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Random Stranger posted:IIRC, everybody thought it was a stupidly high price when they bought DirecTV since there were a dozen obvious reasons they were about to go downhill fast. I believe you are correct, but that didn’t stop ATT from talking a ton of poo poo.
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Feb 26, 2021 16:49
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Random Stranger posted:IIRC, everybody thought it was a stupidly high price when they bought DirecTV since there were a dozen obvious reasons they were about to go downhill fast. "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." That's the reason why it was done. I bet there's some kind of compensation attached to revenue growth/balance sheet/etc. that made a lot of money for AT&T execs.
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Feb 26, 2021 21:21
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Shroud posted:"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." Randall Stephensons whole thing was “ATT needs to be more than a cell phone company.” I worked there a few years , and man did they hate being “just a cell phone company.” Almost as much as they hated existing customers.
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Feb 27, 2021 00:10
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AT&T has been failing upwards for years ever since they tried to buy T-Mobile and ended up paying a 6 billion dollar breakup fee that T-Mobile used to buy better wireless spectrums to better compete with AT&T. I guess the party ends when/if they can no longer finance/service their 160 billion in debt. They could have spent that money laying fiber so their internet speeds didn't suck, but no, instead they own a bunch of satellites that no one wants and that won't even be flying in another 10 years. I guess StarLink will ruin what little market's left for satellite internet.
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Feb 27, 2021 21:16
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The thing that AT&T did right before the pandemic was to buy a giant conglomerate of cable networks, so with the advertisement hit over the last year that party might in fact be getting close to being over. Other stuff might get spun off. I do think DirecTV is ultimately a better product than cable is right now, much less compression and the channel bundles make a little more sense. But yeah that's definitely spinning the drain. Rick has a new favorite as of 21:30 on Feb 27, 2021 |
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Feb 27, 2021 21:25
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I’ve had AT&T now since its launch as DirectTV Now and its been fun watching it ping pong between companies a bunch of times
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Feb 27, 2021 21:31
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The Time Warner purchase is still up in the air. Everyone wants content now and they’ve got a lot of content. Even with all those tens of billions spent it still cost them 450 million extra dollars to get the rights to Friends though.
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Feb 27, 2021 22:15
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I just saw a commercial for Sling TV, who I remember being posted in this thread as circling the drain. Are they still dying, or did they manage to find the dark magics that would sustain them somehow?
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Mar 3, 2021 05:13
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With all the streaming service I can't imagine they are doing too great. I went from loving it to just being Meh when they changed the El Rey network to some bonus tier.
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Mar 3, 2021 05:22
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vyst posted:I’ve had AT&T now since its launch as DirectTV Now and its been fun watching it ping pong between companies a bunch of times this but for cellphones. unlimited data family plan for lyfe
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Mar 3, 2021 07:24
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Krispy Wafer posted:The Time Warner purchase is still up in the air. Everyone wants content now and they’ve got a lot of content. Wait so AT&T has mandated all those layoffs and they don't even really own it yet? Brutal.
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Mar 3, 2021 08:13
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Rick posted:Wait so AT&T has mandated all those layoffs and they don't even really own it yet? Brutal. ATT completed the merger in 2018, so don’t worry they owned it when they laid off everyone. There was an anti trust lawsuit , which only really had traction because Trump hates CNN, but lol if America is gonna actually enforce anti trust laws at this point. It’s amazing that with all the odds stacked in their favor , ATT continues to gently caress everything up. Just a horribly run company top to bottom.
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Mar 3, 2021 14:37
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Icon Of Sin posted:I just saw a commercial for Sling TV, who I remember being posted in this thread as circling the drain. Are they still dying, or did they manage to find the dark magics that would sustain them somehow?
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Mar 3, 2021 15:49
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Duckman2008 posted:ATT completed the merger in 2018, so don’t worry they owned it when they laid off everyone. There was an anti trust lawsuit , which only really had traction because Trump hates CNN, but lol if America is gonna actually enforce anti trust laws at this point. AT&T really is the Sears of Woolworths when it comes to failed businesses. They have so much momentum that they keeping moving, but their stock price is down 40% when everyone else is up 100+% over the last decade. Part of the problem is all their businesses are super mature so there's no room for growth. The only way they can get new customers is to buy companies, which is the most expensive, least efficient way to do that. They keep doing it though.
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Mar 3, 2021 16:03
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FlamingLiberal posted:It’s still around. My wife and I have a subscription. Honestly, Sling's current iteration makes a lot more sense than the platform did when it launched. Sling used to be an Internet-connected box that would hook up to your home TV connection, coaxial or RCA, and then allow you to stream over the Internet. With possibility for changing channels etc. It was such an esoteric thing to explain to folks and this was around 2006 as laptops were just starting to pick up momentum.
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Mar 3, 2021 18:12
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Krispy Wafer posted:The only way they can get new customers is to buy companies, which is the most expensive, least efficient way to do that. They keep doing it though.
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Mar 3, 2021 18:53
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Boywhiz88 posted:Honestly, Sling's current iteration makes a lot more sense than the platform did when it launched.
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Mar 3, 2021 19:20
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butt dickus posted:at&t got me as a new customer by bringing symmetric gigabit fiber to my neighborhood for $60.74 per month after taxes and fees so they're ok in my book found the at&t employee
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Mar 3, 2021 19:26
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butt dickus posted:at&t got me as a new customer by bringing symmetric gigabit fiber to my neighborhood for $60.74 per month after taxes and fees so they're ok in my book How much did you pay after the first year?
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Mar 3, 2021 19:32
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Don’t have a link handy, but Alamo Drafthouse just filed for Chapter 11.
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Mar 3, 2021 19:33
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oh no, where will i go to spend a hundred bucks on bar food while i dont watch a movie with everyone from my startup
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Mar 3, 2021 19:35
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Whooping Crabs posted:How much did you pay after the first year? OMGVBFLOL posted:found the at&t employee
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Mar 3, 2021 19:47
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AT&T fiber is great if you can get it. Unfortunately they focused on squeezing every ounce of data they could from copper instead of investing in fiber. Their marketing campaign back then was "all the speed you need" and they decided you only needed 30mb down and that's where it's been stuck for a decade. They're doing fiber now, but there must be some serious bottlenecks in their network. They buried optical in my yard 4 years ago and I still can't get it. AT&T is still run like a telco and they don't pivot well to competition. I called last year hoping for a Comcast alternative and had to listen to the saddest rep ever tell me 30mb was perfectly fine for a family of 4. EDIT: I've probably mentioned this one before, but AT&T had all fiber to the home in 2001. But they decided it was too expensive and stopped the rollout. Everyone who had the service got to keep it, but AT&T never upgraded the hardware so years later they were still getting 1.5mb down on 100% fiber. And because it was fiber they couldn't get the faster speed copper DSL services. Also, to make matters even worse, because fiber was the future, these new homes weren't wired for coax. You couldn't get cable internet even if you wanted it. Man, that company sucked. Here are some details if anyone is interested: https://atnexfiber.com/ifitl-bellsouths-dumb-fiber-to-the-home-play/ Also we're using AT&T and BellSouth interchangeably here because why the gently caress not. Krispy Wafer has a new favorite as of 20:17 on Mar 3, 2021 |
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Mar 3, 2021 20:08
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butt dickus posted:it goes up $10/mo after the first. i was paying cox like $130 for 1000 down / 30 up so still a way better deal drat I'm paying $60 a month for comcast 250 mbps download and they keep trying to increase my bill every year. Not like I have a choice of another provider though.
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Mar 3, 2021 20:09
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Whooping Crabs posted:drat I'm paying $60 a month for comcast 250 mbps download and they keep trying to increase my bill every year. Not like I have a choice of another provider though. On Comcast, I pay $80 for 300Mbps, but was paying $85 for 150 Mbps before I called in a few months back. Telecoms are a loving plague.
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Mar 3, 2021 20:15
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Pope Corky the IX posted:Don’t have a link handy, but Alamo Drafthouse just filed for Chapter 11. https://twitter.com/variety/status/1367110960633294854?s=21
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Mar 4, 2021 00:32
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lol Alamo Dafthouse
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Mar 4, 2021 00:50
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I guess as part of this bankruptcy they are closing a few locations and they are also cancelling construction of one that was planned to open here in Orlando.
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Mar 4, 2021 01:19
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I wanted to try Alamo someday just because of all the hype. The local company ripping the concept off is honestly bad. They bought a couple dollar theaters and spent the money on the reno and the seats but are using the ancient screens and sound system from when the theater was built in the 80s so it just isn’t that good of an experience. Throw in that the ticket is double the price and the food is expensive so it’s basically a 35 dollar experience. I preferred it as a dollar theater. Alamo is probably better?
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Mar 4, 2021 01:57
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Rick posted:I wanted to try Alamo someday just because of all the hype. The local company ripping the concept off is honestly bad. They bought a couple dollar theaters and spent the money on the reno and the seats but are using the ancient screens and sound system from when the theater was built in the 80s so it just isn’t that good of an experience. Throw in that the ticket is double the price and the food is expensive so it’s basically a 35 dollar experience. I preferred it as a dollar theater. I did a Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat double feature there a while ago and it kicked a lot of rear end but cost me like 80 bucks. Worth it, but way more than a usual trip to the movies.
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Mar 4, 2021 02:08
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a vc firm bought it, wonderful. do they own the theaters or rent them? because if they own them there's about to be a bunch of demolished historic theaters getting replaced with luxury condos
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Mar 4, 2021 02:49
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maybe they shouldn’t have treated their employees like poo poo
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Mar 4, 2021 02:53
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OMGVBFLOL posted:a vc firm bought it, wonderful. do they own the theaters or rent them? because if they own them there's about to be a bunch of demolished historic theaters getting replaced with luxury condos he sold to regal and everything's gotten worse. they demolished the nice second-run theater and replaced it with a loving cracker barrel. they cut back on the cult films that leif jonker talked warren into showing, which were my favorite times to go there. they even ruined the drinks, replacing all of them with weak bullshit that doesn't even taste good
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Mar 4, 2021 03:04
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butt dickus posted:we used to have some really great theaters here owned by bill warren, similar to what i understand the drafthouse is like. great seats, screens, sound, food service at your seat and $8 32oz drink specials that were about perfect for the length of a decent movie, or two if the film sucked and you wanted to get plastered
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Mar 4, 2021 03:19
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FlamingLiberal posted:Bill Warren is my wife's uncle, so I find this very funny
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Mar 4, 2021 03:26
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butt dickus posted:i wouldn't be surprised to hear that warren is a horrible person, but i liked his theaters He seems to be a very religious traditional Catholic that is extremely loaded He did help out my wife's father like 10 years ago when he was having health problems so he's fine in my book.
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Mar 4, 2021 03:32
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OMGVBFLOL posted:a vc firm bought it, wonderful. do they own the theaters or rent them? because if they own them there's about to be a bunch of demolished historic theaters getting replaced with luxury condos They rent most, if not all of them. For reference, of the two that are closest to me in Austin: One is in a trendy, growing neighborhood for young professionals that can't afford to live west of I-35 yet. And the other is a few blocks off downtown in a chokingly dense commercial district. They say they're only closing two theaters for right now, but I'm guessing there's a bunch of VC ghouls and landlords ominously sharpening knives in the background of the bankruptcy hearings.
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Mar 4, 2021 07:06
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What would people say cinemas are like overall in the US? UK cinemas are just the worst. On the whole insanely expensive, grotty and small seats. I remember seeing Interstellar in Thailand (admittedly in a fancy mall) and getting a popcorn and drink about 2x larger than you can even get in the UK + ticket + massive cushy throne for about 1/6th of the price with a massive full IMAX screen. Also helped that there were only like 10 people in the whole cinema. Only downside is they play the national anthem for which you are expected to stand (lol). I don't even have a cinema in more than a mile radius around where I live in London anymore, they've all closed down. I have been to US cinemas (and a drive-in), but it was a while ago. Mostly I just remember the stupid "Let's all go to the lobby!" song and a lot of subliminal messaging about Coca-Cola.
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Mar 4, 2021 12:15
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At this point there are three kinds of movie theaters in the US (and by the US I mean in my personal experience, so a medium sized city in the middle of the country): 1) lovely dollar theaters that get movies two weeks after they show up on Netflix. The snacks generally suck. The seats generally suck, the theaters screens are on the smaller size because they used to be... 2) older theaters that aren't terrible, but the seats are too small and are laid out more level with each other so you might have visibility issues, often with smaller screens. The available snacks are the 'too many servings for one person' candy bags, popcorn that's been out for a few hours, nachos with stale chips, and giant sodas that cost as much as the ticket. Most of these are (or were in the before times) are being converted into... 3) really nice theaters with large, stadium seating (often times with enough room in the rows that the seats can fully recline) and modern sound systems, the same 'too much' candy selection, roller grill stuff like hotdogs or maybe burgers, decent popcorn, decent nachos, and the same enormous KFC bucket-sized sodas that cost too much. Alamo was 3 but it also offered at seat dining.
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Mar 4, 2021 12:40
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8one6 posted:At this point there are three kinds of movie theaters in the US (and by the US I mean in my personal experience, so a medium sized city in the middle of the country): Dollar theaters were nice for an afternoon of cheap entertainment in my early-mid 20's. Plus they had the cult movie nights on weekends, I saw Star Trek 2 on one of those. I stopped going a lot when they closed the one down the street near me, and I had to go across town to the other one. Then again this was right at the time when Netflix was starting their streaming service.
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Mar 4, 2021 12:47
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