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Home Archives Archives before June 13, 2001 RSS Feed Adaptive Path (my company!) About peterme Coordinates Most of the Time Oakland, CA Interests Current American history around the time of the Revolution, figuring out how to marry top-down task-based information architecture processes with bottom-up document-based ones, finding a good dentist in San Francisco Oakland Perennial Designing the user experience (interaction design, information architecture, user research, etc.), cognitive science, ice cream, films and film theory, girls, commuter bicycling, coffee, travel, theoretical physics for laypeople, single malt scotch, fresh salmon nigiri, hanging out, comics formalism, applied complexity theory, Krispy Kreme donuts. surf Click to see where I wander. Wish list Show me you love me by buying me things. Spyonme Track updates of this page with Spyonit. Clickee here. Essays [Editor's note: peterme.com began as a site of self-published essays, a la Stating The Obvious. This evolved (or devolved) towards link lists and shorter thoughtpieces. These essays are getting a tad old, but have some good ideas.] Reader Favorites Interface Design Recommended Reading List Whose "My" Is It Anyway? Frames: Information Vs. Application Subjects Interface Design Web Development Movie Reviews Travel		Don't Change Phone Companies Or We'll Shoot This Dog. Posted on 05/31/2002. SBC/Ameritech, seemingly scared shitless by the thought of actual competition in the telecommunications market, has these ads all over the Chicago "L." Here in the land of Al Capone, I'm wary of any business telling me I'm considering a "bad idea." 4 comments so far. Add a comment. Previous entry: "Elko, NV." Next entry: "Laramie, WY." Comments: COMMENT #1 It actually is a bad idea to switch local phone services. Why? Well because the line is still owned by SBC/Ameritech and if something goes wrong, SBC/Ameritech isn't going to go out of their way to fix it since you aren't their customer anymore. Lots of horror stories. Posted by randy @ 06/02/2002 04:31 PM PST [link to this comment] COMMENT #2 I've really despised this ad campaign. SBC lacks any selling point whatsoever, so it resorts to empty arguments like equating switching providers to sticking your tongue to a frozen pole. "Why should you use our services? Because we say so! Switching carriers is scary! Boo!" I live in Chicago and switched to RCN after just a few month's of Ameritech's lameness. I've had no problems and know of nobody who has, other than the problem of deciding what to do with the money we're saving. This week I found static on my line, and somebody is coming out tomorrow morning. I'm not sure whether it will be an Ameritech or an RCN tech, but it seems like pretty fast service to me. Posted by J. Luke Seemann @ 06/03/2002 11:06 AM PST [link to this comment] COMMENT #3 Yes, indeedy. I'm tired of these ads, plus, I get to see them every day - along with the companion TV and radio spots. What Randy says is very true. I wasn't able to get DSL, for instance, without having Ameritech as a local phone provider. That's the only way one can get it, and given that I wasn't able to get cable net access at my current place, I had no choice for high speed. If that's not monopolistic, I don't know what is. Posted by Paul @ 06/13/2002 05:39 AM PST [link to this comment] COMMENT #4 Wow! Think for a minute guys. Of course the technicians coming out to fix your lines work for Ameritech. Did you actually think a parasite would invest in anything other than it's own selfish interest? Think people! And boo hoo. You can't get DSL unless you have Ameritech for your local service provider. That's because they are the ones investing in the technology and assuming the cost of DSL technology. Gee, I guess it's kind of like wondering why you can't have cable access unless you go through a cable provider. Talk about a long time monopoly. Anyone who believes that cable companies are fair with their customers needs to get their heads out of their butts. I still waiting for fair competition with cable. And wow, what a revelation! Cable is almost entirely owned by AT&T. You whiners must be disgruntled ex World Com employees. Whaaaa whaaaa whaaa....... Posted by Seymore @ 11/05/2002 06:43 PM PST [link to this comment] Add A New Comment: Name E-Mail (optional) Homepage (optional) Comments Now with a bigger box for text entry! Whee! All contents of peterme.com are © 1998 - 2002 Peter Merholz.