« Tuesday in Atlanta: Atlanta Telecom Professional of the Year Gala | Main | Another Week on the Road: »
November 06, 2005
Tom Evslin on the Arrogance of Ed Whitacre:
Fractals of Change: Don’t Buy DSL From This Man (If You Can Help It)
"...More importantly, Whitacre’s arrogance led him to take on too many opponents at once. He might have gotten away with considerable pressure on the VoIP providers. But he chose to take on Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo at the same time. Although these companies are just learning how to lobby, they have the money to do it successfully..."
It was great to see Tom come forward and share his voice on the Whitacre “freerider” issue. I’m just not so sure that Yahoo! will be that quick to fight SBC (or Verizon) due to their ongoing financial relationship.
Share this post:
Digg |
del.icio.us |
Reddit |
Newsvine |
Google Bookmark |
Yahoo MyWeb |
StumbleUpon
Posted by jeff on November 6, 2005 01:19 PM | Permalink
Additional resources: Watch PrimeTime TV Shows | Watch the Jeff Pulver Show | Jeff's Qik Videos
Comments
Excellent work; EVERYONE needs to be aware that Whitacre and his colleagues are attempting to freeride off of the public. Whitacre's quote from November,
"Why should they be allowed to use my pipes? The Internet can't be free in that sense, because we and the cable companies have made an investment, and for a Google or Yahoo! or Vonage or anybody to expect to use these pipes [for] free is nuts!"
is as flawed as it is arrogant. People are not using these "pipes" for free; everyone who has access to internet in their home pays a monthly fee for it and likely an installation fee as well. With the millions of customers paying for internet each month, I find it difficult to believe that telecommunication and cable companies are not seeing a return on their investment.
Customers pay this fee for their service. Accessing information on the internet is then up to the customer. Whitacre and any executive from any other cable or telecommunication company must be prepared to answer for any illegal actions they attempt to take to hold the public hostage for their own personal gain. I know I and just about everyone I know will fight with fire to do whatever it takes to stop them.
Posted by: Dustin at February 3, 2006 10:17 AM