Almost a year ago, I posted about the confusion which ensued when all kinds of companies started changing names: Many of the major oil companies started buying and selling each other, re-branding many of the local gas stations in the process (if I recall correctly, many Texacos became Shells, many Mobils became Chevrons and the rest of the Mobils became Texacos. It was enough to make your head spin...); Macy's announced a takeover of many regional department-store nameplates; my cell phone service also changed names at the same time. But the latest makeover in the telecom industry is really unusual.
My cell phone service had been with AT&T Wireless for a really long time, until a year ago, when it was acquired by Cingular. I didn't really notice any difference in my service or anything; my bill just got printed in a different color. I knew that, eventually, I'd have to switch completely over to the Cingular system, which would mean trading in my cool texting phone, since it was incompatible with the new system. I was planning on waiting until this coming fall to do that, because that's when I'd qualify for a free phone again. But wait, hold everything (or maybe that should be "hold the phone"--heh). When SBC bought AT&T recently (keeping the venerable AT&T name), more changes were announced, and this one really surprised me: Cingular will become AT&T again. Huh? That's right, my phone service is being re-rebranded, you could say. SBC-now-AT&T owns 60 percent of the Cingular brand (BellSouth owns the rest), and evidently the new brand will have more clout and more options for business customers.
At any rate, I guess it doesn't really affect me too much; since I pay all my bills online, it's not like I'd write the wrong name on a check or anything. Still, it's ironic that so soon after I've finally gotten used to saying that I have Cingular and not AT&T, it's about to be time to say that I have AT&T again. And I wonder if I'll be able to keep my cool phone now...
Jammin' jingle: The new AT&T commercials are all over TV and radio (as you know, unless you've lived in a cave since New Year's), but that's OK with me, since they all feature a really cool song, "All Around the World" by Oasis (it's on this CD). I've always been a sucker for anything that sounds like the Beatles (as well as the real thing), and I think that this 9-minute opus is one of the Gallagher brothers' best; in fact, I just popped it in the CD player as we speak.
Milestone: This is my 800th post. Yay!
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From what I remember, Be Here Now boasts two solid tracks ("All Around the World" and "Don't Go Away") while the rest is incredibly bloated. You can find at least one used copy in any used CD store.
Don't forget Diamond Shamrock becoming Valero. The first time I saw their sign change, I was half awake and thought it said BOLERO. Now everytime I pass one I get that stupid song stuck in my head.
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