Mang, re People had discounted to the point of assuming that no Standard would come out next year due to all the in-fightings and lawsuits.
I never heard anyone say that, neither did I ever read anything of that sort, but if true, then people really do assume the unthinkable. I always figured that at worst, a standard would be hammered out in Jan., in negotiations in the days prior to the actual meeting. So I think that the biggest reason COMS/ROK decided to come to an agreement right now, was probably strictly for the PR benefit - to try to get people excited about 56K modems again. I for one have had a USR 56K modem since the first of June - But thanks to US West, my ISP has been unable to get a local access # to support 56K for this ISP. There has been one local x2 vendor in my area offering x2 since June, but they charged double what normal pricing is ($40/mo vs $20/mo). US West is simply the worst phone company imaginable for getting new physical lines in.
At any rate, after waiting for x2 access since the modems became available in April, and after being told by my ISP that it would be available in June, and after not getting x2 access still, I seriously no longer care - If I get it, fine, if not, no big deal. 28.8 isn't all that bad, and at least with my current ISP I never get a busy signal, and I only get disconnects if I'm idle for 15-20 min or so.
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