[COLUG] AT&T and other Internet/TV providers

[Thomas W. Cranston]

Olaf Stein wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I will be moving soon and am considering switching my current provider 
> for tv and internet (time warner) over to AT&T.
> Their U-verse packages seem very good deals.
>
> I have a few questions regarding this:
>
> 1) Does any of you have good or bad experiences with AT&T in Columbus, 
> I read some nasty reviews from the west coast, I am not sure if they 
> apply to Columbus as well
>
> 2) How does AT&T wire the inside, is it Coax like the cable companies do?
> I am asking this because it is nice that you can add more TV's to your 
> house at no cost without a receiver if you split the coax cable and 
> can live with no digital tv on those tv's
>
> 3) Any other providers (besides AT&T or time warner) you would recommend?
>
>
> Thanks a lot
>
> Olaf
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>
Speaking of ATT, there is a very good article about the history of the 
Internet in this months Vanity Fair.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/07/internet200807

"The one hurdle packet switching faced was AT&T. They fought it tooth 
and nail at the beginning. They tried all sorts of things to stop it.

Working with AT&T would be like working with Cro-Magnon man.

Bob Metcalfe: Imagine a bearded grad student being handed a dozen AT&T 
executives, all in pin-striped suits and quite a bit older and cooler. 
And I’m giving them a tour. And when I say a tour, they’re standing 
behind me while I’m typing on one of these terminals. I’m traveling 
around the Arpanet showing them: Ooh, look. You can do this. And I’m in 
U.C.L.A. in Los Angeles now. And now I’m in San Francisco. And now I’m 
in Chicago. And now I’m in Cambridge, Massachusetts—isn’t this cool? And 
as I’m giving my demo, the damned thing crashed.

And I turned around to look at these 10, 12 AT&T suits, and they were 
all laughing. And it was in that moment that AT&T became my bête noire, 
because I realized in that moment that these sons of bitches were 
rooting against me.

To this day, I still cringe at the mention of AT&T. That’s why my cell 
phone is a T-Mobile. The rest of my family uses AT&T, but I refuse. "

The on line version is abridged. The unabridged article is in the July 
2000 issue.