Are cable companies next? All over America, the little red boxes and the home computer are building market share. The old ideas, once new and exciting disappear.

I can hope (and my hopes get dashed regularly) that this new environment will actually feature competition. For in America, the free market is like Christianity, a great idea that we haven’t quite got around to yet.

I would like to see the day when the exorbitant rates charged by cable for “packages” designed to maximise their profits while providing dozens of channels no one wants is all a thing of the past. Customer satisfaction and product excellence are also much discussed and preached concepts. Not only a shallow religion but once again not often practiced.

James Pilant