The beginning of the end for copper wire

Re:The beginning of the end for copper wire by cperciva on Sunday November 26, 2017 @04:10PM (#15783001)

Highly relevant quote:

At one time, 80% of AT&T's capital value was the copper in the local loops. AT&T was then, in effect, the world's largest copper mine. Fortunately, this fact was not widely known in the investment community. Had it been known, some corporate raider might have bought AT&T, terminated all telephone service in the United States, ripped out all the wire, and sole the wire to a copper refiner to get a quick payback.

-- Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Computer Networks

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Re:The beginning of the end for copper wire by olympus on Sunday November 26, 2017 @04:17PM (#15783034)

It is likely that someone did realize this, did the math on the labor costs to pull all the wire up across the country, and realized it wouldn't actually be profitable. There are guys that track individual ships across the ocean to decide what/when to trade, I doubt everyone missed the value of ATT's physical assets.

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Re:The beginning of the end for copper wire by cperciva on Sunday November 26, 2017 @04:35PM (#15783128)

I don't think that Tanenbaum was being completely serious. The point is to put the value of that copper (and the cost of replacing it in the event that it is damaged) into perspective.

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Re:The beginning of the end for copper wire by andymcsherry on Sunday November 26, 2017 @04:48PM (#15783213)

He certainly wasn't. If you read his political blog (http://electoral-vote.com/), you'll find this sort of sarcasm is his hallmark.

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Re:The beginning of the end for copper wire by cperciva on Sunday November 26, 2017 @05:38PM (#15783490)

Right, my extreme understatement was my British sense of humour coming through. I was forgetting that HN has people whose only exposure to Tanenbaum is via the Linus-Tanenbaum debate (or possibly not even that) and for whom his sarcasm and my characterization of it would be less obvious.

My favourite Tanenbaumism, while I'm on the topic: Aircraft carriers are modular. If a toilet gets clogged, it doesn't start launching nuclear missiles.

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Re:The beginning of the end for copper wire by dfc on Sunday November 26, 2017 @07:21PM (#15783909)

The quote would be so much better if the subject were submarines instead of carriers.

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Re:The beginning of the end for copper wire by cperciva on Sunday November 26, 2017 @08:00PM (#15784044)

Perhaps... but the non-modular software equivalents of aircraft carriers routinely do launch metaphorical nuclear missiles despite not being intended to ever have that functionality.

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Re:The beginning of the end for copper wire by abysmalfitzg on Sunday November 26, 2017 @10:56PM (#15784696)

I do agree that aircraft carriers have stronger claims to being British :)

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Re:The beginning of the end for copper wire by rz2k on Sunday November 26, 2017 @06:35PM (#15783721)

Furthermore the statement mischaracterizes the ownership rights AT&T actually held over that copper once it was in place. For example, according to federal law, AT&T had to extend service almost everywhere at nearly fixed rates, even if revenue from the installation would never pay for itself.

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Re:The beginning of the end for copper wire by dzhiurgis on Sunday November 26, 2017 @08:54PM (#15784270)

What's your take on Nickel, Cobalt, etc metal market that goes into modern batteries?

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Re:The beginning of the end for copper wire by olympus on Sunday November 26, 2017 @11:43PM (#15784889)

Recycling batteries is obviously profitable since there are many companies that do it.

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Re:The beginning of the end for copper wire by alexandros on Sunday November 26, 2017 @04:16PM (#15783027)

...because organizing a hostile takeover, paying for the contract terminations, ripping out all the copper, cleaning it and gathering it all up in a form that can be delivered to a copper refiner, and finally shuttering the business and tying all loose ends is actually free, and in fact will somehow magically pay you not only the missing 20% of the price you paid, but an additional 20-60% you need to justify your trouble.

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Re:The beginning of the end for copper wire by matwood on Sunday November 26, 2017 @04:26PM (#15783086)

Exactly. Plus getting past the government when you announce you're canceling phone service for the entire country.

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Re:The beginning of the end for copper wire by webbrahmin on Sunday November 26, 2017 @11:48PM (#15784922)

This quote has taken me back to my engineering college days. Thanks for sharing this.

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