[12253] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
re: NII and Reality
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Mark Stahlman (via RadioMail))
Wed May 11 16:21:00 1994
Date: Wed, 11 May 1994 07:48:41 PDT
From: Mark Stahlman (via RadioMail) <stahlman@radiomail.net>
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
To: Steven=Byrne%CFP%BTCE@smtpgate.dotc.gov.au
>But on the other hand I think the advent of the NII, and the high-profile
>given to it by the US administration, is an extremely positive
>development. Even if it may be considered to only exist as a slogan, it
>has triggered a very useful sequence of developments in the market-place,
>and focussed a lot of minds and resources on very serious issues for the
>future of communications and computing that probably would not have been
>considered but for the advent of the NII. If something is perceived as
>real, it will be real in its consequences...
>
Steven, I agree that much of the discussion has been illuminating and
exciting. Perhaps this wouldn't have happened without the hype, but I
disagree that the net (no pun intended) effect has been positive.
Entreprenuers are confused. There is enormous wasted effort in forging
alliances and jumping on the "bandwagon". Convergence is the most
implausible industrial nonsense yet it captivates many potential
innovators. The seriousness with which this malarkey is taken within the
Beltway is leading many of us to worry that the principle result of the
Infobahn hype will be a new information bureaucracy and crippling market
regulation.
Mark Stahlman
New Media Associates
New York
stahlman@radiomail.net
