DocAndersen
One of the things that worries me about today. Is the reality of home networks. I talk about the impact of home networks on the internet. But today I wanted to talk about the impact of home networks on the users. In particular, the larger the home network, the larger the impact. Let’s talk for a second about devices; There are a lot of things we have in our homes that talk to the intent. This is beyond weather stations; it is your cell phone, computer, tablet, television and potentially your refrigerator. It could be as simple as an alarm clock that syncs with your phone (so you don’t ever have to worry about your alarm clock losing the time. Your cellular phone, is connected to a network, that resets the clocks based on the various global atomic clocks).The services provided by cellular providers (atomic clock etc.) fit well with alarm clocks. But there is so much more. The world of connections is expanding at a rapidly increasing rate. That expansion Many years ago there was a rule for computer processors. Every 18 months (Moore’s law) processors would double in speed. While that rule o thumb is no longer as applicable as it was ten years ago, it is still somewhat applicable int hat processing capabilities continue to expand. The reality of 64-bit computing has come. I suspect 128-bit computing lies ahead, but not far. 64 bit represents a very wide computing pathway for your systems to use. You are now more likely to be bound by the memory and hard drive than you are your processor.
The concept of connection is now critical. Globally more people have cellular phones that have computers. If you lump tablets into cellular phones, that number increases even more. We are a growing connected world. Some pundits call this the information age. I argue that we are on the doorstep of the information age, but not yet that age itself. Too much information lives in the brains and on the hard drives of people that don’t share. Ergo information remains in secure compartments. That reality remains the barrier to the information age. Someday that won’t be the case, and then we will have arrived in the information age! For now, let’s call this the age of communication. Global, local, national and regional communication is now easily possible!
All I have is my computer so we keep it really simple.
Even then it is wise to be very careful! It isn’t always a nice world out there, the internet.
I am totally blonde on all of this. Mo really I am blonde 🙂
There are things we are good at and things we struggle with! I’ve read your blogs, you are really good at moving away from the grid, don’t be so hard on yourself!
Thank you for the kind comment.
You are most welcome – I enjoy reading your pieces!
I’ve been hearing about connectivity being the new type of discrimination
It is an interesting problem Alex. But there is more to the reality of what we have a connection to than we are always told.
The reality of the internet today is who pays. If you break the system down then you suddenly have a two camp view. Consumers, and providers The funny thing about those two is they both think the other should pay!
if the consumers are paying, then they shouldn’t see advertisments
That, however, is what Netflix and others are actually pushing for. With the original net neutrality movement that was recently repealed, Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services actually pushed the cost of the internet to the consumer completely and reduced their overall booked cost of connectivity. We need true net neutrality, not the mixed bag we have now, and not the mixed bag we had before.
what do you think of California’s SB 822?
Honestly, until you mentioned it, I hadn’t heard of it. Researching it right now. From initial reading says it won’t make it out of US Appellate court. It is far too broad and sweeping a law. Not enforceable, interesting but parts of it will get thrown out.
If enough of the big states have something similar, the FCC will look like clowns
The problem is California and Illinois are nearly bankrupt. The only functional big state economically now is New York. But, again I suspect while a neat idea in CA, the law as written is not enforceable.
do you honestly think ISPs would risk the class action suit to find out?
In the modern sue first climate, yes I do. The ISP’s are huge companies now, with money to burn in legal delays.
I am looking forward to finding out. A strong legal precedent could do wonders for net neutrality
I would agree. As long as it truly is net neutrality. In the reality of money, because we all know mone is what drives the behavior of organizations that neutrality truly is fair.
1. That company using services of ISP’s pay for those services rather than forcing the cost down to consumers.
2. That cost is truly represented for both sides fairly.
3. That services offered to be offered to all equally.
The issue I suspect is going to be more the reality of cost. The original push for net neutrality wasn’t done by companies with the best intention for all, they were pushing to reduce the cost of streaming services.
We haven’t even raised the issue of right to privacy. How can you have any expectation of privacy if your ISP is content aware?
Now that, privacy is one of the most interesting questions. A few years ago the windows tech support scam was really big. 900 million PC’s on earth producing 10-12 messages at least per day, they were able to find the 10 serious errors and identity they cam from your PC.
The same is true for ISP’s. They may no categories but they won’t know exactly who.
The larger our home networks become, the more our security is at risk.
Unless the providers start increasing the amount of security they provide (which is in the works).
Somehow I think somethings will never be shared… just me
I agree, it is not about the reality of things that cannot, should not and will not be shared. Rather the reality of the amount of data that is not shared, today!