 
rachelsfx
join:2004-09-27
Pensacola, FL | Oh, Brother! I guess anything is for sale.  | |
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rachelsfx
join:2004-09-27
Pensacola, FL
| Re: Oh, Brother! From the USA Today Article:
"Talmadge says he was impressed by the salesman's manner and product knowledge. "I could sense his integrity," Talmadge says.
He signed up and says it shaved his video and broadband bill by about $24 a month, to $120. For that, he's also getting a fast, reliable Internet connection. Talmadge says his old cable Internet service was starting to slow at "peak" usage hours, and that influenced his move.
When a reporter calls back a few weeks later to see how things are going, there's bad news: An AT&T technician is there trying to fix a TV that keeps overheating. Talmadge says the picture also occasionally "freezes up" for no apparent reason.
He isn't worried. New, slim, silver tuners from Motorola are to be installed by December.
"They told me that right off the bat," he says. Talmadge guesses that will take care of the overheating and the frame-freeze problems.
The good news for AT&T: Thanks to features, price and faith in the brand, he's willing to be patient while the kinks in U-verse are worked out.
Says Talmadge: "I do feel they are going to get this right at some point. And when they do, I think it will be a superior product."
Why is a AT&T tech fixing the TV???
The best is:
"She's less wowed by this system's "picture-in-a-picture" feature, which lets customers open a window to see what's playing on other channels without changing the channel they're watching. Microsoft and other vendors spent months developing PIP for U-verse, and they're still tinkering to add audio. "It's OK, I guess," she shrugs.
She also isn't so keen on the set-top box, made by Tatung. Her biggest gripe: the color.
"It's white," she says, wrinkling her nose with palpable disdain. "It's really ugly."
One thing she likes a lot: the iconic AT&T name."
ROFLMAO!
The point about IPTV: Thompson's, an analyst at Heavy Reading, point: Nobody knows for sure how the technology will hold up under the strain of millions of simultaneous users.
Hasn't PIP been around for quite some time? | |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02 | Re: Oh, Brother! "I could sense his integrity,"
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rachelsfx
join:2004-09-27
Pensacola, FL | Re: Oh, Brother! Karl, I could smell the bulls**t from this article BEFORE I read it. LOL! | |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
 ·Cox HSI
 ·AT&T Southwest
| OMG Just goes to show how Sheeple many people really are.
It's no wonder these companies treat us like idiots with their marketing and gilb sales.... because so many of us are!
"I like the Brand Name" and "I don't like the white color box"
I mean COME ON
/barf /barf /barf
Of course, what do you expect, lol, paying for both Satellite AND Cable TV and POTS and DSL .... sheesh
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) | |
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cableties
Premium
join:2005-01-27
Levittown, PA | Salesman+Integrity=Oxymoron.
"Oh please, make it stop!" | |
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morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs:
edit:
October 18th, @01:08PM
| something stinks to high heaven | |
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Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs:
edit:
October 18th, @01:22PM
| said by rachelsfx  :From the USA Today Article: "Talmadge says he was impressed by the salesman's manner and product knowledge. "I could sense his integrity," Talmadge says. He signed up and says it shaved his video and broadband bill by about $24 a month, to $120. For that, he's also getting a fast, reliable Internet connection. Talmadge says his old cable Internet service was starting to slow at "peak" usage hours, and that influenced his move. When a reporter calls back a few weeks later to see how things are going, there's bad news: An AT&T technician is there trying to fix a TV that keeps overheating. Talmadge says the picture also occasionally "freezes up" for no apparent reason. He isn't worried. New, slim, silver tuners from Motorola are to be installed by December. "They told me that right off the bat," he says. Talmadge guesses that will take care of the overheating and the frame-freeze problems. The good news for AT&T: Thanks to features, price and faith in the brand, he's willing to be patient while the kinks in U-verse are worked out. Says Talmadge: "I do feel they are going to get this right at some point. And when they do, I think it will be a superior product." Why is a AT&T tech fixing the TV??? The best is: "She's less wowed by this system's "picture-in-a-picture" feature, which lets customers open a window to see what's playing on other channels without changing the channel they're watching. Microsoft and other vendors spent months developing PIP for U-verse, and they're still tinkering to add audio. "It's OK, I guess," she shrugs. She also isn't so keen on the set-top box, made by Tatung. Her biggest gripe: the color. "It's white," she says, wrinkling her nose with palpable disdain. "It's really ugly." One thing she likes a lot: the iconic AT&T name." ROFLMAO! The point about IPTV: Thompson's, an analyst at Heavy Reading, point: Nobody knows for sure how the technology will hold up under the strain of millions of simultaneous users. Hasn't PIP been around for quite some time? TV overheating? What does AT&T have to do with his TV overheating? Also, PIP is built into the TV? | |
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rachelsfx
join:2004-09-27
Pensacola, FL | Re: Oh, Brother! TV overheating an AT&T problem? That was my question. I guess the idiot writing the article never heard of PIP either. | |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | Re: Oh, Brother! Maybe a better name would be:
"AT&T U-Reverse" (as in time, technology....) LOL | |
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Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs:
| Re: Oh, Brother! said by KrK :Maybe a better name would be: "AT&T U-Reverse" (as in time, technology....) LOL  | |
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Nanoprobe
Wandering in subspace
Premium
join:2003-05-11
Orlando, FL
clubs: | Popcorn in Picture is bound to make it overheat. Where do they find these people?
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Resistance is Futile | |
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SparkChaser
See the Light
Premium
join:2000-06-06
Downingtown, PA
clubs: | Re: Oh, Brother! I think he meant over eating | |
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rachelsfx
join:2004-09-27
Pensacola, FL
| Re: Oh, Brother! In the dimwit's defense, she did say the box was white and ugly even if it did bring her from the 1950s to today. | |
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join:2006-05-14
San Antonio, TX | It is PIP for the guide, which is a new feature. If not let me know which cableco has implemented this. | |
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| | | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| Re: Oh, Brother! said by cwh :It is PIP for the guide, which is a new feature. If not let me know which cableco has implemented this. If you mean showing the screen while in the guide, I think its safe to say ALL + satelite. | |
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join:2006-05-14
San Antonio, TX
| Re: Oh, Brother! said by patcat88 :said by cwh :It is PIP for the guide, which is a new feature. If not let me know which cableco has implemented this. If you mean showing the screen while in the guide, I think its safe to say ALL + satelite. No i dont thinks so. With this you can see the channel you are watching, plus see a pip of channel you are browsing in the guide. TW did not have this feature. | |
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| | | | | Enlightener
join:2006-01-28
Cedar Park, TX | Re: Oh, Brother! So does that bs feature consume 1 stream or 2?
Please... show me real features like HD-DVR. | |
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| | | | | | cwh
join:2006-05-14
San Antonio, TX
| Re: Oh, Brother! said by Enlightener :So does that bs feature consume 1 stream or 2? Please... show me real features like HD-DVR. the pip does not consume any extra streams. | |
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Jason Levine
Premium
join:2001-07-13
Albany, NY
| said by cwh :It is PIP for the guide, which is a new feature. If not let me know which cableco has implemented this. Time Warner does this here and has done so since we got Digital Cable (sometime back in February). | |
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| | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| said by rachelsfx :She also isn't so keen on the set-top box, made by Tatung. Her biggest gripe: the color. "It's white," she says, wrinkling her nose with palpable disdain. "It's really ugly." One thing she likes a lot: the iconic AT&T name." ROFLMAO! I want
NOT THESE POSERS
source: wikipedia | |
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Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs: | Um.... Wow is all I can say....... | |
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WC813
join:2000-12-20
Wesley Chapel, FL | DVR Issues In the printed version there was an inset to the article that mentioned several people that went to U-Verse and went back to their original service provider. Most of them were a result of DVR issues. | |
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warriors
It's A Great Time Out
join:2001-06-05
Alviso, CA | "brand i like"??? Geez... How much did AT&T pay USAToday? | |
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rachelsfx
join:2004-09-27
Pensacola, FL | Re: "brand i like"??? I wonder how much they PAID for people to try it? | |
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Cyber2lz
join:2001-11-15
Odessa, FL | No, what you need to ask is........... How big is USA Today's current contract with the Deathstar?
Remember what DeepThroat said to Robert Redford in the DC parking garage. "Follow the money"!!!!
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The Light Pipe is the Right Pipe !!! | |
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Aleck79
join:2003-07-23
College Station, TX | "name I can trust?!?" ... I call bullshit on that one | |
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rachelsfx
join:2004-09-27
Pensacola, FL
| Why did deployment take so long? "Asked why U-verse took so long to launch - almost two years, assuming AT&T meets its latest deployment schedule - Rice pushes back. He argues that the development cycle actually has been pretty fast, considering AT&T was working with "brand-new technology to create a brand-new product" from the ground up."
Well, considering someone in Hong Kong has 650,000 customers, couldn't they just ask them about it?
And, yes, there were problems:
"Microsoft, which is developing the operating system, originally promised it would deliver a whole-home feature in the first phase of U-verse. But sorting out the technical complexities turned out to be a lot harder than anybody expected, Rice says, and the feature now is expected to be added "sometime in 2007."
Yes, I would hire Microsoft, not IBM, to make this work!
Well, M$ is only writing 80% of the code. How many critical updates will happen?
"But Microsoft (MSFT) isn't the only bottleneck. Other vendors, working on other aspects of HDTV, also have to deliver, says Christine Heckart, a general manager at Microsoft.
"The whole thing is very chicken-and-eggish," she says. "We are developing 80% of the code, but it doesn't work unless it all works."
Rice says he expects final testing on HDTV by the end of the fourth quarter, allowing AT&T to proceed, as planned, with the national launch. At that point, he says, U-verse will be able to "support millions of customers."
Yes, it doesn't work unless it all works. I wonder how he figured that out? | |
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See 10 replies to this post |
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clorets
join:2001-12-12
Oklahoma City, OK | funnies and here i thought it was USATodays attempt to add a comics section. | |
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ftthz
If love can kill hate can also save
join:2005-10-17 | brand names helps older folks with a name they can "trust" ... wonders what will happen to U-Verse under full deployment | |
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karlmarx
join:2006-09-18
Nashua, NH
·Fairpoint Communic..
| Better than U-verse Hmm.. I pay 35.00/month for 10/10 fiber connection from my town onwed electric utility. I have a mythtv (300.00) with an RSS feed to my favorite TV shows.
She spends 110.00/month (1320.00/year) for 768kb internet, a buggy dvr.
I spend 420.00/year (about 30% of what she spends), I get all my tv shows WITHOUT commercials, I get to burn them to DVD, I get to watch them whenever I want.
Just goes to show that the technologically 'smart' consumer can come out WAY ahead. I'm not stupid enough to pay for TV, I only pay for internet access. And with 10/10, I can get ANYTHING I WANT, when I want it, for FREE.
U-verse can't compete with that. | |
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| TWCdude
join:2006-04-28
San Antonio, TX | Re: Better than U-verse you forget that most people only want to click the on off button and change channels. Anything more is out of the question. | |
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Matt
Running Free
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
 ·Corporate Colocation
| Re: Better than U-verse said by TWCdude :you forget that most people only want to click the on off button and change channels. Anything more is out of the question. And legal. | |
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wifi4milez
In Need Of Garbage Pail Kids 1st Series
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·RoadRunner Cable
 ·BroadVoice
| said by karlmarx :I spend 420.00/year (about 30% of what she spends), I get all my tv shows WITHOUT commercials, I get to burn them to DVD, I get to watch them whenever I want. Yes, and you get the pleasure of stealing every day! It must feel good to really "stick it to the man", huh? Its a damn good thing you are a teenager and dont have kids, you would set a great example. 
said by karlmarx :I'm not stupid enough... Hah, lets just let that one go!
said by karlmarx :I can get ANYTHING I WANT, when I want it, for FREE. If it walks like a theif, talks like a thief, I will let you fill in the rest... 
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я люблю медведей! | |
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odreian615
join:2006-01-18
Chicago, IL | Att can pull it off half the people with HDTV's dont know if they are watching HD programing they just assume they are also non broadband power users dont know life outside 1.5mbp I doubt they will even notice a speed increase | |
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viperpa33s
Why Me?
Premium
join:2002-12-20
Bradenton, FL
·Bright House
| Far from it AT&T just got free advertisement and a boost from this article. Not only that, we can also see a gullible customer. Basically the company can do whatever they like cause she is so trusting of at&t. AT&T maybe a good company but far from being trustworthy. | |
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tkdslr
join:2004-04-24
Pompano Beach, FL | Funny... AT&T brand name??? Isn't the same company..
SBC recently swallowed up AT&T and renamed itself to AT&T.
It's not the same Brand nor Company.
It's really SBC in disguise. | |
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rachelsfx
join:2004-09-27
Pensacola, FL
| Re: Funny... AT&T brand name??? They only have 500 customers so far, which T won't discuss.
FIOS already has 100,000.
Of course, IPTV IS the most awesome rollout of technology in the history of phone companies. | |
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| | cwh
join:2006-05-14
San Antonio, TX | Re: Funny... AT&T brand name??? Well ATT is claiming more than, but lets not forget verizon is about a year ahead of ATT on deployment of video product. | |
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bigmike5
join:2003-11-07
San Jose, CA
| . The pipe feeding USATODAY.COM is ip.att.net.....funny coincidence.
tbr1-p013004.sffca.ip.att.net (12.123.12.2)
tbr1-cl3.la2ca.ip.att.net (12.122.10.26)
tbr1-cl3214.phmaz.ip.att.net (12.122.10.85)
gar1-p360.phmaz.ip.att.net (12.123.206.9) | |
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insomniac84
join:2002-01-03
Schererville, IN | AT&T price lie? Why does it say the andrews were paying 50 a month for AT&T dsl. The basic package is 14.99 and the highest is 34.99. Neither requires a contract. | |
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guardfrog
join:2004-08-27
Dallas, TX
| Hey Rachel... Since you're so quick to question the salesman's "integrity," why don't you admit that you lied about having U-verse installed?
1. It's not available in BLS territory (like Florida).
2. You said you got HD, even though it's not yet available.
3. It's only available commercially in San Antonio today (check the SEC filings if you don't believe me).
4. The other details you posted had no basis in reality.
I wonder how many of the keyboard geeks residing here have actually seen U-verse themselves? Because when you actually read many of the comments of people who HAVE THE SERVICE, they seem to be singing a different tune.
It's a special kind of person who can post ~10 times in a single thread about a service they've never seen. | |
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dagg
join:2001-03-25
Rio Linda, CA
·Cox HSI
·Covad Communications
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| dude.. dont smoke that stuff before you post... seriously uhh.. did I miss where ANYONE in this thread said they had it installed? cuze I just didnt see that anywhere.
I have never seen the effects of nuclear radiation on frogs either but I have a good idea that eating frogleggs from a six legged chernobyl frog would not be a really great idea...
But hey... if you are feeling particularly froggy, ill let you jump first while I stick to my mcdonalds tyvm... | |
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| guardfrog
join:2004-08-27
Dallas, TX | Re: dude.. dont smoke that stuff before you post... seriously uhh...did ANYONE say she posted it IN THIS THREAD?
Yes, you must have missed it here, "cuze" you just didn't see it...
»AT&T U-verse Voice Coming Soon | |
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| jtel
join:2005-06-28
Bristol, RI
·Cox HSI
| Re: I'd Try It Too For 3 Free Months! According to the article AT&T is offering 3 months free (in one subscribers case) or very low cost (another subscriber was paying $15 for 3 months) maybe depending on the feature set/ number of boxes DVR's etc.
When the consumer has to pay up for a real world service thats when they'll expect to receive a real working service and if these problems continue it will lead to cancellations and lousy word of mouth and reviews. In the article one woman who they described as cancelling before her free trial was up (how bad is it to cancel a free service?) came back, but not because of the service but because they threw in more freebees.
I have no recollection of Verizon FIOS giving free service to get people on board, some minor discounts but the service is gaining customers rapidly and both word of mouth and reviews are very positive. Yet USA Today has a front page article on a fledgling service from AT&T with barely a mention of FIOS.
FIOS and U-Verse will never compete as neither will overbuild just like the cablecos won't to each other but all I can say is I'm glad I live in Verizon territory. | |
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footballdude
join:2002-08-13
Imperial, MO | tivo $300 a month for Tivo service? Is there any way I can sell something to this woman? | |
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USAToday Loves U-Verse
And he apparently hasn't! 
Why doubling up ?
