“Broadband” is in the news again, sigh. The word has a huge capacity for mischief, since it means so many different things to different people. Today broadband means high-speed, always-on Internet connectivity, usually delivered via cable or DSL. Broadband is, we’re told, the axe that will break AOL and the torch that will fire up the tech economy once more.
I’ve been a broadband skeptic for years based on my own experience and my observations of my friends. I don’t think broadband “transforms the Web experience”; it just fixes it. Broadband makes the Web work the way it’s supposed to.
What broadband does not do, and will not do, is turn the Web back into a TV-style broadcast medium — which, I’m afraid, is what Hollywood and the media industry keep crossing their fingers and hoping will come to pass. Sorry, guys.
To be sure, broadband does enable all sorts of interesting peer-to-peer and Web services-style applications. Wonderful. Only Hollywood and the media companies, far from investing in new ways to use this broadband potential, are actually terrified of these tools.
Truth is, right now broadband is just a good, reliable way to get your e-mail, read your Web sites and maybe download some music files. And that’s what it will remain until someone comes along to show us the next great thing.
I like the way Mitch Ratcliffe put it in a recent post:
The unexpected will decide this market. That is, someone is going to come up with an engaging client that turns broadband into a symphony of excitement people will flock to. And, frankly, that game is still wide open to all the players, dial-up laggards included. |
Actually, Napster was that “engaging client.” Look what happened to it.
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