The End of an Era - After Almost a Century

[AtomicEraTom]

It looks like the POTS system will soon be a thing of the past.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/11...de-century-old-phone-system/?intcmp=obnetwork

 

[LizzieMaine]

It looks like the POTS system will soon be a thing of the past.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/11...de-century-old-phone-system/?intcmp=obnetwork

If we needed any more proof that the FCC is now merely the servile, fawning lapdog of the telecommunications industry, this would be it. James L. Fly is spinning in his grave.

They seriously underestimate the job they're facing in the rural areas of the country -- and the resistance they'll face.

 

[HeyMoe]

Yeah, that isn't going to work where I live: We have no cell service (and cell providers refuse to add towers due to the low numbers of customers in the area that I live in) and IP based phones are not likely to work in a power outage (Now if the power is out, I can still make phone calls). We have IP based phones in my office and they suck. I mean really suck.

Unless they really improve technology, I can't see this working in rural ares of this country.

Sometimes the dipshits in charge of things like this need to remember the old saying: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Yeah, that isn't going to work where I live: We have no cell service (and cell providers refuse to add towers due to the low numbers of customers in the area that I live in) and IP based phones are not likely to work in a power outage (Now if the power is out, I can still make phone calls). We have IP based phones in my office and they suck. I mean really suck.

Unless they really improve technology, I can't see this working in rural ares of this country.

Sometimes the dipshits in charge of things like this need to remember the old saying: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I believe this is the point of the program...they're going to really improve technology. And it has nothing to do with cell service.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yeah, that isn't going to work where I live: We have no cell service (and cell providers refuse to add towers due to the low numbers of customers in the area that I live in) and IP based phones are not likely to work in a power outage (Now if the power is out, I can still make phone calls). We have IP based phones in my office and they suck. I mean really suck.

Unless they really improve technology, I can't see this working in rural ares of this country.

Sometimes the dipshits in charge of things like this need to remember the old saying: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

That's exactly the issue here -- the weather conditions alone mean major issues with power outages every winter, and fiber optic lines cannot transmit the electricity required to operate VOIP equipment. Most people here still have POTS lines, and for proven good reason.

And on top of that, people around here *really don't want* cell towers anywhere near their property. There's a rather militant campaign going on right now a few towns up the road from here to block a tower scheme, and that isn't going to go away just because some FCC geek says so. "People need to be encouraged to adopt new technology" is just corpspeak for "you're going to take what we're selling -- or else." People here tend to resist that sort of hard-sell. (Never mind that it isn't the FCC's job to 'encourage people to adopt new technology.' Its job is to regulate that technology, nothing else. Shilling for the telcom industry is a job for a trade association, not the government.)

The resistance is already underway. Although Federal law allows the phone companies to offer a "line substitute" in lieu of maintaining the copper lines, there are already bills underway in some states that would require the continued maintenance of the existing lines. Maine already has such a law.

 

[hatsRme]

Stand your Ground!!

Two years ago, when I relented to Fios, Verizon attempted to REMOVE all the underground copper leading to my house... On this point, I did NOT relent. Darn near started a job action with their useless union dotards.

 

[HudsonHawk]

"People need to be encouraged to adopt new technology" is just corpspeak for "you're going to take what we're selling -- or else." People here tend to resist that sort of hard-sell.

How is this different than the first 100 years of phone service? Or electricity, for that matter? "What? You're gonna string a bunch of ugly copper wires on poles all over town? Not on my watch buster!" Eventually people put down their blind hatred for any sort of change and said "you know what, this telephone thingie ain't such a bad gizmo after all". I suspect this will be the case here also.

 

[HeyMoe]

HudsonHawk,

I am not sure where you live, but up here in rural central Vermont it is not uncommon to have power outages that last a week+ and we rarely lose POTS based phone service (zero times in past 20 years that I can remember). If I need to call 911 due to a medical emergency, I certainly want a system that will work - not one that will require me to set up a generator to get things powered up because you know darn well that is exactly the time when Ol' Mr. Murphy will rear his ugly head and the damn generator wont work.

Their plan will likely work in city areas, but out here where my nearest non-relative neighbor is a mile away - that old school copper phone line can be a life saver.

 

[HeyMoe]

And, I like my vintage telephones and I will be upset if I cant use them

 

[HudsonHawk]

HudsonHawk,

I am not sure where you live, but up here in rural central Vermont it is not uncommon to have power outages that last a week+ and we rarely lose POTS based phone service (zero times in past 20 years that I can remember). If I need to call 911 due to a medical emergency, I certainly want a system that will work - not one that will require me to set up a generator to get things powered up because you know darn well that is exactly the time when Ol' Mr. Murphy will rear his ugly head and the damn generator wont work.

Their plan will likely work in city areas, but out here where my nearest non-relative neighbor is a mile away - that old school copper phone line can be a life saver.

I understand that. I'm sure the phone company is aware of that issue too. I'm not suggesting they should just tell everyone to go to hell in the event of an emergency. I'm saying the pre-emptive complaining about the new system, when the system hasn't even been defined, designed or tested yet, rings hollow with me. It's just complaining for the sake of complaining.

 

[HudsonHawk]

And, I like my vintage telephones and I will be upset if I cant use them

I like mine too. I will be bummed as well.

 

[HeyMoe]

It's just complaining for the sake of complaining.

My dear friend - I am a New Englander. We make fine art of complaining for the sake of complaining - it is just what we do!

 

[HudsonHawk]

My dear friend - I am a New Englander. We make fine art of complaining for the sake of complaining - it is just what we do!

Is that what you do when the thermometer plunges down to the artic depths of sub-50-degree insanity?

 

[HeyMoe]

LOL, no. At that point we hibernate beside the fire while stewing about new fangled technology - like them damn talkin' movies!

 

[LizzieMaine]

HudsonHawk,

I am not sure where you live, but up here in rural central Vermont it is not uncommon to have power outages that last a week+ and we rarely lose POTS based phone service (zero times in past 20 years that I can remember). If I need to call 911 due to a medical emergency, I certainly want a system that will work - not one that will require me to set up a generator to get things powered up because you know darn well that is exactly the time when Ol' Mr. Murphy will rear his ugly head and the damn generator wont work.

Their plan will likely work in city areas, but out here where my nearest non-relative neighbor is a mile away - that old school copper phone line can be a life saver.

Exactly. Never in my entire life have I picked up my telephone receiver and failed to get a dial tone, not even during the Great Atlantic Ice Storm of '98, when over half the population of my state lost electricity for at least a week. Until the people pushing these so-called "upgrades" can offer that level of reliability -- not half of it, not 75 percent of it, but *that level of reliability*, they have absolutely no business trying to foist it off on us as a mandate. We have laws here -- strongly supported by law enforcement and public safety advocates -- to keep that from happening, and hopefully other states will soon have them as well. I know that Tom's state, Wisconsin, is already considering such a bill.

As far as using vintage phones on futuristic lines, there are ways around this. You can already get converter boxes that work on VOIP lines, and a secondhand PBX unit can often be found for less than fifty dollars. I'm not worried about that at all.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Okay, so on the flip side of that coin; you're already embracing a technology that isn't fully developed. That, to me, seems much more ridiculous than being happy what one already has.

I'm not saying nobody anywhere shouldn't have new lines if they want it, but I'm also saying that those of us who are happy with what we have shouldn't have to give it up. If we like our current plan, we can keep it, right?

How is this different than the first 100 years of phone service? Or electricity, for that matter? "What? You're gonna string a bunch of ugly copper wires on poles all over town? Not on my watch buster!" Eventually people put down their blind hatred for any sort of change and said "you know what, this telephone thingie ain't such a bad gizmo after all". I suspect this will be the case here also.

Reliability is a huge issue, especially with the godawful winters we have up here, Where the North Begins.

Glad to hear that Wisconsin has a bill in the works, hopefully that passes into law.

Exactly. Never in my entire life have I picked up my telephone receiver and failed to get a dial tone, not even during the Great Atlantic Ice Storm of '98, when over half the population of my state lost electricity for at least a week. Until the people pushing these so-called "upgrades" can offer that level of reliability -- not half of it, not 75 percent of it, but *that level of reliability*, they have absolutely no business trying to foist it off on us as a mandate. We have laws here -- strongly supported by law enforcement and public safety advocates -- to keep that from happening, and hopefully other states will soon have them as well. I know that Tom's state, Wisconsin, is already considering such a bill.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Okay, so on the flip side of that coin; you're already embracing a technology that isn't fully developed. That, to me, seems much more ridiculous than being happy what one already has.

I'm not embracing anything. I have no idea whether they can make a new system functional or not. I'm saying that I'm not going to complain about change before I even know what that change is. I find that petty and pointless.

I'm not saying nobody anywhere shouldn't have new lines if they want it, but I'm also saying that those of us who are happy with what we have shouldn't have to give it up. If we like our current plan, we can keep it, right?

If there is a market for the product you want, there will be a provider for it. Sounds like there's not, however.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm not embracing anything. I have no idea whether they can make a new system functional or not. I'm saying that I'm not going to complain about change before I even know what that change is. I find that petty and pointless.



If there is a market for the product you want, there will be a provider for it. Sounds like there's not, however.

Spend a winter in a small Northern Maine town and see if you change your mind.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Spend a winter in a small Northern Maine town and see if you change your mind.

Is that an invitation?

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I guess it depends who you're talking to. I have brought it up to every person who's walked through the door at the shop and nobody thinks it's a good idea.

If there is a market for the product you want, there will be a provider for it. Sounds like there's not, however.