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To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (166507)	6/18/2002 2:55:03 PM
From: tcmay	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 186894

"Tim, my girlfriend has a college dorm/apartment with an Ethernet connection to the Internet. One of the things she does with it is watch Korean TV episodes downloaded off of their web sites. " But I explicitly acknowledged that "media delivery" is one of the examples where bandwidth _is_ critical. (BTW, an interesting aspect of this that we could talk about for hours is that this example shows why _2-way broadband_ is seldom needed. Almost no one not swapping stolen content is capable of loading a broadband connection. And so if "fast-slow" is good enough for most media delivery, this points to other delivery methods. Personally, I like recording movies all night on my Ultimate TV (a TiVO-like system) and watching them at my leisure.) "Once I look for a place to settle down, I don't think I would even consider any place that doesn't have (a) good broadband access and (b) good cell phone reception. And maybe that'll be the solution to the "last mile" problem, that I'll move that last mile myself." If you are in an urban or suburban setting, either DSL or cablemodem should be readily findable. "You have good points, though, regarding fiber to the home and government subsidies. I just don't buy the old "no one needs broadband" argument, because it's about as valid as arguing that no one needs cable TV, either. The demand is increasing for broadband, and the free market will determine the best, most cost-effective solution for most Americans. Even if that solution means customers will physically migrate to areas with better broadband." Like I keep saying, I'm being careful to explain what I mean by "no one needs broadband." I mean it in the sense I have described, which I won't describe yet again. All I ask is that you not convert my long argument into a cartoon version: "Tim says no one needs broadband." As for your point about the market determining the mix of broadband options, and costs, we agree. I hope those who were arguing recently for a "National Fiber Initiative," including some leaders of the high tech industry who clearly see the chance to sell more chips if such an NFI were to be launched, will carefully consider why interfering in markets is neither efficient nor constitutionally acceptable. --Tim May