Vijay,
I understand all the thinking given the assumption of packet switching. I'm just curious why we can't build a network of circuit switched fibers that is more similar to the telephone with regards to routing than to the internet.
I believe that one number that you would dial commonly on such a circuit switch network would be to a computer that let's you "surf the (packet-switched) net."
But I might also want to dial up any other computer.
Why can't there be a standard for broadcasting digital video in lossless (IE no compression at all) format, and any other IO as well. A sort of brainless window into the purely optical (circuit-switched) computer network where you can connect to any computer you want directly (all optical) through a standard interface.
Such a (circuit-switched) network would allow for the blatant disregard for bandwidth that is necessary to bring a new class of applications to the public.
Why can't I access the most powerful computer in the world from my home. Actually, I might be able to, but it might just be a telnet window.
If I had enough bandwidth, just send me the video .. all of it. Just do things with raw bandwidth that you simply can't do with silicon. That's the area where there has yet to be a breakthrough. Throwing raw bandwidth at hard problems and making them go away.
As long as you are packet switched, you will always have this kind of fuzzy (crappy) non-responsive feel that we have learned to accept (from experience using the web for example.) Not that it's poor compared to things before it, but compared to full-bandwidth video from any computer, it's pretty dull (I mean .. duh...!?)
I would even like the ability to share a powerful computer from within my own house. Why can't I buy a purely circuit switched local-area network that will allow any monitor-keyboard pair to be connected to any other computer (not currently being used)? Why do I have to keep files on my computer at home and my computer at work.
It's interesting to me how many problems simply disappear if you can assume that there's a fast circuit-switched optical network capable of connecting any display+keyboard to any computer. There's still problems (busy signals, delay due to speed of light, etc) but so many things seem to fall out.
As far as backwards compatibility with old computers? That should be easy. Why can't I use a decked out monster computer to play Quake, and a computer configured completely differently to read web pages? And why can't I let someone else set it up?
Because I have my own computer. Fact is, I don't really want my own computer. It just makes noise and heat, and it occasionally has mechanical problems (dust etc). I would rather have someone good at fooling with that stuff do that kind of thing.
Also, think about all the computers just sitting idling all over the planet. I live in Silicon Valley, and all those unused cycles are just wasting away all over the place. Just sitting there playing animated gifs maybe on a web page left overnight... Those chips are being wasted because we haven't yet developed enough bandwidth to use the computing power remotely!
I have to admit that I don't totally understand the nations obsession with continually upgrading personal computers and reinstalling operating systems, and applying patches, and upgrading, and granting permission for Java to do things. It all pretty annoying. I don't want to do that kind of thing .. do you?
I would rather use someone else's machine that does what I want it to do. If it doesn't, I don't use it. Simple.
Operating systems should ultimately become less important as computer users are allowed to use the computers that they need to use instead of the computers they can afford to have sitting next to them.
I had the pleasure of being one of the first people to use a $1 Million dollar computer (SGI Onyx REII) while working at TI. Let me tell you, that computer depreciated fast. And probably less than 1/1000th of 1% of the potential processing power of that beast has been used during it's lifetime. That's not a real effective model for applying hardware to the real world (sell to rich company who lets machine sit)..
Well .. that's one way of looking at things anyway.
Let me call your computer! I might like it better than mine!
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- Aaron |
