Internet Traffic Jams
Too much data,
not enough infrastructure?
A flood of new video and other Web content could overwhelm the Internet by 2010 unless backbone providers invest up to $137 billion in new capacity, more than double what service providers plan to invest, according to thestudy, by Nemertes Research Group, an independent analysis firm. In North America alone, backbone investments of $42 billion to $55 billion will be needed in the next three to five years to keep up with demand, Nemertes said.
Just like planes would fall out of the sky in 2000, and will again in 2038, and hackers will get into your computer and blow up your monitor. Paranoia in the tech industry is rampant. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
ReplyDeleteSo I should worry about this about as much as I worry about global warming?
ReplyDelete"U.S. lawmakers can also help in several ways, he said. For example, the U.S. Congress could require that home contractors who receive government assistance for building affordable housing include broadband connections in their houses, he said. Congress could also provide tax credits to help broadband providers add more capacity.."....if the backbone providers are really worried about their ability to handle demand, why on earth would they want to create *more* demand by subsidizing broadband connections at the residential level? And why on earth should taxpayers subsidize telcos to add backbone capacity? Is watching feature films over the Internet a national priority on the level with national defense or energy security?
ReplyDeleteGood grief.
I saw that paragraph and thought the same thing. Great minds must think alike!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Darren, it's time to stock up on ammo, MRE's and water.
ReplyDeleteJust like Y2K, this will be a disaster of galactic proportions because it'll come on us suddenly and without warning as technically-ept people in decision-making positions sit around with their thumbs, unlikely as it seems, up their butts until it's too late. Only technically semi-literate authors of imminent-disaster pot-boilers are smart enough to see this coming.
What's actually going to happen is that the Law of Supply and Demand version 2.0 will kick in: demand creates supply.
There are bags of dark, i.e. unused, fiber much of which has been bought up by Google. I rather doubt that they'll try to establish a Brinn-Page empire based on their totalitarian control of our vital bandwidth resources so, other then temporary slow-downs as another billion or so people get on the net, we're good.
MRE's. They're much better tasting now than they were back in my day.
ReplyDeleteWell where is AlGore. He invented the Internet, he should know how to fix it.
ReplyDeleteGood one!
ReplyDelete