99 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
99 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
- ELECTRONIC SURVIVAL -
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Perhaps you haven't been too concerned about the recent events surrounding
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the fate of your telephone and what it will soon cost to use. Perhaps you
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haven't realized how tenuous your contact with the "electronic void" could be
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if basic rates rise as much as some observers believe they will.
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Perhaps/smerhaps. This article is designed to give you cause for worry and for
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hope.
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Representative Timothy Wirth of Colorado has some interesting ideas about the
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bastard progeny of Ma Bell and AT&T. In an article in September '83's Rolling
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Stone, William Greider wrote about some of the concerns expressed by Tim Wirth.
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It was the kind of article Alvin Tolfer should read for his revision of "The
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Third Wave". It was the kind of article that reveals that Tofler was astute in
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his powers of observation and analysis. But it showed that (in some cases)
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Tofler put two and two together and came out with three.
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Quoting now, "Depending on where you live, the basic charge for local
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telephone service is expected to double or perhaps triple in the next few
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years. And if you live in a sparsely populated rural area -- the Southwest or
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the mountain states -- it may even be worse." To many, this is no news at all.
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Some know an even more ominous development: in many parts of the country local
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telephone companies are pushing for "data quality line" prices for users of
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modems on their telephone lines. That could spell disaster for the electronic
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nations with capitals such as "The SOURCE".
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Tim Wirth visualizes an emergence of a two class society. On the up side
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will be the affluent who can afford to telecommute, "buying, studying and even
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working at home, inventing, sending messages and expressing themselves on
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public issues". On the low, low, low second side will be those denied these
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"rights" because of economic status -- they won't be able to plug in, much less
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turn on -- so they'll tune out.
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Once Greider sounded the alarm in his article he went on to promulgate
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[somewhat naive] predictions of the future. He even went on to call Ma Bell
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"the one monopoly that really worked". So we'll drop Mr. Greider and his
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Congressman cohort and change direction to discuss alternatives.
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Okay, so phone rates will go up. The price of goods and services is hardly
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on a downward spiral. What can we do about it? Probably nothing more than
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develop alternatives. And THERE is our cause for hope.
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There is another trend that Tofler and the "Mega-Trenders" have missed. That
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is the tiny underground of licensed radio operators trying to develop "packet
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radio". This is a system of radio based computer communications. There are
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articles about it scattered hither and yon, usually buried in the back pages of
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whatever computer magazines may have mentioned it. According to Peter J.
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Eaton (WB9FLW), "This new mode can provide high-speed communication that is
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interference [and price hike?] resistant and is [an] efficient use of the radio
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spectrum".
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Quoting further from an article Peter wrote in June '83 for "Micro
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Cornucopia", "There are two [groups doing research]... The first... Vancouver
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Amateur Digital Communications Group... [The second is] the Tucson Amateur
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Packet Radio Group...". No addresses given in the article. The article is
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somewhat technical but the possibilities are fascinating.
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[If you MUST have a copy of the article, titled "Packet Radio", send your
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name and address to BBL126 via SOURCE MAIL.]
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So there IS cause for hope. As long as holders of First Class Radio
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Operators licenses don't band together to form some giant cartel, there may be
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cause for genuine optimism.
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WHAT CAN YOU DO? Get involved in ANY rate hike review hearings of the public
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utility commission near you. Be suspicious of all 'justifications' by
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telephone companies of their rate hike requests. Spread the word and sound the
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alarm. But WHATEVER you do, DON'T JUST SIT THERE. Otherwise '1984' (somewhat
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delayed because of advance bad press) may arrive after all.
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YOU SHOULD ALSO BE AWARE OF ONE OTHER FRIGHTENING POSSIBILITY. There is a
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chance you may one day encounter the horror of N.D.T. (No Dial Tone).
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Telephone industry insiders have long known that if all (or even half) the
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telephone subscribers picked up their instruments at one time, not everybody
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would be able to communicate. This is because in designing telephone
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facilities no one ever imagined a situation where everyone would need to talk
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to everyone else at the same time. And although such a situation is unlikely,
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more and more people may become dependent on the telephone utilities as modem
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sales skyrocket.
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In an article in the November '83 issue of "Link-Up" entitled "Will the Phone
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Service Always be Available [for Modem Users]?" this matter is discussed
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further. The article points out that the Bell System traditionally
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'over-engineered' their installations. The statement, "Capacity far outstrips
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demand in the total telephone network" is not attributed to a particular
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individual or source. Sounds as if it came right out of a press release, but
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is probably (and hopefully) accurate. The dawn of the age of fiber-optic
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communications may provide answers and solutions to the agony of N.D.T.
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Just another reason to turn to the free (if over-regulated) airwaves.
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Another reason to consider and seek alternatives.
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Your comments and opinions on this matter are solicited.
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Mike Guffey
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10231 Gulfstream
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Sugarland, Txeople may
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Call The Works BBS - 1600+ Textfiles! - [914]/238-8195 - 300/1200 - Always Open
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