<<<See my point?>>>
Yes, I see your point. Though I don't agree.
Because I don't drive my car long distances and because I only use it maybe 3 or 4 times per day, doesn't mean I'll settle for a 4-cylinder Geo. I'm spoiled. I want leather seats. I want 8 cylinders and five on the floor. I want every whistle and bell I can get and a state-of-the art stereo while I'm at it. The same on the Internet. It doesn't matter whether I download 6mg files or transfer large documents. When I sign on, I want pages to download in split-seconds and I don't want to spend a third of my time watching the Netscape stars penetrate the globe. It's called convenience. And, yes, I want live video in one corner of my screen --- or on the whole screen, if I choose.
I want it all.
Furthermore, I want to open my phone bill and have a slip of paper fall out telling me I can have all this with just one phone call. For a one-time set-up fee and a given charge per month, I want someone to show up at my door and install ADSL. Besides my always-on 24-hour-a-day Internet access, I want to be able to place phone calls, use my fax, and tune in to CNBC at the same time.
I want it all.
I want to pay my bills, transfer money between accounts, buy books, order flowers, make airline reservations, check movie schedules --- watch a few previews while I'm at it --- and I don't want to twiddle my thumbs or bite my nails waiting for any of this to happen.
I want it all.
I want music. I want to listen to any song by any artist at any time of the day or night. I want movies. I want access to any title any time I want it. I want TV shows but at the times convenient to my schedule. I want symphonies and theater productions and sports events, all rebroadcast for my convenience. And not just from my area. I want to have access to whatever's being performed anywhere in the world and I want it on demand.
I want it all.
I want university lectures, tours of international museums, political debates, art classes, writers workshops, poetry readings, all at my convenience. And access to encyclopedias, and great works of literature, and Calvin and Hobbs, and Will Rogers, and Edwin Muir and every painting ever hung in any museum in the world. All at the click of a mouse.
I want it all.
And, you're right, I probably won't notice the difference between 1Mbps and 6Mbps right now. But when I get video, I will and that's when speed will really take off.
So, don't talk to me about what I need and what I don't. A slow download is an inconvenience and once ADSL's available, I'll be the first in line.
MCI, Qwest, WorldCom, Stentor, and dozens more, are building enormous fiber networks in order to handle the data traffic generated by massive use of the Internet.
The Internet IS the killer ap. And its uses are limited only by the imagination.
To optimize the use of the Internet, the system that transports data from the Internet to my PC has to carry more bandwidth and the system that carries information from LANs (local area networks) to WANs (wide area networks) has to handle more traffic, as well.
In short, if my modem is a model-T and I drive it onto a 16-lane superhighway backbone, I'll still only go as fast as that little ol' clunker goes. And if my modem is a Ferrari and I drive it onto a 2-lane country road, again, I'll only go as fast as the congestion allows. GTE's goal is to build the highways and then provide Ferraris so we can reach our destinations without being aware we even left.
They want it all.
And so do I.
Pat |
