I remember those days vividly! See my next post for some memories.
Kate Bellingham reports that an exciting new interconnected world - a world where every word ever written, every picture ever painted and ever film ever shot will be at our fingertips - is tantalisingly close. The information superhighway will be a high-capacity digital communication network, which in time could revolutionise the way we shop, socialise and work. The groundwork for this technological behemoth is already well underway, with computers already communicating with one another to allow users to send electronic mail (President Bill Clinton is already connected) and access news, weather and even some shopping services. For the information superhighway to really take off though, it needs more capacity than the UK's ageing network of copper telephone wires can provide. Is Britain prepared to invest in the sort of high-capacity fibre-optic cable network that can make the technological utopia a reality?
I remember reading Physics Today back somewhere between 1993 and 1995, and the wait for fiber optic lines was still only in the experimental stages. They had only just then invented fiber optic optical amplifiers. Before that, and fiber optics had to be converted to and from electronic amplifiers. An all fiber optic network was still a decade away. I knew Verizon FIOS was better, more reliable, and most importantly, FASTER than any old copper wire cables. Comcast should have been left in the dust, but they are still just as competitive today. Why? All of that new fiber optic network requires millions in new infrastructure. I could have had FIOS as early as 2008 at home, but it wasn't until 2011 that I signed up for it. Do not miss dial up !
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