[2155] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
low-end users
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Barry Shein)
Tue Jan 28 18:28:58 1992
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 92 18:26:33 -0500
From: bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein)
To: dcrocker@Mordor.Stanford.EDU
Cc: rma@tsar.cc.rochester.edu, bjp@sura.net, com-priv@psi.com,
In-Reply-To: Dave Crocker's message of Tue, 28 Jan 92 14:47:41 -0800 <9201282247.AA22611@Mordor.Stanford.EDU>
>From: Dave Crocker <dcrocker@Mordor.Stanford.EDU>
>My feeling is that the cause of the current cost problem, due to
>the cost of support, is that too much support is needed. That is, we
>haven't done anything approaching an adequate job of making hosts
>and nets plug-and-play. And I don't see anything coming out of the
>IETF to fix that anytime soon. Yet I keep thinking that this is a
>problem -- well, a set of problems -- that CAN be solved.
Of course it can be solved, but it depends somewhat on how you define
the problem (goal.)
Right now I have several hundred people here on World regularly using
internet services (e-mail, usenet, ftp, telnet etc) for an average of
around $20/month each in charges (some less, some more, not sure what
the standard deviation is.) It's done by logging into our system thru
POTS and similar (X.25 etc) via modems. Once logged in most of those
folks consider themselves to be as connected as you do when you login
to your account at Stanford (et al) from home.
This also requires support, but much of the type of support is less
mysterious (and, consequently, easier for the end-user to take
initiative with, even rather non-technical people.) I am currently
working on interfaces to further improve and blend the distinction
between being directly on-line and via dial-up.
I don't see why we couldn't support public schools and similar
inexpensively by just providing semi-centralized systems attached to
the internet and various ways to connect to those.
I could easily throw a stat-mux with a leased line (or similar) into a
local public school or library and put 32 lines into my system for,
well, not a whole lot of money. Probably $5K startup and around
$500-$1000/month for relatively unlimited use, per site, plus some
infrastructure costs (e.g. a T1 to the internet for this purpose, a
couple of staff members.) That could support 500 people easily, so
under $5/month/person I'll guess wildly (I suppose in the startup you
need the cost of PC's or equivalent if they don't have them, many K12
schools certainly do have them already.)
I know of what I speak since I do this for a living full-time. I've
even done such things with two private schools.
It's only when we stress the idea of "every desk a full-blown internet
node" that we go off into this quagmire of costs and support. I think
most people would be happy enough to just be able to use the thing for
now.
Support at this level doesn't cost all that much.
I think we're making the best the enemy of the good. Just get them
connected (at all), get it onto their glass. Save full-blown desktop
connectivity for the second round.
If you want a proposal to hook up the entire Brookline and Boston
school and library end-user community (as an obvious pilot) for those
kind of costs just tell me where to send it and give me a week or two.
-Barry Shein
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