Dialogue

[frezza@interramp.com (Bill Frezza)]

  Folks,
  
  Thanks for all the mail.  I wish I had time to joust with you all
  (especially you, Jamie, you're such a wonderful foil) but following ISDN
  tariffs is not my full time occupation.
  
  The most intersting part about wading into a list like this is being
  exposed to people with such different mindsets.  As a writer, it shows how
  dangerous it is to use irony to make a point. For example, my statement
  
  > These tariffs would make ISDN as prohibitively expensive as,
  > say, America Online or CompuServe.
  
  Was intended to show how wildly ludicrous it was to huff and puff that 2
  cents per minute ($1.20 per hour) is expensive. For chrissake, what is your
  time worth that you are going to bitch about $1.20 per hour?  Much to my
  surprise, though, I got responses like
  
  > I'm glad you agree that these proposals would be prohibitively
  > expensive.
  
  Amazing. Same thing with my comment about Pentium chip prices being set by
  judges. Believe it or not, there are people out there that think this would
  be a swell idea!
  
  Anyway, thanks for the input.  I'll have to digest it for my next ISDN
  realted column.
  
  Regards (from my newly installed Bell Atlantic ISDN line - hey it cost me
  .00033 cents to send this. Unfair!)
  
  Bill Frezza
  CommunicationsWeek
  
  PS If you really want to promote rapid competition, think wireless,
  particularly the PACS wireless local loop system which can support ISDN
  rates. My February 15th Network Computing column discusses this technology
  in the context of AT&T getting back into the local phone business. (You can
  find it on the web at
  <http://techweb.cmp.com:80/techweb/nc/702/702frezza.html>)