Sunil Sood joined CUT as a Committee Member then was elected Press Officer at the second Annual General Meeting in April 2000.
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Welcome Sunil. We're standing at a well-stocked bar. What are you having?
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Normally just a soft drink, I don't normally drink the hard stuff very often...
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How did you get involved in CUT and why?
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It all started with my general interest in technology and then I came
accross the old Cable and Wireless Watch site, to which I started contributing,
even though I didn't have a Videoton or Cable and Wireless telephone line...
I would have got one if Videoton had ever finished laying cable in
my half of the street, but that's another story...
Anyway, back to the question, when the changeover was made from a Cable and Wireless
users site to CUT, it became a lot more relevant and important and somehow I ended up where I am now..
(For the record: I still have BT lines and wouldn't get cable now, even if
they finished cabling my street, 5 years on..)
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What is your current occupation (or would be if you could get the job you're
after)?
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Well I have recently graduated, so if anyone wants too offer me a job... :)
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What is your dream occupation?
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In a dream world, I would have liked to be a diplomat or work in
the City (the second is more likely than the first in real life..)
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What's the proudest moment or achievement in your life to date?
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I don't really know... my life is pretty unremarkable
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Do you currently have unmetered calls to the Internet? What do/would
you find them most beneficial for?
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I do, but only for about the last month or so, when I transferred one of my
BT lines to Telnet/Greatxscape who offer unmetered off peak access to their
own ISP..
The biggest change I have noticed in the short time I have had unmetered
calls is that I can:
1) afford to browse web pages and properly read everything, rather then speed reading
it or going offline to do so..
2) discover lots of interesting web sites that I never new were there before
as I coudn't afford the time to fimd them before..
3) The fact that I can now download various free/shareware software and bug fixes to my existing
programs - this was frankly just to expensive before..
Of course, the biggest change is that I don't constantly have to keep on
looking at my clock and dreading the prospect of my next telephone bill as I
watched the seconds go by..
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What's the most pointless sport in the world?
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In my opinion, it would be one of the new sports that, I believe, the
Olymics has recently added - Sycronised Swimming
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What's the most likely thing to make you laugh?
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A humorous book or television program, I would say... or my friends..
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What's the most likely thing to make you get up on your soapbox?
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These questions don't get any easier do they? :) I don't really feel that
strongly on any particular issue but if something was likely to make me
speak out, it would probably be where I considered an "Injustice" had taken
place..
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Where do you see the Internet being in 5 years time?
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I see it becoming a more and more integeral part of people's lives. both in
the West and in developing countries, as well as all the e-business/e-economy plans,
it is a very useful tool for communication (particularly cross border) and of course,
one day we are promised all these smart devices for the home as well...
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Where do you see the telecommunications industry being in 5 years time?
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I see that there will be fewer larger companies, with many of the existing
ones, merging over the next few years. There will be, (it has already
started) a large shift to Voice over IP technology.
There a whole range of new small specialised companies offering new services
many of which still have to be thought of, as the technology progresses.
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If you were at a dinner party, who would you most like to be sat next
to and why (living or dead)?
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There are lots of people I consider interesting and would like to meet. It
would be unfair to the others to list one or two.. I also imagine therr will
be lots of interesting people yet to be born as well...
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What do you read in the bath?
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Either Computer magazines or one of my favouite author's (Robert Jordan)
Wheel of Time series
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Does Finnegans Wake by James Joyce make any sense to you?
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None at all...
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If the UK telecommunications industry was an animal, which one would it be?
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It wouldn't be an animal as such, but could be described as being similar to
nature as a whole. All telephone companies are beginning to evolve slowly to
a new business model with new technologies and profit centres, however if
they move as slowly as the UK telecommunications industry, there is a real
danger a new competiter will evolve and they will eventually die out... just
as when species die in real life.. as another species has evolved faster..
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What is the most useful/valued/indispensable piece of technology that you possess?
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It would (if I can have two) :) be the telephone and the computer, both have
helped revolunise this century and already one can tell they will do the same to the next...
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Do you like marzipan?
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Marzipan? How did that get into this list of questions? :)
[Ed: Sunil, you're meant to be answering questions, not asking them :)]
Well, it's ok, in small quanties, but I am not a great fan of it or of other
sweet things... I am already "plump" enough
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If the aims of CUT are realised, would there be anything else you would feel
equally worth campaigning for? If so, what?
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There are no specific issues, that I can think of. In fact given my nature,
it sometimes suprises me where I have ended up even with CUT
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What CDs/LPs/tapes are currently stacked upon/against your Hi-Fi?
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I have a wide range of musical tastes from popular music to classical...
however these days I tend to listen to the radio more and more..
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Who is the most underrated band or musical artist in your opinion?
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While I have a range of musical tastes, it is the individual songs/tunes
that I like, not any particular artist...
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There's a pile of Smarties of all colours in equal reach. Which do you take first?
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It really makes no difference at all to me...
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A mischievous angel gives you the opportunity to
throw a rotten tomato at anyone or anything in the world every day for a year. Who or what do you choose
and why?
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Sounds tempting..., However, on second thought it would be a bit pointless,
discussing things would be a much better way forward..
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We have a time machine on standby. It can go forwards or backwards
but it's a one-way trip. Do you want to use it and, if so, where will you go?
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Again, it sounds very tempting... I would really like to go back and
forwards as I have often imagined what it was really like in the past or
what it will be like in the future... however, since you can only offer me a
one way trip in either direction, I think I will stay in the present...
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Well, the bar is closing now. We have every method of transport at your
disposal. How would you prefer to get home?
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Anything, as long as it's convenient and safe... a car/taxi, train, plane,
even a rickshaw. it makes little difference to me...
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