Technology's interesting. I'm keeping tabs on the Pacific-Boston College first round NCAA game on my computer; CBS and the NCAA have a free deal (at least until the quarterfinals) where you can watch all the tourney games on the computer. The video isn't the greatest, but it's a great application of broadband. It might come in handy tomorrow night when MSU and Kent State go at the same time.
Speaking of broadband, the Democrats want broadband for everyone.
America lags behind other countries that have universal broadband deployment, Pelosi said; but the Democrats' agenda "guarantees" that every American will have affordable access to broadband within five years.
"We also believe that the nationwide deployment of high speed, always-on broadband and Internet and mobile communications will fuel the development of millions of new jobs in the United States," Pelosi said.
I'm not sure if a national strategy is the best route, but universal broadband's easier than it sounds. It might actually make sense. In Metro Detroit, Oakland County's rolling out free country-wide WiFi by 2007. Lakeland, FL has a free WiFi package in their downtown.
I'm uncomfortable with a massive national plan to do broadband, but it might be an excellent option for cities or states to take on. Cities typically have water and sewage service as public utilities and quite a few have electricity run by the city as well. It wouldn't be that much of a reach to have a city-provided WiFi service as a utility.
Yet, that screws ISPs, but they'd still have a niche as a deluxe provider that might be able to provide reliability and privacy that the city system might not be able to provide. A city system might also have some sort of screening involved to filter out p0rn and other objectionable material; people who want to see such material might gravitate to a private system.
Besides, do we have much love for AOL or our cable and DSL providers? Not that I know of. It could well be that one of those telecommers would get the contract to set up a city-wide package.
What does the Peanut Gallery think about this?
I see WiFi as a public infrastructure that helps make the economy more efficient. Similar to building roads, electrical grids, and water systems. Who should own the infrastructure, who should build it, and who should operate it are all things to consider.
Minneapolis has recently decided to contract with a private company rather than build, own, or operate the service themself. They're currently down to two finalists.
Of course, this only solves the problem for Minneapolis, which is a large city, but only solves a small fraction of the national broadband issue.
Posted by: Ed Kohler | March 19, 2006 at 01:44 PM