In the 1980s, the US government broke up AT&T, insisting there was a monopoly over phone services.  The big gigantic company was split into “baby bells” all over the country, mixed in with competing long distance companies like Sprint, MCI and AT&T. As we hit a new decade, those companies have merged and merged, leaving us with 2 powerhouses: Verizon and AT&T.  Only one thing [...]

Welcome. You’ve got mail. Goodbye. Today, AOL officially spins off from TimeWarner as an independent company, the last remnant of a merger originally announced in 2000, where the company was briefly known as AOL Time Warner.  AOL had 30 million subscribers at its peek, when they were the leader in online access. Here is a brief history of AOL, known at its peak as America Online. 1980s: Control [...]

One of my dreams growing up was to buy a TV station.  One of the over the air variety.  The power for a select few to reach and connect with millions was something I desired.  And I’m sure I was not alone. Now, comes news that Comcast, one of the largest and richest cable television and broadband providers in the US is a player to purchase and contol NBC Universal.  This is quite disturbing [...]

Yesterday, Facebook, the big social network you know about and probably have an account on acquired a significantly smaller competitor called FriendFeed. How many of you have ever heard of FriendFeed before?  Raise your hand. Personally, I’ve had a FriendFeed for over a year, yet rarely use it.  Yet I’m happy I have an account there.  It is a social media aggregator, which expands the [...]