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"Open Access" and regulation of railroad freight rates.
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[quote user="Datafever"][quote user="futuremodal"] <P>You seem to support the notion that current innovations in telcoms all or mostly have their roots in Bell Labs, and the current atmosphere of telcom innnovation would actually have been better off under the Ma Bell monopoly. And by inference you may also support the notion that monopolies at the very least do not inhibit innovation, and at best are better suited than competitive industries to develop innovations.</P> <P>Is that a fairer assessment of your POV on the whole monopoly vs competitive arguement?</P> <P>[/quote]<BR>Current innovations in telcoms all or mostly have their roots in Bell Labs? No, I don't think that would be an accurate statement. Wireless technology has been dominated by Motorola, so much so that one could almost say that Motorola has almost had an effective monopoly. (At one time, I worked for a competitor of Motorola's. We had a better product at a better price and hit the marketplace months before Motorola did, but Motorola had the name and the marketing power.)<BR><BR>I can't say that the breakup of Ma Bell produced any technological innovations at all in terms of long distance landline service. (I don't care about local landline service, as that remained a monopoly). What did Sprint or MCI bring to the game? Better off? I can't say that. Worse off? I can't say that either.<BR><BR>What are some innovations that have gained inroads? Caller ID, fiber optics, ISDN, DSL, personal voicemail, etc. How many of those would not have been innovated without the breakup? Well, Caller ID was developed prior to the breakup. Fiber optics was first tested for telephone service in the late 1970s. ISDN was a protocol developed by a standards committee (CCITT, now ITU) and eagerly implemented by the baby Bells. <BR><BR>I support the notion that monopolies do not <I>necessarily</I> inhibit innovation. Can examples be found of monopolies that were pretty bad? Yes, I dare say so. In your original statement, you included examples of two monopolies. I only took issue with one of them. The breakup of Standard Oil happened well before my time so I have very little insight into that situation. From what I have read, Standard Oil was the worst of what can happen in a monopolistic situation. Conversely, Ma Bell could very well have been the best of what can happen.<BR><BR>I would like to add something here. I am not anti open access. If you have read my posts on the subject, then you know where I stand, and why I have taken that position. If you feel like answering any of the many questions that I have raised, I'm listening.<BR>[/quote]</P> <P>Would you at least agree that there is a difference between the creation of a basic invention, and subsequent adaptations to that invention in order to optimize it's commercial value? If so, then what is it that turns a basic invention into a marketplace player? Somewhere in the process, there has to be a certain amount of "fear" that forces minds to manipulate the base item into the optimized selling item. </P> <P>There's two areas that might force this "fear" in my view - (1)competition, aka survival of the fittest, or (2) fear of government intervention or repression (aka, fear of being "Enronized" before a Senate panel).</P> <P>Otherwise, research labs of monopolies are basically a collection of pet projects or politically correct PR schemes, kind of like university research labs. </P> <P>The other thing to mention here is sales and marketing innovations - you get such in competitive arenas, not in monopolistic fiefdoms.</P>
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