Old Friends Disappear
“Siri,” Mark hit the turn signal and pulled into the train of cars exiting the interstate into downtown San Francisco, “Find computer support in San Francisco.” His phone was synced to the car’s Bluetooth. In a moment, it brought up a list of agencies. Mark said, “Call FutureTech.”
“FutureTech, how may I help you?”
“Hey, it’s Mark over at OneClick Solutions Group. Is this Cindy?”
There was a pause, “No, I’m Jill.”
“Oh, sorry, Jill— I’m used to Cindy. Hey, can you transfer me to Carlos?”
“I’m sorry, sir—”
“Don’t worry, we’re friends. He’ll have time.”
“Sorry, Carlos no longer owns FutureTech.”
“What do you mean he doesn’t own FutureTech anymore? He founded that company—”
“Sorry, sir. FutureTech is under new management.”
“What? Well, who’s running the show?”
“I’m sorry, I’m not at liberty to—”
Mark swiped right on his iPhone and hung up, muttering angrily, “That’s the fifth one this week.”
Brother Corp. Fallout
When Mark arrived at his own office, a competitor of FutureTech offering computer support in San Francisco, he wasn’t in the best humor. “Shirley, Brother Corp. bought out another one. They’re going nationwide, the blackguards. My standing order stands taller— do not answer any calls from their offices, delete any e-mails, and if you hear anybody in the break room talking positive about Brother Corp., give ’em a wet willy.”
“Yessir!” said Shirley as she gave him a mock salute.
“I’ll be in my office,” and Mark shut the door behind him. It was time to call Reese. He wouldn’t have sold out; he was solid. They had to stick together or Brother Corp. would monopolize tech support in the bay area, and that would spell disaster for more than just Mark’s bottom line. It would mean a declination of services, diminishment of cutting edge breakthroughs, and an increase in costs across the board.
Friends Change
Mark dialed Reese’s personal phone, “They got another one, Reese.”
It took Reese a moment to respond, “Yeah?”
“Carlos at FutureTech. They bought him out. I think they etch-a-sketched the whole staff. Cindy wasn’t on the phones; I never remember her taking a sick day.”
“Me either.”
“What’s going on, Reese?”
“Well… don’t know, but… but maybe they’re— the tech companies, I mean— maybe they’re getting really good deals.”
“What?!”
“Well… go with me a moment. Maybe they’re getting subsidized in a way which allows them to expand beyond what they could individually—”
“Yeah, with a host of oversight! Look, Reese, we at OneClick offer computer support in San Francisco like nobody else, and it’s precisely because we haven’t sold out. Where else are you going to get:
• Flat-Fee IT
• Business Continuity Planning
• Cloud and Hosted Services
• VoIP
• IT Consulting
…at affordable rates subject to elasticity between clients? These idiots going with Brother Corp. lose all that customer service and individual autonomy for pie-in-the-sky corporate promises that decay under monopoly!”
“Well… well maybe some tech companies are interested in that,” Reese stammered.
“You’ve got a salesman in your office for Brother, don’t you Reese?”
“Well, he calls himself a partner,” Reese replied. Mark could almost hear him shrugging through the phone.
“Confound it,” Mark hung up. He stewed at his desk for a moment before leaning back, running hands through his hair and saying, “I’m never going to sell this company… I’ll NEVER sell it!”