Twenty-five Years On

I was pondering the breakup of A.T. & T. during one of my morning walks, did a bit of online research, and was surprised to discover it has already been 25 years since what was considered, at that time, a disaster. Some people still hold grudges about it, telephones now are pieces of crap, and customer service doesn't exist any more, but it's not all bad.

What if A.T. & T. had been allowed to remain the country's sole (lined) telephone provider? Would it have survived the rise of cellular phone competition? Would it have survived e-mail? Would it have survived the 2008 financial mess? What if "destroying" the company actually made it more competitive and responsive, thus eliminating a slow and painful slide into bankruptcy?

Ironically, A.T. & T. now serves nearly half of its original market (21 states out of the 48 shown on this map; Alaska and Hawaii seem to have been forgotten). I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing.