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Technology Stocks : The *NEW* Frank Coluccio Technology Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (26264)	4/21/2008 3:00:41 PM
From: axial	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 46821

Hi Frank - To be honest, I hadn't really considered some of these issues, except in this sense: It's often stated that the Internet is "free". That's not true. Using the Internet requires: 1 - A device with input/output and widely varying storage capabilities; 2 - Connection and an ISP (or the ability to tap into someone else's) 3 - Power 4 - The infrastructure and consequent activity of various types - administrative, commercial, social, etc. The infrastructure is useless without the interactivity; the interactivity is largely (but not completely) enabled by the infrastructure. [What would an Internet "boycott" look like?] Such costs may well be negligible for many, but they're not zero. While the commoditized prices of devices are falling, the cost of power is rising, and will continue to do so. The cost of power is bedrock, forming a stratum common to every Internet user. How well (or how fairly) that cost is reflected is an interesting question. Upstream, you've posted on the fact that server farms are increasingly being located in "power friendly" geography. When businesses migrate to areas where power is relatively cheap and abundant - but doing so quickly erases that region's advantage, to the detriment of local users. The point: How do we perform the accounting for all this complex interaction? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your post (with attached comments) demonstrates that some costs and burdens of operation might well be described as "the price of doing business". Others aren't so clear, and sometimes there are no rules for who ends up holding the bag. Good post, Jim