Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Tried again just now- got logged in, but could not pull up account info. May be some sort of "local" (West Coast?) issue- MFO seems to be running slower than normal this morning.
Back when AT&T was Ma Bell, it would test out new central office switches in remote locations. The way they described it, these places were so remote that ...
... if service went out because some farmer cut a cable while plowing, the town wouldn't notice for days. Even the local police had so little activity that it would take them a while to realize they weren't getting any calls.
A bit of hyperbole, but indicative of the concern that used to be the standard. Five nines (99.99999%) reliability was a goal that was sometimes achieved (albeit with mature, tested systems).
Back in 1958, when I was 20 and serving as a radio/electronics tech at Coast Guard LORAN stations (the primary location technology for ships and aircraft before GPS) we maintained 99.98% or better "good" on-air time as a regular operating condition. If it fell below that, serious questions were sure to follow. Our electronics were manufactured primarily by International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT) and were really dependable.
And yes, the Bell System was right up there also. Their equipment was designed by Bell Labs, manufactured by Western Electric, and was designed with a service life of at least 25 years. And that stuff wasn't electronic, either: it was electro-mechanical, with plenty of moving parts. I later worked for Pacific Bell for a short time, and in central offices I saw Western Electric electro-mechanical rotary switchgear that had been in daily use for at least forty years.
ITT later became a "conglomerate", as was fashionable at the time: the electronics division presumably shared "synergies" with fellow divisions such as Wonder Bread. Wonder Bread??? Needless to say ITT's electronics didn't fare well under the new enlightened market-efficient leadership.
Bell Labs and Western Electric also fell upon evil days, as the Bell System was de-monopolized. Now the communications industry has largely re-monopolized, but no longer supports advanced R&D or quality manufacturing. Another "improvement" linked to "market forces".
Comments
Regards,
Ted
http://www.isitdownrightnow.com/schwab.com.html
http://news.yahoo.com/police-probing-outage-cut-internet-phones-arizona-092936953.html;_ylt=AwrSbm0W5_BUJzEAYohx.9w4;_ylu=X3oDMTEzZWl0bXZyBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDNQRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkA1lTRTAzMl8x
Schwab has their hq in Arizona.
Edit: Just tried Schwab again- seems back to normal now.
Back when AT&T was Ma Bell, it would test out new central office switches in remote locations. The way they described it, these places were so remote that ...
... if service went out because some farmer cut a cable while plowing, the town wouldn't notice for days. Even the local police had so little activity that it would take them a while to realize they weren't getting any calls.
A bit of hyperbole, but indicative of the concern that used to be the standard. Five nines (99.99999%) reliability was a goal that was sometimes achieved (albeit with mature, tested systems).
Not today.
And yes, the Bell System was right up there also. Their equipment was designed by Bell Labs, manufactured by Western Electric, and was designed with a service life of at least 25 years. And that stuff wasn't electronic, either: it was electro-mechanical, with plenty of moving parts. I later worked for Pacific Bell for a short time, and in central offices I saw Western Electric electro-mechanical rotary switchgear that had been in daily use for at least forty years.
ITT later became a "conglomerate", as was fashionable at the time: the electronics division presumably shared "synergies" with fellow divisions such as Wonder Bread. Wonder Bread??? Needless to say ITT's electronics didn't fare well under the new enlightened market-efficient leadership.
Bell Labs and Western Electric also fell upon evil days, as the Bell System was de-monopolized. Now the communications industry has largely re-monopolized, but no longer supports advanced R&D or quality manufacturing. Another "improvement" linked to "market forces".