the very best. I would
>use no other for myself or my business. However they are a very
>management oriented company in the midst of a major
>reorganization and massive layoffs and AT&T has not had any success
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>with non telephone ventures in the past.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Am I mistaken here but wasn't AT&T Bell Labs the place where Unix was
invented? In fact, wasn't that the place that the C language was
developed? Didn't Bjorne Stroustrop the inventor of C++ work for AT&T?
Hmmmm!!! EEjack has something here. AT&T does not know a thing about
computers.
Scott Roberts
How could I resist replying to a thread with this opening?
Unfortunately, dreamers, give up all hope of a hostile takeover of IDT.
Jonas controls the "Voting Stock"--more thatn 51 percent of the votes
belong to him. His shares are worth three votes (and, unless he has
converted and liquidated, he has 11,174,330 of the 20,841,230 total
shares. His are the only Class A stock that exists; each share is worth
three votes; so you would have to buy HIS stock to do a direct takeover.
And a goodly chunk of it, too.)
Pickets, annoying letters, and other assorted information of a negative
nature can be mailed to:
IDT
294 State Street
Hackensack, NJ 07601
You may also wish to mail your complaints, phone them in, or contact the
Better Business Bureau of your respective states. These organizations
have received many complaints about IDT and every time you put one in you
are one step closer to a government agency taking action against IDT for
continued and perpetuated fraud.
Alternatively, you can call the IDT offices, and register your complaints
directly with the individuals listed (note I do not, under any
circumstances, endorse unduly harassing calls to these numbers--for the
most part these are people just doing their jobs):
201-928-1000 (switchboard)
Legal Department (Joyce Mason): 201-928-4484
Chief Technological Officer (Eric Raab): 201-928-4487
--Shayd
Former Senior Technical Support Representative of IDT/IOS
"You don't like my point of view, you think that I'm insane..."
Check out the IDT Web Pages (well...the real story from my perspective)
http://www.cybernex.net/IDTmain.html
Jeremiah Kristal
Jacob Krommenhock (ksw...@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
: You said:
AT&T knows a hell of a lot about computers. They have never been able to
successfully market their knowledge. Remember what happened when they
tried to sell Unix? Major flop. What about their PC-clone sales?
Flop. How about their dedicated internet service? Cancelled because of
poor response.
AT&T has not been very successful in non-telephone business ventures from
a profitability standpoint. They have developed some incredible
technologies, and are continuing to do so. They are also doing some very
interesting things with non-traditional information delivery systems.
I wouldn't assume that AT&T will be successful in the internet, but I am
sure that they will develop at least some of the next generation tools
and protocols.
--
________
\______/ Jeremiah Kristal
\____/ IDT Internet Services
\__/ jere...@ios.com
\/
EEjack
In article <4mr4eu$5...@dfw-ixnews7.ix.netcom.com>,
ksw...@ix.netcom.com(Jacob Krommenhock) wrote:
> You said:
> >I think that as a telephone company AT&T is the very best. I would
> >use no other for myself or my business. However they are a very
> >management oriented company in the midst of a major
> >reorganization and massive layoffs and AT&T has not had any success
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >with non telephone ventures in the past.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Am I mistaken here but wasn't AT&T Bell Labs the place where Unix was
> invented? In fact, wasn't that the place that the C language was
> developed? Didn't Bjorne Stroustrop the inventor of C++ work for AT&T?
>
> Hmmmm!!! EEjack has something here. AT&T does not know a thing about
> computers.
Has AT&T made any money from these examples?
They hire some great innovative thinkers...Bell Labs was a great place
for research and development, no question.
<you forgot the core of computers..the transistor>
But they operate like a monopoly...they are still *very* overburdened with
middle management, they still have a large bureacracy, they still respond to
the marketplace slowly. Do you think that they can respond to the multitude
of problems and difficulties that come about from providing internet services?
So I will restate my point with a modification.
AT&T has not had any finacial success with non telephone ventures in the past.
^^^^^^^^
While I suspect that they might change I don't think that they can.
EEjack
Alvin Nichter
EEjack (elmw...@chelsea.ios.com) wrote:
: In article <4mr4eu$5...@dfw-ixnews7.ix.netcom.com>,
: ksw...@ix.netcom.com(Jacob Krommenhock) wrote:
: EEjack
I think that "EEjack" has a point here. AT&T doesn't know how to
capitalize on their non-telephone technology, and their track record
outside the telephone field is abysmal.
Their flop in the PC hardware market is the tip of the iceberg.
This is the company that, rather than monopolizing the semiconductor
industry for a decade or two, licensed the transistor patent to anyone
who would pay a few bucks; one such licensee was an unremarkable electronics
firm in Japan named Sony. AT&T couldn't develop a significant following
for Unix for a long time; it was U.C. Berkeley that gave Unix much of its
impetus for many years. Also, the main reason that Unix caught on
to any degree is that it was cheap for startup workstation companies to
implement; they needed only to write a C compiler and get a Unix license
for a nominal fee to be on their way. AT&T saw little of Bill Joy's
money, for example. And then there was another of their inventions,
the communications satellite....
It took AT&T a long time to learn how to market directly to the public,
and they still haven't learned the lesson. Also, they lost most of their
top technical talent when Bell Labs was spun off as Bellcore. And judging
by the way they've have handled their Internet startup so far, they may
end up being nothing more than a me-too ISP.
BTW, It's still very much a horse race, but there's one ISP that I
wouldn't bet on for the long haul: IDT.
---Alvin H. Nichter