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To: E. Davies who wrote (18115)	12/21/1999 2:44:00 AM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Respond to of 29970

"I also have talked to a trader in Palo Alto who has 12 hops to a quote server in Cupertino." If you look at some traceroutes, you'll note that some packets take three or four hops within the same building or POP complex, or exchange point. The same thing often takes place within enterprise router locations before their packets ever make it onto the first access line out to the service provider. One of my clients has two DS3s to the 'net being fed by dozens of T1s in a campus. Sometimes response times are so slow that sessions eventually time out. Where's the problem? Right on prem. When servers are being backed up or synchronized, the inhouse backbone gets choked (and oi! if the virus scans kick in at the same time, forget about it, god bless network based applications!), that one could justify going out for a cup of java. At least. Server farms in colos, too, very often introduce latency outside the realm of the 'net proper. Right within a local Ethernet LAN there could be sufficient contention and jabber taking place to negate the benefits of all the dark fiber in the world. You'll never know or be able to predict where the next bottleneck is going to be. That's the nature of aperiodic, elective communications. There is no divine plan with a schedule attached to it telling you when utilization is going to peak. And when you get all of those outside servers from SI and wherever else onto ATHM's backbone, as someone suggested, in order to make life easier? Maybe they'll be able to do something no one else has been able to figure out yet. And believe me, some excellent folks have been fighting this fire for a long time. The hot spot just keeps getting hotter.

To: E. Davies who wrote (18115)	12/21/1999 7:46:00 AM
From: Educator	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29970

Hi Eric- I had an interesting "gotta have" discussion with a friend last night. She has three teenagers. They have AOL. I asked her if they had a designated computer line. She said they did. I asked her why she didn't dump it and just go to ATHM. She said that they had thought of it, but were hesitant because of three reasons: 1. All the teenagers' friends have AOL. (She used "all") 2. The grandparents and other relatives have AOL. 3. They couldn't Instant Message them without the service. I explained to her that she could still download AOL Instant Messenger and use it with ATHM. She didn't realize that it was an option. Bottom line, they will not switch to ATHM until the friends and relatives do. For now, they will go with the masses. I believe this is the mindset of many people. It will be interesting to watch what happens to them in the coming year. I believe the switch will take place, but when? I forgot to mention to her that they could keep their AOL and allow it to piggyback AT&T@Home. This family is money conscious though, and I doubt that they would pay the extra $9.95. ATHM's success depends on subscriber numbers. Few of my friends and relatives have the service. It is still not a "gotta have" item. We've gotta make ATHM the next Hula Hoop. **OT** For those of you with children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc., check out my classroom web site. When I'm not on SI, I am making updates to my site. Get your local educators to do the same! Here's the link: familyeducation.com Have a nice day! Ed