Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/01/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> Tell me what the next big bang is if anyone knows or if they are out > there. "Looking for the next big bang" is my profession (I'm in communications research) so I wish I had a simple packaged answer for you. My opinion is that the next big bang will result from solving the "last mile" problem. By the year 2010 about 20% of the households in North America will have 1 Gigabit optical communication links that connect not to "the phone company" or "the cable company" but to metropolitan switchpoints. This will enable low-cost or free gigabit communication within a physical community, and will enable significant new communication setups. Imagine, for example, that I'm having trouble managing a photograph that I have on my computer. I know I need to dodge the shadows and lessen the contrast there and there, but I keep messing it up. Somehow I manage to get Tina Manley to agree to help me, and she locks her computer to mine, edits my image while I watch, and then unlocks. Reliable always-on non-monopoly communication infrastructure is going to change the world a lot. I believe it will end up being installed by power and water utilities and not by phone or cable companies. For some random references, try these: http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2000/06/26/daily10.html http://www.ispworld.com/bs/BS_102000b.htm http://www.robotics-cabling.de/ (in English and German; click on "Product" or "Produkt") http://www.bruggtc.com/e/projects_lichtgeschwindig.htm Brian