Blackout shows Net's fragility

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You make a good point

Your post made me think for a long time. What *is* the point of business? And I agree with you - mostly. The point of business is to make a profit - but for how long? How sustainable are the profits? I suspect that sustainability comes only with a longer-term vision, and a longer-term vision must necessarily include customer satisfaction (unless you have a monopoly). I am sure there are no arguments up to here.

The question now becomes, what creates long-term customer satisfaction? What make a loyal, happy customer? IMHO, the answer is excellent, customer-oriented products and services at a reasonable (note: I didn't say low) cost.

Cutting off your customers' access to part of the Internet thourhg no fault of their own is not what I would call excellent service. Quite frankly, if I were to allocate blame based on this article, I would say that both companies are at fault. The one for cutting off the traffic, and the other for reciprocating. They could have taken the high ground and said, "Well, we don't want to stoop to that level. We will keep up our side of the agreement". That would have bought them a lot of praise and possibly the customers of the other company. But it seemed to degenerate into a spitting contest (to use a more polite phrase than what I had in mind).

Neither of these companies has shown the leadership and custmomer focus that will sustain their success. If they continue in this way, neither of them will be around for long.

Some final words.

If we keep buying products and services from companies that do not treat us well or make shoddy products, then either (a) we get what we deserve, and shame on us, or (b) we are tied into such companies due to monopolies or other challenging factors. Oh, but there ARE no monopolies, right? This is America, and we have anti-trust laws to prevent that, right?

The other thing is, while companies allow themselves to be driven by Wall Street analysts, and the quarterly results are all that matter, regardless of the long-term cost to the company, and ultimately the country and the economy, we will not see real sustainability. We will just see profiteering on a grand scale, layoffs and offshoring to boost stock values and options, and cynical manipulation of consumers by corporates, until consumers wise up. We will continue to see the I'm-all-right-Jack mentality, right up to the point where America has become a third-world country consisting only of the very rich and the very poor. It's already happening. And I truly believe that it is in part due to the short-term vision (assuming any vision at all) of so many corporations, and the apathy of Joe Citizen, dully watching TV and believing election promises like a sheep - until the axe falls.

.

Posted by: emofine   Posted on: 10/07/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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