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To: daffydog who wrote (13538)	8/4/1999 7:08:00 PM
From: E. Davies	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 29970

I agree on the video conferencing being very hot too. However that will require a lot of people relearning social interaction that they have developed for their entire lives. People want to interact in person or they like the anonymity of not being seen. It will take time for people to adjust. But the bigger question is why is IP video not in widespread use? Technology has reached the point in the last 3 years where it can be done, and done relatively cheaply. Where are the hot IPO's? The splashy pilot projects making headlines? I hear nothing of significance. Eric

To: daffydog who wrote (13538)	8/6/1999 12:27:00 PM
From: gpowell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

I've concluded that the existing cable network infrastructure limitations pose a considerable obstacle to the viability of video conferencing - assuming you want something better than a novelty. Medin's now well known response to the cable co.'s idea for a broadband cable network applies here: " There isn't enough bandwidth in all of Christendom to satisfy the demands…". The strategy of bringing the data closes to the user via caching computers and regional data centers is the concept from which @home's network was conceived. Video conferencing just doesn't fit the network model well. The biggest problem is the upload speed cap (128kb/s) but others are jitter (if you want smooth interaction) and then download bottlenecks in the local node. What does fit the network model well is Video on Demand and video e-mail. Streaming video to a lesser degree because it doesn't utilize the caching computers and RDC's.