Because the Internet buildout is proceeding apace, the next generation could trigger a business revolution as well. “Internet II”, about four years away, will combine broadband, wireless, and IPv6 switches, which will enable everything with electricity to have its own Web address that will make it intelligent. — Tom Friedman, Longitudes and Attitudes, pg. 22; from a Feb. 23, 2001 column.
This is the kind of thing Friedman has pretty well stopped speculating on since Sept. 11, which is sad.
My eyes rolled so hard at his “Is the Internet God?” column, I stopped taking him seriously.
They can upgrade the core technology to IPv6 and integrate every other protocol and media all they want, but until the phone company or the cable company gets off their big fat profit-taking butts and invests in bringing 100 Mb/s or more to the last mile there won’t be any “business revolution.”
Even if the last mile problem is solved, is it really cheaper for PG&E to replace my old electric and gas meter with an IPv6 device, than to pay a meter reader to walk around the neighborhood once a month?
Actually, Mike, yeah it probably would be.
Except they’d still have to pay monitors to find cheaters. But that’s probably still cheaper.
If Internet II depends on on-line power meters to be viable, we better not be holding our breath waiting for it to take off. Real broadband to the home – 25Mb/s minimum – probably is the gating item.
I remember that prediction — and I’m still counting on it.
Dear Compatriots –
Please join up with bloggers around the world in defense of the Iranian people against a Fanatic Islamic Terroristic Dictatorial regime with BLOG-IRAN Grassroots Campaign. If it’s something you would be interested in please visit http://www.activistchat.com/blogiran/
Hope to hear from you!!!!
In Unity,
Haleh