Jim, RE: Cable Modems
A long time ago, we exchanged notes about the relative benefits of cable modems and other high speed internet access options. At the time, I said cable modems (Roadrunner through Time Warner) was available in my area, and eventually I would upgrade. Someone (maybe you) asked that I give my opinion when/if I upgraded, and I promised that I would.
Today I managed to find the time to get a new PC, and Roadrunner (cable internet) installed, and it does give you a different perspective on how the PC and the internet may evolve. Two things are significant on a functional basis:
1. The "always on" benefit relieves the feeling that you are tying up a phone line, it makes you feel that your PC is more like a TV, ready and waiting, not something you deal with in a limited time period. I can stay connected for the next 365 days with no effect to my cost, the same as most internet services but somehow a different feeling.
2. The speed that you can access web sites is really a surprise. With most popular sites I have visited so far, you can't say "one one-thousand" before it is on your screen.
Bottom line, this is MUCH MORE consumer friendly.
The implications of increased bandwidth have been discussed on this thread many times. My initial "feeling" is that I may have bought into this technology too soon, that this is a transition period, that the internet will deliver superior content, and PC's (TV's?) and the internet will evolve together to a medium that we can't envision now, much as we couldn't envision the current internet 10 years ago.
Intel's role in this, I'll leave that for much smarter people to debate. But I'll bet 10 to 1 that the evolution of the "PC" and the "internet" is much closer to the start than it is to the end.
John
PS Again, many months ago, you suggested that you still needed a phone line with a cable modem, not true. |
