Rather Switch than Pay?

Future Fever?

Bio-Tech Pets

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Rather Switch than Pay?

Anyone watching television during the past few years is well aware of phone deregulation. Never mind the dramatic drops in long distance rates — well over 50 percent in many cases. This continuing saga pits once-rich, well-established, 100-year-old monopoly corporations against smaller, poorer, and inexperienced entrepreneurial Canadian companies which have just leapt into the phone market.
Could experience in the old industrial world no longer be of value in today's world of accelerating change? Could such experience even be detrimental? Could Ogden's Law of Unintended Results apply?

Any law, rule, regulation, or sanction conceived with Industrial Age thinking reverses itself in a Communications Age environment.

If so, then most monopolies, except perhaps a few fluke cases, are doomed no matter what they do. Such radical change in the business environment challenges companies to dispose of assets and cash out, distribute funds received during the sale to shareholders, and fold the doors before remaining funds and assets are lost in useless survival attempts.

This is not limited to a few companies (think Skeena Cellulose). It seems prevalent throughout all monopolies like the cross-Canada Bell telephone system and even smaller provincial phone companies operating since the days of inventor Alexander Graham Bell. It certainly is happening to BC Tel, the former Alberta Telephone company, Manitoba Tel and Maritime Telephone. Only SaskTel appears to be moving fast enough to survive.

Why are so many former monopoly subscribers switching to young energetic neophytes? Within a year upstart Sprint Canada, owned by CallNet Enterprises Inc., has captured 1,130,000 new residential customers. There's more: They have also captured 54,000 businesses and 37,000 dial-up internet customers. How? Candice Burgen has done a great job, but that is only part of the answer.

Sprint Canada's revenues have jumped to over $900 million! From zip! I suppose some of these people never had a phone before. But 99 percent must be long-time phone customers who left the old suppliers for one reason or another.

I was an early switcher. I left because BC Tel was arrogant. The customer was always wrong. They treated me like I was brain-damaged. Over one five-year period there were 76 disruptions to my phone service. They couldn't have all been my fault. Maybe 74, but not all. Statistically it would have been at least 50-50. Admittedly, a houseboat moored in a marina might be classified as "a hostile environment" (their words not mine), but that was the excuse for maintaining the phone monopoly.

You would think an established coastal phone company would be familiar with tides. The extreme here in Vancouver Harbour is around five metres (17 feet) up and down twice a day. That does put a strain on cabling when enough slack isn't provided for tide changes. This happened more than once. I could understand it when one installer came from the prairies. But the rest?

For decades prior to deregulation, phone companies kept raising rates. Now we know why. Rules set by the CRTC (Canadian Radio, Television and Telecommunications Commission) encouraged substantial profit on investment and costs. Pay the president another $100,000 and you make more money. Spend whatever you like. The more the better. More profit for the house. This has been going on for decades.
But what costs has Sprint encountered? That's the right phrase: "What costs?" The 1997 Sprint showed a stunning gross profit of $412.2 million or 45.1 percent of revenue. That's after they dropped prices to 15 cents a minute to call anywhere in Canada and 22 cents a minute to call anywhere in the U.S.! BC Tel used to charge almost $3 a minute to call Hawaii.

This year Sprint introduced no-charge for calls under 10 seconds-when you get a wrong number, answering machine, or unwanted fax whistle. Hang up within 10 seconds and the call is free. Sprint also stopped billing by the minute (after the first minute) and now charges by the second. Phone for 70 seconds and that's all you pay for. With BC Tel, if you talked for 70 seconds, you paid for a full two minutes at a far higher rate. I never did like that. Doesn't happen when you buy gas. Pump 20.5 litres of gas you only pay for 20.5, not 21. Buy 1.2 kilos of cabbage, and that's what you pay for. Not two kilos. Think about that. Phone companies have been overcharging for 100 years. Isn't there someway to get a rebate?

How can a company like Sprint move so far so fast? By creating and enhancing value by developing opportunities in their industry. By providing courteous, efficient and superior service.

Since Sprint has sold 1.2 million residences, businesses, and net surfers on switching within such a short time, this definitely suggests a trend.

Will it stop? Not if you switch.
 

Future Fever?

Is so much information and rapid change overwhelming? You are not alone. On the front lines are many CEOs and CIOs. Some say we live in exciting times, but all agree that long working hours and top physical condition are essential to survive.

Trends in psychological change are starting to emerge. Many who felt they were on the fast-track career-ladder are now thinking that working their way up to top corporate executive is too expensive a route to travel for pay and perks. Money isn't as strong a draw as in the past when lower taxes allowed you keep more of what you earned. The "joy factor" has been reduced in many instances. What was once fun is now so intense that the fun got filed and is difficult to retrieve.

On a CNN show, commentator Donna Kelley pointed out the historical significance of the familiar 17th century maxim identified with the philosopher statesman, Sir Francis Bacon: "Knowledge itself is power." Kelley, like many other commentators before her, noted: "A copy of today's ordinary weekday edition of The New York Times contains more information than what was available in the entire lifetime of some who lived in Bacon's day."

Bombarded by an estimated 3,000-5,000 impressions daily from radio, TV, papers, magazines, billboards, and the World Wide Web, with content currently contributed by 60 million people, some people feel tired and suffocated. Other people are invigorated. Some thrive and grow dramatically in this new maelstrom pummeling earthlings-no matter what their race, religion, colour, occupation, location, or previous position in life.
Psychological outlook seems to be the determining factor in this difference. Some people may be pre-conditioned by unusual gene make-up that enables them to flourish as knowledge environment changes. Could attitude alone be the main beneficial factor to carry survival-oriented humans into the new world?

What happens to other people? Are we all going through a punishing regimen that is a process of evolution? Traditional thought regarded evolution as a long steady climb out of the past. Recent evidence seems to suggest that evolution is not slow and steady. It has been and can be sudden, violent, and rapid. Then we sometimes fall back into a placid period of conditioned rest to totally absorb the new "body" we have become. Maybe the modern mind is changing, since so much of what we now are is more cerebral than physical.

Whatever is happening, the best investment today is in your own mind. Even with that incentive, it seems some don't want to progress into tomorrow.

Motivation is in short supply in some people. Other people can't concentrate under critical pressure. "Road rage" could be an expression of internal irritation at the frustration of being unable to keep up. Impulsive action could close down all avenues of evolution for some people. Not even Charles Darwin said evolution is easy.
Mental stress transfers into bodily stress. Mind stress can affect physical health, business, and personal life. Even sex.

Coming up? Huge increases in bandwidth will give us lots more, faster and faster. In Canada, the new Rogers WAVE cable modem bumps the popular 28,800 baud-per-second phone connection modem to nearly 600,000 baud. That is 2,000 times faster than my original 300-baud phone modem. This step up in information flow is like moving from a 70-mph biplane to the Concorde, or even to the space shuttle. Although some have perished in initial attempts at breaking the sound barrier, it is now a routine procedure. So there are promising signs many can handle such change, although not necessarily without pain.

Our current 3,000 impressions a day may exceed 40,000 impressions within a decade. Fifty percent of all the television we will be watching five to 10 years from now will be shot by what today we call amateurs, due to the tiny, broadcast-quality, relatively inexpensive videocams with high digital compression ratios and the capability to broadcast live video from Bombay to Boston through the Internet for less than $1 an hour via a connectable PCS (Personal Communications System) wireless phone.
Learn to handle more information more efficiently. Try taping and watching TV news in fast-forward. Waves and trends appear. Individual stories become less important. Try to see the big picture rather than be bogged down by individual stories and details.
 

Bio-Tech Pets

About two decades ago, large manufacturing companies were introduced to the world of CAD-CAM (Computer-Aided Design, Computer-Aided Manufacturing), and the sophisticated design and manufacturing world was changed forever. Those processes and techniques have spawned wonders to improve the entire industry. Today, with the help of CAD-CAM, one-person companies are doing what factories required five to 10 people to do before the advent of such software.

As the Communications Age converges with the Age of Biotechnology, new advanced techniques should shortly appear on the horizon—techniques that will shock many and impress others, but which eventually will be accepted by most countries, especially those determined to move ahead into our new world. A world some will rave about, and some will rail against.

I'm talking about CAS-CAR (Computer-Aided Selection Computer-Aided Reproduction). The implications are so vast that any attempts to forbid or regulate such developments will quickly be passed by, as creations rapidly move from designer pets to superior humans.

A dozen or so years ago, broadcaster Peter Gzowski, prior to interviewing me on his half-hour interview show, mentioned that there were people going around who said that some day there would be "designer pets." The implication was that anyone who could advocate such a thing was so far out as to be ridiculous. Stick around a bit longer, Peter, it's all closer than you think.

CAS-CAR would allow programming any type of pet desired. Say you want a small animal designed for apartments, one that would perspire all liquid bodily wastes into the atmosphere, as do some desert animals and as do all human beings, at least partially. That's where we found the first genes of this type. Solid waste would be excreted in bone-dry pellets that would not stain rugs or furniture. This was my idea a decade ago, the idea that Peter saw as a joke. I was serious.

There is no doubt that in the future a pet will be designed to fit in with any lifestyle and living arrangements. Size? One kilo, fine. Texture and colour? Smooth? Fur? Peach to match the decor? Peach it is. Initials in Old English script? Any spots or logo? Some customers may write-off the cost of creation as a business expense where the logo is prominently displayed.

Let me pull up a graphic of your choices on my PowerBook. See here. Does this appear to your liking? How about behaviour? Is this pet to serve as a guard animal? It is a little light for all but barking duties. How about a bark that sounds like a high-pitched siren? A built-in training gene could help your pet learn to pull on a specially installed bone that would activate a high-pitched, siren-sound that would awaken the entire apartment. It could be muted by exchanging one bone for the lesser volume unit.

An aroma amplifier can be incorporated for just an additional $2,500. That way you could experience what your dog smells. It's really startling.

Maybe you prefer a parrot. A pet could be designed that would answer the door in a husky male voice and push a lever to dial 911 for police action. Maybe you would consider a flamboyant model recently created for a retiring radio host? It's a bald-headed eagle programmed to return in 15 minutes to a small red patch pinned on the shoulder of any shirt, when taking this pet out for his daily flight. This could be done from an open window in your apartment, even on a rainy day.

Eagles have fantastic eyesight, far superior to human vision. For an additional $5,000, we can breed in other genes to tie in with a 30-gram digital vidcam to allow you to see exactly what your pet sees. It's a little expensive but it provides a high-resolution, 200-to-one digital zoom, broadcast-quality picture. It might make you a lot of money.
Delivery could be guaranteed within 12 weeks. Initial pet training would cost extra but would extend the guarantee from one year to three. Yes, points awarded for payment via American Express. Points also awarded when the pet accompanies you on a flight in Business Class. You have to purchase the tickets with your American Express card. Is that understood? All details will be described in the Owner's Manual for the Digirati, delivered to you along with appropriate Personal Communications Service phone identification tags in coordinating colors, of course, upon your final decision of pet and payment and signing of the production contract.

Our PETS AWAY Photonic/holographic gene program will jump into action at the artificial fertilization laboratory within 48 hours of receiving your contract. So far, no known cases of allergies of any nature have been caused in humans from any products designed, developed, and produced from CAS-CAR laboratories. Should this ever happen, refund or free replacement is automatic. Think it over for a few days. After all, this is a major decision in your life.

Let PETS AWAY e-mail you some color images tonight of what you might like to see for further consideration. Someone from PETS AWAY will call you next Tuesday morning. Will that be okay? And remember our phone number: PETS AWAY. That's 7387-2929. (You do have a new eight-digit phone number, don't you?)

Do you think that all of this won't happen? Stick around. It's happening right now. Geneticists from Osaka University recently announced the production of the world's first fluorescent mammal. The first generation glows green under ultraviolet light. This could be a great advantage to medical researchers who can now observe more clearly internal fetal developments. Researcher Masaru Okabe's team injected mouse embryos with DNA from a species of North American bioluminescent jellyfish.

Watch for designer pets from PETS AWAY!