I read this as they are ruining our toy [side note the idea that

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

Date: Tue, 6 Dec 1994 13:45:21 -0800
From: Mark Stahlman (via RadioMail) <stahlman () radiomail net>


Folks;


As the guy who may have started the "Internet's not all it's cracked up to
be" press with my quote in NYTimes about how the Internet "is the latest
fad", let me try to spin this thread a little more (said the spider to the
. . .).


As has been pointed out, X.25 was an unqualified commercial success (even
though many folks, such as AT&T, could never figure out how to build a
profitable VAN).


And, so far, the Internet is an unqualified commercial flop (despite some
newly wealthy ISPs).  Furthermore, since no one has yet figured out how to
"commercialize" activities like *com-priv* (which remain the heart of the
Internet as a "culture"), the future of commercialization of *THE NET*
itself doesn't look great.  And, why should it be?


We, netizens, have been duped.  Who says the Internet has to "succeed"
commercially?  Just because Al Gore (remember him?) says we need an NII and
alot of folks felt good about being on a big-deal bandwagon doesn't make
any of the hoopla right (i.e. correct or righteous).  In fact, judging from
whence these ideas have come, current notions of a "successful" Internet
should be severely distrusted.


The shift from "subsidized" to "commercial" operation of the Internet's
plumbing has been going on for a long time and will simply take it's
course.  Expecting internetworking bandwidth to become so expensive that it
will kill all this idle chatter (oops, "culture") is paranoid and
unrealistic.  Expecting it to become a hugely profitable business also
flies in the face of the increasingly commodity character of leased lines
and packet engines.


But trying to accommodate mass-market videophones with TCP/IP is just
silly.  Circuit switched ISDN based vidphones (i.e. non-Internet) will
become very widespread long before ATM becomes a widely deployed network
reality.  The *Internet* cannot and should not be expected to do everything
(or even most things).


Except, of course, save the planet.  Come on friends!  The Internet is a
research network.  It's design is best suited for the purpose it's
designers intended.  Research.  We are all participating in the experiment
of inventing Cyberspace.  There's a plausible arguement to be made that
after 3000 years of death and destruction, Realspace problems can only be
"solved" from the perspective of Cyberspace.  Get with the program.  Do
some research.


Invent some new media.  Read McLuhan about "broadcasting consciousness."
Do some "future sociology."  Figure out what Toffler meant by the
"psycho-sphere."  Start a conspiracy.  Join DigitaLiberty.  Get Real.  Get
Webbed (said the spider to the . . .).


Mark Stahlman
New Media Associates
New York City
stahlman () radiomail net