speakeasy has been stagnant for years service wise, adding no new features for the same prices from four years ago. Ever since they went corporate its been all downhill, they deserve each other.

I miss the original Speakeasy Internet Cafe. Heard some cool jazz there.

i've heard speakeasy used to be great but speakeasy SUCKS now and i'm sure it'll only get worse. they're probably the biggest nightmare of a company i've ever dealt with.

my favorite speakeasy problem (out of about 20 i had) was getting other people's voice mails -- maybe 10 a day -- for about 2 months after starting my VOIP phone service. i didn't realize people sobbed into other people's voice mails so much.

I can't believe that they were only worth $97MM. They had fewer customers than I thought, but after taking $50MM in Venture Capital, nobody made out on this deal, and I'm really surprised.

I've had consistently good service from Speakeasy over the last 6 years or so, and even when I had a lot of trouble with VOIP (which was much more likely my house), they went to great lengths to help fix it - plus they're still the only clueful customer service group I've ever worked with. I'm hoping BB doesn't crush them, though I would save money by going with anyone else.

whoops, I don't actually know how many customers they have - the article mentions "broadband voice customers," which I read as "broadband customers" the first time. Clearly the vast majority of their customers will be broadband-only.

#2 - I was being a drunk lover at the old Rendezvous the night that interfect Cafe burned. The whole bar went outside to watch. excellent viewing!

I had speakeasy DSL when I lived in Seattle but couldn't transfer the service to Denver because I was originally living in the sticks with my inlaws before I got my house. I still have speakeasy email (didn't want to hassle with giving everyone my new email) but I'm going to drop it because they require you get something called Reverse DNS if you want to send email through their accounts without using their service. Sounds like a complete hassle.

I woke up this morning to an announcement that Speakeasy ws being acquired by Best Buy. Was this an April Fools Joke? I checked my calendar. No, today is March 27.

What do I think of when I hear the name "Best Buy"?

1) High Prices
2) Bad customer service
3) False Advertising

I have first hand experience with each of these. The really bad thing is, the Best Buy corporate office stands behind these attributes. I sure hope these attributes do not get passed down onto Speakeasy. If they do, Speakeasy is going to start losing loyal customers.

There are very few local providers left, for the simple reason that tech support is complex, and it costs a lot to provide. Customers say they want service, but they buy on price.

My company has provided web design, email and web hosting since 1997, but we just about break even doing it, because it's hard to compete. So if you want to support local businesses, you can -- we're not hard to find -- but be willing to pay a little more.

We have been a loyal customer of Speakeasy's for a decade. However, I took a vow a while back to never do business with Best Buy again. I actually cut my Best Buy credit card up and mailed it to the CEO, earning me a call from his secretary, which I declined to take. I intend to keep the vow.

Know any good business ISPs? That are still willing to do DSL bridge groups?

your new email addy fnarf@stranger.coim

they are fools not to be paying you for your generosity of spirit and insight

Just in case you didn't already know, Best Buy bought Magnolia HiFi awhile ago. Now they have their eyes on Ivar's and Dick's.

I learned lisp by reading the common lisp manual at speakeasy the coffee shop. they had those crazy ncr x terms, but I was too cheap for them, so I used the free ttys. good times.

And just a few days before the end of the month. That's convenient. They'll be getting my cancellation notice shortly. Now that I'm not running servers from home or anything else that needs a static IP, I really don't need to pay more for them; and if I'm going to pay more to a large, ugly corporation, I might as well go to Verizon and get wireless thrown into the deal.

Elswinger @ 12 - I can't tell if you're joking or not.

Matt, not about Magnolia Hi Fi, but I was joking about Ivar's & Dicks.

A friend went to Magnolia Hi Fi to buy a flat screen because he wanted to shop local, but knowing Magnolia's policy was to match local newspaper ads. Best Buy was selling the TV way below wholesale, and the Magnolia guys were pissed because they had just been bought by BB.

PS go to the wiki to see what else they have bought.

Thanks els.

After Best Buy bought the Geek Squad the service went way down hill (according to my mother...who's not exactly anti-corporate).

Well, Speakeasy's service can't really go DOWN, because it's nonexistent now. I used to have a rep I could call with questions or problems, but now I have an imaginary rep who never answers any calls or emails. We've been an excellent large customer for a decade; it's time to find a professional company -- and not a bunch of lying scumbags like Best Buy. I hope they go out of business.

HAHAHAHA HIPSTERS

Comscab will be waiting with open arms, but those open arms will cost you $110 in installation and about $58 a month. LOL.

Gomez, would you care to enlighten us?

How on earth could an ISP possibly be hip?