In March 1876, the New York Times trumpeted the birth of the home entertainment industry. It would be powered by the telephone. It (mostly) never happened. Exactly 134 years later Facebook became the most visited website in the USA, pulling in more visitors than Google. There’s a connection between these facts. We’re learning what the web is really for.

In a just world, everyone would love the new utilities like Google, Skype and Facebook. Reality isn’t like that because people expect great customer service. New utilities could meet that expectation. But they need a new approach to service management and design. Customers are demanding a good service experience and that’s exactly what the new utility’s struggle to provide when things go wrong.