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To: ahhaha who wrote (24371)	8/1/2000 10:34:09 PM
From: M. Frank Greiffenstein	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 29970

So why would you think he has anything up his sleeve? He's just some damn puppet who hasn't a clue and hides in his office when he is in town, when he is in town. He said he would make the target. Either he is (a) lying, (b) delusional, (c) naive or (d) he has a rational plan. You seem to be saying (c). Have not seen an ATHM ad in Michigan. Can I see one on the Web? DocStone

To: ahhaha who wrote (24371)	8/1/2000 11:25:43 PM
From: GraceZ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

. They need to create ads that show why people looking at a faster connection should go with cable without mentioning the alternatives There is only one @Home ad I've seen that I like. They play it during CNBC squawk box in my area. It's the ad where the guy is on a Who wants to be a millionaire type program, it is the final question and the Regis character asks him who he wants for his "lifeline" and he picks the friend with a dialup connection, the other friend with the cable modem is shaking his head throwing up his hands and saying "I'm the one with the cable modem", it cuts to a split screen where the dial up guy is getting cut off and trying to redial repeatedly. Cuts to the cable modem guy who is blasting through screens to a picture of the answer (who are the four presidents on Mt. Rushmore?) and the voice over says fast, reliable, always on. If they could just have an ad that says that four or five times fast, reliable, always on You have no idea (or maybe you do) how demoralized regular people are by having to go through the crappola they have to go through to get on the Internet. They get in the middle of an hour download and "goodbye". That particular commercial I actually look forward to. The commercial I'm referring to deals with what it is exactly that people are frustrated by when they use the Internet. It also demystifies cable access, it doesn't chide you to make the switch, it gives you the reason to want it without selling you a bill. This is what the very best commercial's do. Nobody wants to be the dude hitting redial and listening to that awful modem sound after they see the other guy who already has the site up with the answer, cool calm and collected, incredulous that the contestant chose the friend with dialup.....meanwhile the guy on Millionaire is sweating under the spot light. The other commercials were so bland and cute without being the slightest bit cool....I think cutesy is the word I'm looking for and I hate cutesy! I wanted the service and I hated the ads, I cringed every time they were on. They were anti-brand commercials. Speeds are meaningless until you put them in context of a real life situation. In fact you turn a lot of people off if you start mentioning numbers. If you do some stupid graphic to show speed, it's just that, a stupid graphic.

To: ahhaha who wrote (24371)	8/1/2000 11:34:52 PM
From: Solid	Respond to of 29970

Bingo They think they need cute visibility since that's what Madison Avenue claims is what sells. But the marginal return isn't worth the marginal cost because the ads can't increase the subs rate at scale. Here in CT, around Hartford the demand still exceeds install time by a week to a couple of weeks. Has for over a year. This is mostly prior to the recent barrage of ad's in the papers and some on tv. I have a T tech currently as a patient and she will be working on an oc-48 ring for this area in a cuople of months. She rolled her eyes when I mentioned self installs and said that the biggest factor for getting huge numbers signed up is the TIME required to upgrade the areas and do the homes. She said T is big time behind it though, as we know. Eric, I have failed to see local lack of enthusiasm around here. The only idle trucks are the ones at DD's [Dunkin Donuts] when the crews take a break. All I speak with are busy and often work weekends too. The issue is TIME, not demand. Remember Mark on CNBC about two weeks back when he interviewed Bell and The Chello CEO? Mark's last word was a grumble about the local MSO's. I am sure the not so subtle message implied was, 'I WANT IT GUYS, so does America and the Planet and show us what you are doing to deliver ASAP!' With a bag of gold waiting for the super hero who gets the magic plan for FAST installs together, and all the techhie masters around, I don't think anyone is holding out on us at this point for fast installs. We are all even earlier to the stock then we may have previously believed. You tell me what is gonna take its place while we roll out, I don't see it yet and you know that as well. Frustrating, but what are we gonna do about it? Barring a meteor hit of awesome news, nothing has moved us except down and so much has come out. We will most likely gain in small portions as expansion happens. Aside from the potential reality of 'good' self installs, which even I am in doubt of, my sight of opportunity for growth lies in huge numbers of trained crews to get the job done right. This is happening and will take some time. You saw the post I put up about Cox in Phillie 4,000/wk. Not bad if you multiply that times the most major cities in the nation. And the CEO's comments were great, incredible demand for cable BB and exceptional customer satisfaction once in. Anything better is a treat, I'm developing the stamina to wait it out, with a very cautious ear to the ground. But hey, you know all this.