The Legacy of Star Trek

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Billy Brackenridge <BillyB () msn com>
Date: September 23, 2006 5:43:22 AM GMT+02:00
To: "'David Farber'" <dave () farber net>
Cc: "'Pete Sloman'" <pete_the_spy () sbcglobal net>
Subject: FW: FW: [IP] The Legacy of Star Trek

There is a fundamental problem in all of these efforts to provide  
Internet connectivity. It’s considered to have no value to the city  
so it isn’t funded directly and transparently.

It’s like being unwilling to pay for highways and instead asking  
MacDonald’s or other concession owner to pay for the roads in return  
for getting some traffic to their restaurants.

We see the same problem with wired connectivity – the triple play  
funding model treats connectivity with disdain. It’s just something  
you get if you watch enough TV and you don’t get any if you aren’t at  
home unless someone can make a profit off by controlling each  
wireless bit.

If I’m less charitable I compare it privateers who looted enemy  
commerce. It was self-funded out of the loot they could take.

It may take a generation to understand that connectivity is  
fundamental so I’m shifting to looking at the edge. We’ll get more  
incentive when companies making products and services, such as alarms  
and monitoring, see the value in using shared connectivity rather  
than creating their own special solutions and negotiating new  
relationships each time. If that effort went into extending IP  
connectivity we’d start to get benefit.

I’m taking about modest IP connectivity – the most valuable services  
such as medical monitoring or supporting infrastructure is akin to a  
slow modem and can be deployed over any path – no need for DSL or all  
that. Just put a simple packet transceiver at both ends of a copper  
line and you have a 24x7 data path for devices and services without a  
large footprint deployment.

Imagine if we waited for broadband before we’d use the web – it  
wouldn’t have happened. The problem was not in the technology, After  
all, DSL is a 1980’s technology. We wouldn’t have experienced the  
Internet so wouldn’t have known what to ask for.

Today we don’t have many applications that take advantage of  
ubiquitous connectivity so it’s hard to get people to see the value.  
If we start to take advantage of what I call modest connectivity then  
people will start to understand that concept of connectivity in itself.

Even something as simple as getting current traffic information on a  
map in your car is a miracle now. But why not a small PC with a  
screen and an Internet connection? Just mash-in a GPS signal and web  
traffic feed and it’s down. Just like when someone first put a camera  
in a kindergarten class – the day before the idea was high end  
fiction and the next day it was mundane. Applications such as medical  
monitoring may have a higher perceive value and justify deployments  
out of savings in money and lives.

Until people see enough value in the connectivity itself we’ll  
continue to settling for the gleanings left over after all the  
important entertainment traffic has passed.





-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net]
Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 10:34
To: ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: [IP] S.F. stalling Wi-Fi plans, Google executive charges  
(why are they surprised djf)







Begin forwarded message:

From:   Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>

Date:    September 16, 2006 2:52:47 PM GMT+02:00

To:       Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>

Subject:            [Dewayne-Net] S.F. stalling Wi-Fi plans, Google  
executive

            charges

Reply-To:          dewayne () warpspeed com



S.F. stalling Wi-Fi plans, Google executive charges

·         Verne Kopytoff, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, September 16, 2006



An executive for Google Inc. says San Francisco’s plan to offer free   
wireless Internet access to residents is being delayed by a slow-  
moving city bureaucracy five months after the company won a high-  
profile contract for the project alongside partner EarthLink Inc.  In  
an interview with The Chronicle, Chris Sacca, who leads Google’s   
special projects, voiced frustration with what he called the city’s   
slow negotiating style. Sacca said that talks to come up with a  
final  contract have advanced little since they started and that  
officials  have made unreasonable demands, including a request for  
free  computers and a share in revenues.

“Every meeting is like the first,” he said.

Sacca’s criticisms are the first by Google about the city’s  
oversight. Initially, officials said the wireless Internet network   
would be built by the end of the year, but the city now says the   
service will be delayed at least until 2007.

Ron Vinson, chief administrator for San Francisco’s technology  
department, declined to address Google’s complaints other than to say  
that “the city is pleased where the negotiations are heading, and we   
look forward to concluding this process.”

He added that “we want to make sure that we are getting the best  
deal  for the city, and we’re working diligently to do just that.”

The idea of free Internet access throughout the city was first  
championed by Mayor Gavin Newsom, who is a friend of Google founders  
Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

San Francisco chose Google and EarthLink’s joint bid from among six  
bids to blanket the city with so-called Wi-Fi as part of a plan to  
provide Internet access to nearly all the city’s residents. Virtually  
anyone with a Wi-Fi-enabled computer would be able to get online,  
whether at home, in a park or at work.

Google would offer free Internet access at speeds faster than dial- 
up, though slower than broadband. The company hopes to use the  
service, subsidized at least in part by online advertising, to test  
new products for wireless Internet users.

EarthLink, an Internet service provider, would own the Wi-Fi network  
and be responsible for maintenance. The company plans to offer users  
a faster connection than Google for a fee to be determined.

[snip]

Page A - 1

URL: <http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/16/

MNG30L6VOC1.DTL>

Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>






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