> There's a commonality that AT&T is getting at, the early internet
The legacy telcos were NOT fans of the early Internet. They didn't like packet switched networks, variable sized packets, and especially best-effort delivery. That is why they spent the next 10 years trying to force ATM on everyone. They also couldn't figure out how to efficiently bill for these modern services, even up to the iPhone launch in 2007! https://money.cnn.com/2007/08/23/technology/iphone_bill/
A common thread in these commercials is high bandwidth applications (impossibly high bandwidth by 1993 standards) that would generate hefty usage fees. These applications were seen as so impractical in 1993 that the commercials were sometimes derided as an "empty promises" campaign.
Most of it did come true however, though at this point we may be wishing some of it had not - sending a "fax" or "attending a meeting" from the beach for example.
The legacy telcos were NOT fans of the early Internet. They didn't like packet switched networks, variable sized packets, and especially best-effort delivery. That is why they spent the next 10 years trying to force ATM on everyone. They also couldn't figure out how to efficiently bill for these modern services, even up to the iPhone launch in 2007! https://money.cnn.com/2007/08/23/technology/iphone_bill/
A common thread in these commercials is high bandwidth applications (impossibly high bandwidth by 1993 standards) that would generate hefty usage fees. These applications were seen as so impractical in 1993 that the commercials were sometimes derided as an "empty promises" campaign.
Most of it did come true however, though at this point we may be wishing some of it had not - sending a "fax" or "attending a meeting" from the beach for example.