High-tech summit trumpets familiar tunes
zdnet.com.com
Reuters
August 20, 2002, 7:24 AM PT
ASPEN, Colo.--Top executives from technology, telecommunications and media have gathered in this ski resort town, looking for ways to rekindle growth from the ashes of recent years' dot-com and telecom flame outs.
But at many sessions at the Aspen Summit on Monday, the new messages sounded a lot like those of the late 1990s with new digital technologies and high-speed, broadband Internet access seen as fueling growth by changing the way movies, TV shows and music would be delivered to consumer homes in the future.
"I do think there's a lot of steam left in the digital revolution," said Jeffrey Eisenach, president of the Progress & Freedom Foundation, the high-tech think tank sponsoring the summit in Aspen, Colorado.
The three-day event, which kicked off on Sunday, features chief executives from industry players such as Amazon.com, Nextel, DirectTV, and Roxio, as well as officials from industry groups and federal agencies.
Eisenach and others believe broadband and wireless communications will help usher in the next computing boom by distributing content on the Net, and he looked back at history to make his case for the future.
He said improvements in semiconductors, transistors and data storage helped drive mainframe computing boom, and user-friendly software, such as WordStar and Windows, helped fuel personal computer adoption.
Faster modems and modernizing the U.S. telecommunications infrastructure in the 1990s, among other factors, gave rise to the Internet. Broadband will only boost the Net's uses ahead.
"People with broadband use the Internet differently," Eisenach said, looking ahead at a "digital revolution."
Users of older, dial-up modems are far less likely to listen to music, watch video swap photographs or create their own content on the Web compared to users with broadband lines which enable speedy movement of large amounts of data.
Still missing, however, is a money-making "killer app"--or program that totally changes the way people use the Internet.
Napster--the now shuttered, music-swap service that was wildly popular--was a leading candidate, but it ran into trouble because of the way it side-stepped copyright laws.
Nevertheless, industry watchers say similar content sites like Kazaa and Morpheus prove that there remains huge demand for such services where broadband is available.
Summit speakers, however, concluded that numerous issues remain to be sorted out, such as how much consumers will pay for swap services, whether companies can make money, and how to reasonably provide copyright protection.
Attendees who focus on government's involvement argued for clear and workable policies related to broadband and wireless.
Walter McCormick, president and chief executive of the U.S. Telecom Association, pressed for less regulation, and called on policymakers to stop talking and start moving.
"We have to get on with it," said McCormick.
Federal Communications Commission officials said they want to avoid frustrating investment and innovation in the area as they work to provide a level playing field for competitors.
"We have to do better. It's critical for the economy as a whole," said FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, adding it was important to create a sense of urgency within the commission.
Regulators said they are holding hearings on a half-dozen issues affecting telecom, cable, satellite and wireless providers, and expect to make findings public near year's end.
Still, Robert Lepkowski, a Chicago-area venture capitalist who attended 2001's Aspen Summit, said Monday's discussions did not convince him that significant change is afoot.
"They reached the same conclusions" last year, he said.
[Another take on the same summit]
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