4 ms·

That's the least rational thing I've ever seen. Look at what happened to Bell. Forced corporate breakups are the dumbest thing possible.

gibybo 9y ago
What would be a better way to deal with monopolies? Surely the breakup of Bell is better than if they were allowed to continue as a monopoly right?
- Mononokay 9y ago
  Not at all, actually! Ever heard of Verizon, AT&T, and Centurylink? All of them came from the Bell breakup. Bell used to do things that were cool as fuck; post-breakup, prices rose for everyone, and innovation stopped really happening. Monopolies aren't inherently bad - especially not ones like Bell, where they're beneficial to everyone.
  - tyingq 9y ago
    >post-breakup, prices rose for everyone Any citations for this? The rise of MCI cut my phone bills by more than half in the 80's. Bell was killing us with 3 figure/month residential phone bills. And, I pay 10x less now per month in non inflation adjusted dollars than I did in 1986. Out of state calls back then were commonly double digit cents per minute. Now they are typically 1 cent per minute or even less.
    - bartart 9y ago
      It was actually an issue after the breakup because the successor companies started making much more money as a group than they did when they were together. They did all sorts of creative accounting to make it look like the breakup was a big success that led to lower profits, when in reality cutting bloated bureaucracy and the R&D budget led to really bumper profits.
      - tyingq 9y ago
        Hmm. Maybe more overall minutes/calls due to the lower cost? I know for sure my phone bills got cut in half when I switched to MCI. I didn't call or talk more often, just paid less. Maybe others paid more than before, but enjoyed the additional minutes.
  - kgwgk 9y ago
    > prices rose for everyone Prices for long-distance calls fell.
  - elchief 9y ago
    What the actual fuck? Long distance prices dropped 99.9% after the breakup
  - thisisit 9y ago
    > Monopolies aren't inherently bad - especially not ones like Bell, where they're beneficial to everyone. That is an interesting thought. What other examples are there for monopolies being inherently good for everyone?
    - Mononokay 9y ago
      Although not entirely the same thing: Google has a semi-monopoly on a lot of things, and they're most certainly a rough net gain for everyone. Standard Oil did (minus the environment); under their monopoly prices were incredibly cheap. The person who benefited most from the split was Rockefeller, who you've probably heard of.
- jon_richards 9y ago
  What's the problem with the breakup of bell? The fact that they slowly all merged back together again?

gibybo 9y ago

What would be a better way to deal with monopolies? Surely the breakup of Bell is better than if they were allowed to continue as a monopoly right?

Mononokay 9y ago
Not at all, actually! Ever heard of Verizon, AT&T, and Centurylink? All of them came from the Bell breakup. Bell used to do things that were cool as fuck; post-breakup, prices rose for everyone, and innovation stopped really happening. Monopolies aren't inherently bad - especially not ones like Bell, where they're beneficial to everyone.
- tyingq 9y ago
  >post-breakup, prices rose for everyone Any citations for this? The rise of MCI cut my phone bills by more than half in the 80's. Bell was killing us with 3 figure/month residential phone bills. And, I pay 10x less now per month in non inflation adjusted dollars than I did in 1986. Out of state calls back then were commonly double digit cents per minute. Now they are typically 1 cent per minute or even less.
  - bartart 9y ago
    It was actually an issue after the breakup because the successor companies started making much more money as a group than they did when they were together. They did all sorts of creative accounting to make it look like the breakup was a big success that led to lower profits, when in reality cutting bloated bureaucracy and the R&D budget led to really bumper profits.
    - tyingq 9y ago
      Hmm. Maybe more overall minutes/calls due to the lower cost? I know for sure my phone bills got cut in half when I switched to MCI. I didn't call or talk more often, just paid less. Maybe others paid more than before, but enjoyed the additional minutes.
- kgwgk 9y ago
  > prices rose for everyone Prices for long-distance calls fell.
- elchief 9y ago
  What the actual fuck? Long distance prices dropped 99.9% after the breakup
- thisisit 9y ago
  > Monopolies aren't inherently bad - especially not ones like Bell, where they're beneficial to everyone. That is an interesting thought. What other examples are there for monopolies being inherently good for everyone?
  - Mononokay 9y ago
    Although not entirely the same thing: Google has a semi-monopoly on a lot of things, and they're most certainly a rough net gain for everyone. Standard Oil did (minus the environment); under their monopoly prices were incredibly cheap. The person who benefited most from the split was Rockefeller, who you've probably heard of.
jon_richards 9y ago
What's the problem with the breakup of bell? The fact that they slowly all merged back together again?