[9894] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: networkMCI ads
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Dave Hughes)
Tue Jan 25 21:31:09 1994
From: dave@oldcolo.com (Dave Hughes)
To: bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein)
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 1994 19:21:14 -0700 (MST)
Cc: com-priv@psi.com (compriv), ed@oldcolo.com (Ed Hughes)
In-Reply-To: <199401260033.AA16271@world.std.com> from "Barry Shein" at Jan 25, 94 07:33:09 pm
>
>
> Besides the MCI and AT&T ads there are also a bunch of evocative
> cable-TV ads ("cable -- more than just a wire" I think is the slogan
> used.)
>
> I watch these things, all obviously fanciful animations, and wonder
> what miracle is going to allow them to solve some rather hard software
> problems that the past 20+ years haven't solved?
>
>
> Color me skeptical.
>
> -Barry Shein
>
>
Yeah, but 'interactive' is here already in mass media. Ads aren't
needed. Newspapers and magazines are *rushing* to get online,
and tonight, NBC topped its week long series of a couple weeks
ago (Almost 2001, where for 5 nights there was a 4 minute piece
on telecom, with their feedback internet address on the screen)
Brokaw started last night a week long series on Violence, ending
with invitation to e-mail (violence@nbc.ge.com), fax, voice
mail, and yes/no keypad phone call - charged at $.95 a minute
and $.55 a call respectively.
They got 1,100 $.95 voice mail calls, 4,000 email messages,
??? faxes, and what looked like 70,000 $.55 vote yes/no
calls. In 24 hours!
Then, at the end of CBS news I *thought* I herd Connie Chung
say "We would like to hear from you" and then blew it (slightly)
by saying "on America On The Line"
By the time TCI and Bell Atlantic get their stuff together,
half the US will *already* have figured out how to 'talk
back.' And *somebody* will have come on compriv to announce
the latest 'virtual-communications' service, using wireless,
and helmets, moving alpha brain waves generated by just
thinking. i.e. 'esp'
Grab your seats. Somebody just turned on the afterburners.
Money will just be the grease.
Dave Hughes
