Cablevision has been my internet provider since the day they came to Westport. In fact, I remember watching a demo of something called a “cable modem” on the 2nd floor of Klein’s department store (!). I realized how much better it was than a dial-up modem (!!), and became one of their 1st dozen or so customers here.
I’d already had Cablevision TV, since the early ’80s. I still remember the thrill I got watching news that was “as local as local gets,” and realizing there was a whole universe of channels beyond 13.
Which doesn’t stop Cablevision from mailing me — every 2 or 3 days — urging pressuring me to upgrade, consolidate and/or bundle all my communication needs together.
Despite recent “06880” posts to the contrary, the US Postal Service is in no danger of going away. Cablevision keeps them hopping.
AT&T helps too.
They’ve been my phone provider ever since I’ve had a phone. Now I’m an iPhone customer too. I’m not one of the millions of Americans who complains. I find AT&T service perfectly fine adequate.
But they too mail me with stalker-ish frequency. AT&T also demands all my internet, TV and phone business.
I don’t plan to change internet providers — or drop my landline — for one fossil-sounding, but important, reason: Too many people know my email address and phone number. Both are out there in Rolodexes, contact lists and cyberspace — and on dozens, if not hundreds, of websites — and have been for decades. For someone who is self-employed — and depends on people finding him me for work — changing them is too daunting a task.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
Faithful “06880” reader Andy Yemma has a similar story — with a different ending.
He says:
I’ve been a customer of both AT&T and Cablevision since we moved to Westport nearly 2 decades ago (I think it was actually SNET before it was SBC before it was AT&T). Back in the ’90s it was simply AOL for email and SNET for phone calls.
I remember installing my first high-speed cable modem, purchased at “Nobody Beats the Wiz” (remember that?) on New Year’s Eve 1999, showing my faith in my notion that Y2K would be no big deal.
In recent years the technology of television (digital and hi-def), internet (WiFi and cellular) and phone (VOIP and cellular) have evolved with increasing speed.
And, by the way, who uses voicemail anymore? A couple of weeks ago my AT&T voicemail service quit working. After several unfruitful calls to AT&T, I discovered that they had “upgraded” my voicemail box and I needed to start calling another number. This of course led the AT&T representative to try to sell me on their bundled package of phone/internet/TV services, which she promised would save me a bundle over Cablevision.
Suddenly I realized that the monopolies of the phone and cable companies had gone kaput. Now there’s competition for my business from Cablevision, AT&T and Verizon — all offering bundled packages. The offers are tiered, depending upon the level of service and features and internet speed.
They’re very complicated, and almost impossible from my POV to compare side-by-side. All of the competitors promise the best deal, and diss the competition.
I thought perhaps Dan’s loyal commentators might offer views on this — what’s been your experience with the various providers? Should I take the plunge and switch providers — and if so to which one? A kilobyte for your thoughts?
“06880 readers”: Help Andy decide.
Or confuse him even more than he is now.
