With the fate of the $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T in Washington's hands, all the big tech players are moving their pawns. And now the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a trade group that includes Google, Microsoft, eBay, Yahoo and Facebook, has come out against the deal.
The argument is what's to be expected: this merger will be bad for competition, and therefore bad for innovation and consumers. Regardless of the merits, what's going on here is that the companies in the "application layer" of the web don't want the companies who own the pipes, whether they're mobile or internet, to gain too much power.
Don't Miss: AT&T-Mobile: Here Are The Biggest Winners And Losers →
Join the conversation about this story »
See Also:
- Oh, Please -- OF COURSE Verizon Wants Sprint
- Find Out How Search Spammers Are Hurting Your Business
- How Two "Competing" Wireless Technologies Made The U.S. Mobile Market Less Competitive
Google, Microsoft, eBay, Yahoo And Facebook Trash AT&T-Mobile; Deal (GOOG, MSFT, EBAY, YHOO, T)
by Glenn Meyers
When Doug Eichelberger built a barn on his Larkspur, CO ranch out of plastic and paper that wasn't even fit for the recycling trucks, he was a pioneer in experimentation with alternative building materials. And as important, materials that prove to be cost-effective for use.
The architect and sculptor had a fundamental understanding of how he might construct a building using materials that had no other destination than the landfill. He rented a baler and a forklift and began erecting walls that were going to last.
In this video, Eichelberger takes viewers on a tour of a very functional barn that was constructed with materials that were considered no better than trash.
It is now well over a decade since this barn was built and it appears to have judiciously withstood the tests of time, hot and cold, very intense Colorado sun, and wind.
While these reclaimed materials may not seem ideal to some homebuilders, they make a viable building solution that should be seriously considered, says Eichelberger, adding that poor regions in parts of Africa and other continents have an abundance of plastic waste that never even makes it to a landfill and instead floats out into the oceans.
The idea of repurposing materials that usually get tossed away provides numerous benefits that more in the building trades are starting to consider.
Reprinted with permission from