Customer service is making a comeback---thankfully.

I'm of the opinion that automated phone systems are designed to thwart customers instead of addressing service issues.

Think about it: Who benefits from wasting your time and possibly frustrating you to the point that you hang up and maybe go away? You most assuredly don't benefit, but the companies do.

Service will differentiate the good from the bad. Price pressures from competition will keep price differences minuscule, so intangible--like good service--will inform the choices.

The internet makes it so much easier to hassle key decision makers so things will change.

Universal health care the cure for foreign competition in medical treatment

Failings in the U.S. health care system are highlighted by the plight of the uninsured.

Our profit-driven system benefits the vendors of medical care (doctors, hospitals & pharmaceuticals) at the expense of patients.

Many, myself included, find a system where lives are placed at risk primarily for profit immoral and scandalous. A supposedly advanced society doesn't place a price on lives like we do to profit certain industries.

Our profit-driven system generates one side-effect: Lower cost providers will always pop up to push prices down. That's the nature of market economics.

In the case of foreign doctors and hospitals, these low cost competitors are rising to fill a long-felt need in American health care.

It's a good thing too.

American doctors and hospitals need competition from their American-trained foreign brethren. Foreign competition will encourage the American medical industry to get on-board with universal health care because that will be the only thing to save American medicine from overseas competition.

Universal health care will take the form of protectionism for U.S. medicine. There's no way to maintain the best health care system in the world with the highest individual cost to consumers when the customer base shrinks as a result of the insurance industry policy of excluding people from coverage who most need treatment, leaving these externalized costs for the rest of society to pick up.

Something's gonna have to give in our health care system. I suspect that doctors will realize that insurance providers don't have the public's best interest at heart and will protect their own bottom line by preferring a universal plan insuring payment over the headache of dealing with private insurance companies.

Better late than never.

New service may be the answer to little choice in cable television

Here's new service that I would definitely jump on.

Any opportunity I can find to get rid of cable while keeping a good supply of tv entertainment on the cheap is my kind of product.

The only thing keeping me from dumping cable is the broadband.

DSL sucks because you must have a phone line.

Since Tennessee passed a law prohibiting municipalities from putting in free, citywide, WiFi (thanks to the generous contributions to our venal state legislature by wireless providers who didn't want the competition...) we've been left with cable broadband (from one provider!) dsl, dial-up, or wireless broadband with low download limits. None of the above cut it except the cable broadband, but then you have only one choice.

I don't know about you, but I'm a big fan of competition in communications and any service that gives me the choice of paying for shows or accepting advertising sounds good.

Sign me up.

Medical tourism creates competition for U.S. health care providers--It's a good thing

The Economist tells a story of globalization and market forces that should serve as a wake up call to the U.S. health care system.

When you view the chart of costs that U.S. patients pay compared to patients in other countries, then you may have difficulty justifying the usual refrain of "we have better care here, despite the costs."

Cost creates competition between U.S. health care and foreign systems.

It's about time.

It will take U.S. health care providers screaming about their lost profits before they get on board with socialized insurance. There's only so much fear-mongering about foreign health care people will stand. Once enough people receive quality treatment overseas, a tipping point will occur where it becomes standard for the middle class and the poor (the ones who support the health care system now) to leave the country for treatment.

Socialized insurance creates a dis-incentive for people to go elsewhere since they can be assured of treatment at home.