[GRLUG] FiOS -- NOT

[Bob Kline]

On Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 8:47 AM, John-Thomas Richards <jtr at jrichards.org>wrote:

>
>
>
>
> Real world usage of bandwidth determines whether more bandwidth is
> needed.
>

Right, but bandwidth and "need"
are inter related.  And bandwidth
and need are often out of balance.

Meaning that for a while there might
be more bandwidth available that there
are applications for, but then new ones
are developed.  Same for PC hardware.
High definition screens,  big e-mail
payloads, downloading movies,  OSes,
games, etc.  I used the phrases chicken
and egg,  and in the end it still a matter
of who starts.  The track record suggests
that if there is a surplus of capacity of
some kind - drive space,  bandwidth,
PC speed, memory - uses will be found.

Of course competition is the miracle in
all this, and with just AT&T and Comcast
defining the game in this area,  bandwidth,
and even usage, limits come in to play.
But those are artificial constraints.


>
> > Anyway,  rah-rah.  But I would bet that capacities and speeds with
> > continue to increase, and costs will continue to come down.  "Moore's
>
>



> If one remembers, or reads about,
>
the early days of PC - say 1982 or so -
the same discussions of "what are you
going to do with it" raged.  A $3,000
PC - in the dollars of 1982 -   a very
basic DOS system, a primitive ASCII
terminal, and floppies.  Hard drives were
also about $3,000, for 5 or 10 MB.

Suggestions like "keep your recipes
on it" just didn't hack it.  But it was a
fascinating next 10 years.  Xerox Parc
comes along with windows, mice, and
"objects."  Steve Jobs adopts them all,
and so does M$.

Anyway,  I could agree that the percentage
improvements are typically smaller today,
but look where we are.  I simply find it hard
to believe that the ride is over.  A
temporary pause maybe, while those with
the big imaginations find the next big
things to do, but I'd wager it's not over yet.

   -- Bob



> --
> john-thomas
> ------
> I have studied it often, but I never could discover the plot.
> Mark Twain, author and humorist, on dictionary (1835-1910)
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