Digested

Nortel, a venerable manufacturer of telecommunications equipment has filed for bankruptcy protection. Their last gasp was the tech boom of the 90's, but since then they have been shrinking. The market they sold into has changed, and they didn't.

Why is that my fault? Simple. My daughter is in Scotland, so I explored the various alternatives to be able to call. Cheap was the goal, with the expenses paid on my end preferably. So I set up a voip account with a UK provider, purchased a local number in the city where she resides. It costs me around $8 a month. I dusted off an old laptop that was sitting idle, installed Asterisk and got it working. I purchased a product from Nortel's arch nemesis Cisco, who sells a Linksys phone/voip adapter. She calls the local number with her cell phone on the weekends when it is free. The phone rings here and we talk as long as her free minutes allow.

All for $8 a month. For 4-6 hours of chat.

That is why I feel personally responsible for the bankruptcy of Nortel. I don't feel bad or guilty. Just responsible.