Careful, Comcast. You're Waking a Sleeping Giant

News of Comcast's proposed $44 billion purchase of Time Warner Cable hit the Internet late Wednesday night. Instantly, there was rejoicing. Grateful TWC users sent teary-eyed congratulations to each other, nostalgia for their current cable provider already mingling with sweet anticipatory delight over its new owners. Meanwhile, Comcast's millions of satisfied customers broke out the champagne and welcomed their new brethren to the greatest entertainment experience on Earth.

Done laughing yet? No, of course, none of that happened. Both companies are so regularly loathed by users, so widely perceived to be uncaring monopolies, that news of the deal acted like a force multiplier. If you were watching the reaction on Twitter — and it was pretty much universal — you got a taste of what might happen if Hell were to announce it had bought Purgatory Read more...