Consolidation was a very prominent topic for me in Chapter 19. I'm always paranoid that I'm going to lose my future jobs to technology and innovation, but I think I might be afaid of AT&T now as well. As Bell South went down and America OnLine went up, these massive media corporations took over more than just cell phone services, they nailed down a good portion of the viewable media industry. People are doing a lot of things on their personal media devices these days, e-mailing, taking pictures, having intimate conversations with loved ones, and all the while the providing service has access to lots and lots of personal information.
Aside from my paranoia that America OnLine is going to eat me in my sleep, monopolies are being created from the top down. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was an item in that section that I really didn't get, but I think the gist was that it made the ability for a company to spike rates possible with little market drawback. A scary thought when those companies are going through a travel crunch (gas prices) and will soon start looking for ways to increase revenue to compensate.
America OnLine has sharp teeth. Don't forget.
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