Hi John,
   Ok, I gotta play Devil's Advocate here... being the AT&T brat that I am (Mom
retired from 'em in '78 hehehehe)

   Granted there is competition now in the phone arena now that the Bell system
is busted up... but did we 'the consumer' come out ahead?

   We now pay 3 or 4 bucks just to "access" the long distance system... and the
taxes and fees on our phone system is ridiculus over here in Oregon!!! :(

    And I won't even discuss US West hehehe :)

Art "Just having a fun day :) " Bahrs

>>> "John D. Alleyn-Day" <[log in to unmask]> 12/22/97 10:48pm >>>
Glenn Cole <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

MS should be broken up, just as the Bell system was broken up, so that the
OS is kept completely separate from applications.  There were definite
disadvantages to the breakup of the telephone monopoly, but we learnt to
live with them and now have the cheapest long-distance rates in the world
(by a considerable factor).  So with breaking up MS - there will be
disadvantages in the short term, but, in the long term, greater competition
will lead to better and less expensive software.

John D. Alleyn-Day
Alleyn-Day International
408-286-6421   408-286-6474 (Fax)
[log in to unmask]       http://www.Alleyn-Day.com