4 ms·

Even AT&T can't stop inevitability, as much as they will stomp and pout.

by zephjc 15y ago

Bud 15y ago
Of course they can, especially in individual cities where they have an effective monopoly. For instance, my uncapped DSL in 1997 in Iowa was faster than the AT&T DSL I have in San Jose right now in 2011. Why is that? It's not technical limitations, I can tell you that.
Goronmon 15y ago
Inevitability of what? As time has passed, I think it's become less likely that we'll see any significant improvement in bandwidth availability in the US rather than more likely. ISPs are trying there hardest to implement data caps. Rollouts of fiber to the home seem to be slowing down rather than increasing. I live in Portland, ME. Not exactly a huge city, but it has a decent population and isn't really that far from Boston. Yet I see no indication that the city will receive any sort of fiber to the home in the next decade. And if it's that bad here, I can only imagine how bad a shape more rural areas of the country can get.
kenjackson 15y ago
Supersonic jets flying routes all over the US were once considered inevitable. There was once a time that skyscraper height increases were considered inevitable. Bigger ones were put up all the time. Audio quality on phones was once an area where improvements were constant. Now I'm surprised if people even mention call quality in phone reviews, except to say that it dropped fewer calls. My point? What seems inevitable today can often seem like a concern of a bygone era.
- spc476 15y ago
  The points you make are economic in nature. Supersonic flight is just too uneconomical to really be worth it at this point in time---regular jet service is "good enough" (just a side note---some thirty miles west of Miami a two-mile long runway was built for supersonic flights; it's now used for training. You can see it here: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=25.861695,-80.871048&spn=0.28515,0.392075&t=h&z=12 http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=25.861695,-80.871048&...) A friend of mine, an architect, says that it's technically feasible to build a skyscraper a mile high (not to say it wouldn't be technically challenging; just that it is possible). But they aren't not because it's not worth the money to build (hard to rend out the office/hotel/living space where there aren't windows). And for phone quality, mobility and convenience of use has trumped quality for most people, so again, it's economic in nature.
  - kenjackson 15y ago
    The points you make are economic in nature. Indeed. And so is bandwidth to the home.
    - rsheridan6 15y ago
      But there's a killer app for fast bandwidth - high definition, low latency videos. What Netflix is talking about. When consumers see that, they'll want it and they'll pay for it in a way that they would not pay for a supersonic jet flight.
      - evgen 15y ago
        The problem is that this need is already served well by cable and satellite service. If video is the only killer app you have for this bandwidth then it will never get built.

Even AT&T can't stop inevitability, as much as they will stomp and pout.

by zephjc 15y ago

Even AT&T can't stop inevitability, as much as they will stomp and pout.

Bud 15y ago

Of course they can, especially in individual cities where they have an effective monopoly. For instance, my uncapped DSL in 1997 in Iowa was faster than the AT&T DSL I have in San Jose right now in 2011. Why is that? It's not technical limitations, I can tell you that.

Goronmon 15y ago

Inevitability of what? As time has passed, I think it's become less likely that we'll see any significant improvement in bandwidth availability in the US rather than more likely. ISPs are trying there hardest to implement data caps. Rollouts of fiber to the home seem to be slowing down rather than increasing. I live in Portland, ME. Not exactly a huge city, but it has a decent population and isn't really that far from Boston. Yet I see no indication that the city will receive any sort of fiber to the home in the next decade. And if it's that bad here, I can only imagine how bad a shape more rural areas of the country can get.

kenjackson 15y ago

Supersonic jets flying routes all over the US were once considered inevitable. There was once a time that skyscraper height increases were considered inevitable. Bigger ones were put up all the time. Audio quality on phones was once an area where improvements were constant. Now I'm surprised if people even mention call quality in phone reviews, except to say that it dropped fewer calls. My point? What seems inevitable today can often seem like a concern of a bygone era.

spc476 15y ago
The points you make are economic in nature. Supersonic flight is just too uneconomical to really be worth it at this point in time---regular jet service is "good enough" (just a side note---some thirty miles west of Miami a two-mile long runway was built for supersonic flights; it's now used for training. You can see it here: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=25.861695,-80.871048&spn=0.28515,0.392075&t=h&z=12 http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=25.861695,-80.871048&...) A friend of mine, an architect, says that it's technically feasible to build a skyscraper a mile high (not to say it wouldn't be technically challenging; just that it is possible). But they aren't not because it's not worth the money to build (hard to rend out the office/hotel/living space where there aren't windows). And for phone quality, mobility and convenience of use has trumped quality for most people, so again, it's economic in nature.
- kenjackson 15y ago
  The points you make are economic in nature. Indeed. And so is bandwidth to the home.
  - rsheridan6 15y ago
    But there's a killer app for fast bandwidth - high definition, low latency videos. What Netflix is talking about. When consumers see that, they'll want it and they'll pay for it in a way that they would not pay for a supersonic jet flight.
    - evgen 15y ago
      The problem is that this need is already served well by cable and satellite service. If video is the only killer app you have for this bandwidth then it will never get built.