It Ain't Necessarily So
Coda:
Thoughts on Being a Columnist
All things considered, I
don't think I was a very good columnist. In general, I think I was
too negative, even when I was right. Harry wanted everything about
interconnect and competition in telephony to be praised to the
skies, but I thought there was an argument in favor of intelligent
regulation, even though that term may seem to be an oxymoron. Jerry
wanted praise for new developments, but all too often I pointed out
what, to me, were obvious flaws. And Ian, although he liked my
material, got justly tired of "It Ain’t Necessarily So."
But what could I do?
When everybody was saying they liked the Emperor's new clothes, all
I could see was a skinny old man in his undershorts being taken for
a sucker.
But it was fun to try,
and I got a certain amount of positive feedback from people who
found that I was often right. I don't regret the mistakes I made,
but I wish I could have done the job better so that I could have
continued, perhaps learning more subtlety along the way, to make my
points more usefully.
But what the hell. I had
fun. And writing for Harry, Jerry and Ian was a rare privilege which
I appreciate more than they can possibly imagine. Thanks for the
opportunity, guys!
Lee
Goeller
March 14, 2005
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