21.   A year ago, cable was king and networks the beggars.

22.   Alas, the cable was still out.

23.   All the power, telephone and information cables are overhead, and there is no raised floor.

24.   But cable might not be much more than helpful participants in an assisted suicide.

25.   But banks have tightened their loans to the industryout of fear that cable was no longer a good bet.

26.   But just cable would be plenty.

27.   But the Warner people said that even the slowest cable would be far faster than the ADSL phone line.

28.   Cables are a highly lucrative item that may account for a modest percentage of sales but a greater percentage of profit.

29.   Cables are all over the ground, people are wearing headsets, there are klieg lights and equipment trucks.

30.   Certainly satellite TV, which is digital, has some advantages in local markets where cable is still analog and still offers far fewer channels than satellite does.