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Technology Stocks : NEXTEL -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frederick Smart who wrote (7769)	9/27/1998 11:14:00 PM
From: Bernie Diamond	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10227

Fred: I have read your posts these many months, and I still don't get your new "utopia" that's possible by the power of N. ~2/3rds of the world is starving and in poverty. Daily, one reads of man's inhumanity to man because of religious belief or some other pretext. In short, misery abounds around the globe for all except a privileged few. I'm a simple man and would appreciate in simple (non-flowery) words an answer to a few simple questions. Put a N handset in the hands of someone starving, or about to be slaughtered by the "majority", or on drugs. Just exactly how will this change his life? Who will he call to make a difference? Would he know who to call? Would that someone he calls have the resources/knowhow to be able to do anything for one individual? millions? hundreds of millions? billions? Of course, there would be no costs for distributing these billions of handsets throughout the world to all the individuals who would want their lives changed. There are no simplistic solutions to what ails the world. As individuals, we can help a very very few of those in need of a helping hand. What am I missing in your dialogue of "empowerment" made possible with N technology for the world's "teeming masses"? Sincerely, Bernie

To: Frederick Smart who wrote (7769)	9/28/1998 10:12:00 AM
From: Arnie Doolittle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10227

Fred, apparently you went to a different business school than I did and you must have a different library of business history than I do. May I suggest that you mention a monopoly, any monopoly, that wasn't a wealth creating business. Oil? Railroads? Steel? Autos? Personal computer operating systems? All of those and more created wealth far beyond what existed before those products did. And the wealth created benefited and enriched untold millions, both near and far. Yes, the founders stuffed their pockets but they also added value to their customers which is why folks were eager to give them their money. "Build it and they will come." What you're doing is mixing economics and politics. Of course governments get their greedy mitts into the mix and screw things up. But that has NOTHING to do with the business model's ability to create wealth. As to the impact of what's happened in other countries, that proves my point about human nature. Go back and read my original post again. It's not a quick read! As to NXTL and the wireless biz being "new", yes, it has the potential to thump Ma and the babies in the same way that Microsoft thumped IBM but it's no more a new way of creating wealth than I am a Martian. Here's what you said in your original post: "What's the internet model: helping, sharing, giving and partnering into a pie that has no limits for the betterment of those participating. Truth and openness DOES MATTER and IS REWARDED. Truth is not co-opted and owned by anyone. It resides at a "higher level" for everyone to respect and share. What's the old model: taking, hiding, roping, doping, selling one-offs into a fixed zero sum pie for the debasement of those playing the game. Truth has no place in this model. Versions of truth are used by opposing sides to advance competing agendas. With few exceptions, politics and power prevail." Here's what you're saying now: "As for evidence the "old model" is dying, just look around the world Arnie. The entire rest of the world's been living in a fixed box defined and limited by political and economic powers that have endeavored to keep the old model going for too long. I am worried that while this country is being pushed into this "new model" they long for the "old" to continue. Can they legislate limits on the internet? Nextel is "new", the old Ma Bell is old. Every new wave of new growth and wealth has been defined by a breaking down of "old ways"." So, Fred, which is it? First you said that the "new model" is, to quote you from above, "taking, hiding, roping, doping, selling one-offs into a fixed zero sum pie for the debasement of those playing the game. Truth has no place in this model." Now you say, "Every new wave of new growth and wealth has been defined by a breaking down of "old ways"." I agree that each new wave of innovation requires, nay, demands that the old ways break down. But what you have done, as illustrated above, is to change the subject. The "old ways" are not those negative things you listed. Those things ALL STILL EXIST IN THE MARKETPLACE, EVEN ON THE INTERNET. IT WILL ALWAYS BE THUS. I know that you have a gut feeling about what the wireless/internet world will look like but so far you have not been able to transfer your feelings into ideas that will pass the taste/smell test. Keep working at it but forget that baloney above good vs. evil - the notion that wireless/internet will change human nature. It won't happen. Arnie P.S. I think what you're trying to say is that Ma Bell and her babies are on the way to becoming extinct. Ok, if that's your point, I'll bite - so what?