re: the taboos of saloon speak
There are a few things I never discuss in public drinking establishments.
As a good family man and practicing networkologist, usually in that order,
I'm not much of a drinking man, so I rarely find myself in such situations
these days. But there's always that obligatory visit to the watering hole in
matters both family and business that make it a good idea for me to
remember a few rules.
The topics that I've found best to avoid when those in my proximity begin
to lift off, are religion, inter-networking philosophies and e-commerce,
and professional wrestling. I've found that these are not good things to
discuss where the air becomes rare.
I know, the old saying was that you never discuss politics and religion.
What can I tell you? Times change.
Politics? I tend to lump this category somewhere between the IETF-ITU
dichotomy - which makes up the greater part of inter-networking
philosophical discussion in some circles - and the WWF phenomenon -
which has taken on religious proportions of its own throughout the land. In
fact, religion, depending on one's personal convictions or lack thereof, can
sometimes encompass all of the above.
The Frank Coluccio Technology Forum (now increasingly being referred
to as the FCTF - come to think of it, FCTF has a professional
wrestling 'ring' about it, itself) - is not a saloon. Nor is it a temple of
worship. It's not a telecommunications standards setting venue, nor is it a
mock exercise in pseudo-intellectualism. It's a place to air questions and
generate discussion concerning telecomms, and the emerging spaces of
high-capacity-engendering photonics, wireless and yet-to-be-perfected
methods of hauling and inter-networking information cargo.
All of the answers in the world photonic and the universe wireless cannot
be found here, to be sure. But it's a good place to get the questions in
those sectors aired for discussion and, hopefully, some point-counterpoint
debate. And if you are inclined to agree with some of the things stated
here at times, that's okay, too.
Got a question concerning why a new sector, or why an emerging group
of companies which are aimed at a new point solution will make it
in the inter-networking sector? I certainly do. I've got more questions, in
fact, and by far, many more questions than answers.
One such question that I have these days has to do with a new group of
"background infrastructure," or is it infrastructure background, providers
whose missions are to make congestion go away by spotting data around
the world in the "ready state," while preserving the economies of scale of
"the Internet." This makes me wonder, for several reasons.
Is the Internet simply a Trojan Horse for these new purveyors to use as
their launch platforms, while they quietly re-introduce private line
networking into our commercial application space? There are some
arguments coming of age which would make this seem plausible, in my
eyes.
One such argument, which I saw mentioned on the Gilder Technology
Forum, but was not elaborated, instead I inferred, was a 'wash effect' that
will be supported by DWDM. With sufficient bandwidth, the argument
goes (I presume), there is no need for fancy intricate maneuvering of data.
Just let if fly. No need for primping and dither, just let it fly.
I see the possibility of merit behind this argument -if, that's what the
argument is. If it isn't the argument, then, I will introduce it as such. The
question that remains in my mind, however, is one of timing. Will the
abundance of bandwidth arrive in time to allow unfettered transport of
ecommerce applications across vast differences in time to obviate
workarounds, or will we see some sustained period of improved mouse
trapping? The danger of not doing the latter is the obvious lost
opportunities that would ensue. Conversely, the danger of going full tilt in
the use of workarounds is that they very often have a strange way of
hanging around for a long time, far longer, in fact, than the problems they
were intended to solve.
If you have been following this thread, you will have some vague notion
(as I do, still) about where I'm coming from on this topic, and who the
companies are who are working in this direction. Not only don't I have a
well-formulated opinion on the matter yet, I'm still searching for the right
questions to ask, since my catalog of assumptions and mental lookups
keeps changing with the speed of the 'net. Yes, this is surely a sign of
humility, I know.
Can someone stop the clock long enough to examine what is going on in
this space? Or, would such a freeze in time nullify the premise for asking
these questions in the first place? Time for someone else to carry the ball
for a while. It's late, and I've got a cab to catch.
Regards, Frank Coluccio |
