Turn their ugly cell towers into art? "Too expensive" says AT&T

[Minnesota Raindog]

Turn cell phone towers into art? Too expensive, says AT&T, who would rather plant one at the entrance to the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.

Corporate greed triumphs again--for now.

http://rippleinstillh2o.blogspot.com/2011/02/at-says-turning-cell-tower-visible-from.html

[ixion]

1. Yeah, they're too busy screwing out of your money and maximizing profit

to worry about art.

[MilesColtrane]

6. Keeping those direct feeds to the NSA and Homeland Security up and running...

24/7 is time intensive work!

[KansDem]

2. Turn our phone records over to Bush? "Too cool!" says AT&T

But only if we get retroactive immunity from any lawsuits about not having any of those nasty court-ordered subpoenas.

[FarCenter]

3. Looking at the pictures of the sculpture in the article, a cell tower is a thing of beauty

That's some pretty ugly stuff in the Franconia Sculpture Park.

[Shagbark Hickory]

4. Trust me, it's better without.

A block away there is a tower disguised as a tree. It is more noticeable than if it was just a plain tower.
Nobody would pay attention to it except a 200' douglas fir in the middle of a deciduous woodland on a hilltop sticks out like a sore thumb. The flashing red light on top kinda cancels out any chance of people mistaking it for a real tree. I wish they'd just take the fake tree part off.

Those pictures look hideous. Frankly, the antenna structure is less of an eyesore, IMHO.

[zonkers]

5. Those fake trees are design failure at its best. Best to leave it alone.

[pipi_k]

7. One of those fake trees in my vicinity...

down the hill. I can't see it from here, but if I go up to the top of the hill I can. There are loads of pines and other conifers all over the place. I like the tower tree. From a distance it looks much like the other pine trees only a bit taller, although not terribly odd because there are a few very tall pines nearby. It's just that this one is taller.

so anyway the reason it's disguised as a tree in the first place is because the neighbor at the top of the hill who has a panoramic view of the valley below fought the installation of the cell tower for a long time saying it would spoil his view.

Yeah. Nice. Meanwhile, he can get cell reception up there and those of us down the hill were shit out of luck and if our phone lines went down, we were screwed.

A big town fight ensued, after which he compromised and gave up the fight only if the tower got disguised as a tree.

It still pisses him off, but at least we down the hill can finally get cell reception.

[Shagbark Hickory]

8. There are some trees that look allright.

Maybe a pine tree if it was the height of a real pine tree and if there are pines in the area.
For example, a 200' douglas fir in GA, where douglas fir doesn't even grow isn't a good choice. Especially when surrounded by leafless trees 25% the height.