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> The most boring concept in technology, Net Neutrality, is commonly > seen as the most dangerous. I wish we could stop saying this. Net neutrality is a ver

by dfc 12y ago

> The most boring concept in technology, Net Neutrality, is commonly > seen as the most dangerous. I wish we could stop saying this. Net neutrality is a very complicated policy issue without an easy answer that is acceptable to all parties involved. How is that boring? I do not thing that introducing something as boring is a good way to engage and educate the demos. Certainly there is a better way to draw attention to an issue that a lot of people are not aware of. More importantly how is something boring AND "the most dangerous"? Dangerous things are not boring; they are scary and by definition have profound implications.

zimbatm 12y ago
How is it net neutrality complicated ? ISP's business is to give reliable Internet access to paying customers and that's how it always worked (or supposed to). Content providers like Youtube and Netflix do exactly the same thing on the other side of the pipe. My understanding is that big ISPs are seeing a market opportunity where they could charge both sides by using their user-base as leverage. Since both sides are already paying their Internet access they invent all sort of excuses to shift the story and make it look more complicated than it is.
- dfc 12y ago
  I guess nothing is complicated if you can do a hand-wavy dismissal of one side of the argument. The local school tax rate is X% that's how it always worked (or supposed to)[sic]. School administrators and parents saw an opportunity to increase school expenditures; so they they invent all sort of excuses to shift the story and make it look more complicated than it is.
bratsche 12y ago
It's not a boring concept in technology, as they write, but apparently it's a boring concept to many people who don't work in technology. My mom has asked me what Net Neutrality is all about, and almost immediately into describing it she says she's confused and loses interest in the entire thing. As a result, she's completely content to let her elected officials do whatever they want with it because she doesn't understand it. Or she dismisses the entire thing and says something like, "they should just leave the whole thing alone; if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Which, as you and I know, means concede the entire thing to Verizon/Comcast/whoever and give them everything they want. But if you try to explain to her that this is what she just said, she again just dismisses it and wants nothing more to do with it. Anyway, the point is that while Internet-based companies might be most directly affected, we seem to have very little voice in this issue as far as Congress is concerned. And so far we're not communicating effectively to other people how this might affect them, so they want nothing to do with it.

by dfc 12y ago

zimbatm 12y ago

How is it net neutrality complicated ? ISP's business is to give reliable Internet access to paying customers and that's how it always worked (or supposed to). Content providers like Youtube and Netflix do exactly the same thing on the other side of the pipe. My understanding is that big ISPs are seeing a market opportunity where they could charge both sides by using their user-base as leverage. Since both sides are already paying their Internet access they invent all sort of excuses to shift the story and make it look more complicated than it is.

dfc 12y ago
I guess nothing is complicated if you can do a hand-wavy dismissal of one side of the argument. The local school tax rate is X% that's how it always worked (or supposed to)[sic]. School administrators and parents saw an opportunity to increase school expenditures; so they they invent all sort of excuses to shift the story and make it look more complicated than it is.

bratsche 12y ago

It's not a boring concept in technology, as they write, but apparently it's a boring concept to many people who don't work in technology. My mom has asked me what Net Neutrality is all about, and almost immediately into describing it she says she's confused and loses interest in the entire thing. As a result, she's completely content to let her elected officials do whatever they want with it because she doesn't understand it. Or she dismisses the entire thing and says something like, "they should just leave the whole thing alone; if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Which, as you and I know, means concede the entire thing to Verizon/Comcast/whoever and give them everything they want. But if you try to explain to her that this is what she just said, she again just dismisses it and wants nothing more to do with it. Anyway, the point is that while Internet-based companies might be most directly affected, we seem to have very little voice in this issue as far as Congress is concerned. And so far we're not communicating effectively to other people how this might affect them, so they want nothing to do with it.