[Some Articles Worth Reading]
A couple of articles that I think are well worth reading
"Break the Bandwidth Barrier"
New high-speed modems that operate over cable TV networks and ordinary phone lines will give an unprecedented amount of affordable bandwidth to everyone. by Tom R. Halfhill
byte.com
This article is a really good description of the various types of broadband technologies, starts with analog modems compares and contrasts DSL and cable and ends in the following quote:
"Indeed, one could write a fair history of civilization just by documenting the evolution of infrastructures: Incan highways, Roman aqueducts, transcontinental railroads, the Trans-Alaska pipeline, the Panama Canal, city sewer systems, telegraphs, telephones, electric power grids, the autobahns, the interstates, and many more. The latest infrastructures move bits, not atoms. At times, they'll be hard-pressed to keep up with traffic. However, anyone who doubts that broadband data networks will earn their place on that list isn't paying attention to history."
Another article worth reading which discusses 56kbs technology is found by searching the CMP TechWeb database
at techweb.com and requesting - keyword - Modem
the article is entitled "56-Kbps Modems Are In Search Of A Home"
Some quotes from the article:
" Although 56-Kbps analog modems are likely to hit the market in 1997-finally-their trials are far from over: There is no standard for this technology; there are no solid plans for Internet service provider (ISP) support; there is no consensus Network Computing, November 15, 1996"
"Taking a look at the agendas of the three major 56-Kbps modem chip manufacturers, the limitations of the technology itself and the likelihood of their successes shed some light on where this market may actually be heading, and whether corporate implementation is as good as it sounds at first blush. At this point, it looks like all that's emerging is a short-lived niche market based largely on geography."
"One modem maker, MultiTech, is developing a 56-Kbps modem based on a proprietary chip from Lucent Technologies. Paul Kraska, product marketing manager, says 56-Kbps modems aren't suited for the mass market because the ISP support will take too long to be useful. He sees the best homes for what he calls "this niche technology" are with business users who have remote dial-in needs from a rural area that offers no digital alternative or modem-to-modem needs in the same kind of geographic region."
"That's OK, Kraska says, because ISDN already has a toehold in major cities nationwide as an easy alternative to upgrading within analog boundaries. Factor in the year or more it will take before a standard 56-Kbps modem gets to market, and a new digital competitor will have rived on the scene-ADSL." |
