[2267] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Why Can't we have Both Gigabit Testbeds AND Plug'n Play Slip?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Bill Nowicki)
Mon Feb 3 15:31:33 1992
Date: Mon, 3 Feb 92 10:54:29 PST
From: nowicki@Legato.COM (Bill Nowicki)
To: cook@tmn.com
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
Actually, our company tried to produce some products to simplify
network administration, but found out quickly that educational
customers (and many others, for that matter) would not buy them.
After spending the budget on cross-country T3 links, there was
nothing left for software.
As to why we cannot afford both, there is always fiscal reality. I
know people in Washington D.C. try to avoid reality, but to us
taxpayers (and our children who will pay the trillions in national
debt) we have no choice. Every T3 link you pay for means laying off
more teachers, increasing taxes, or more debt. We recently tried to
hire some entry-level people, but half the resumes had to discarded
immediately because the applicants could not write complete correct
sentences. U.S. students might not be able to read nor write, but they
will be able to play video games over the highest bandwidth links in
the world.
The reason becomes more clear when you admit the only true goal
of Congress is to be re-elected. Being re-elected today means
"photo-ops". Gigabits and T3 provide photo-ops. Funding schools to
prevent teachers from being laid off does not provide photo-ops. I
can understand "seeding" the industry by funding research, but the
current situation is more like "over fertilizing". There already is a
fast-growing networking industry, and the Internet is already growing
so fast we can barely manage it. Gigabit networks are available today
from companies like Ultranet. Why not stop the reduction in school and
researcher funding and let them decide to spend their money on what
they think is most necessary?
Perhaps we should be thankful: wasting money on networks is better
than B-2 bombers, and when talking about trillions of debt, what is a
few tens of millions here and there? I do applaud people like Steve
Wolff who try to deal with the politics and make something useful come
out of it (as opposed to cynical people like me who just pay for it
in our taxes).
-- Bill Nowicki (obviously personal opinions)
