[RTC List] Jobs & broadband

[Patrick Moon]

William Van Hefner wrote:
> ...
>
> In more practical terms, if I had 100x the bandwidth that I have now, how would it help my
> job opportunities or business? Would it somehow make my business more
> competitive with those in other countries? Honestly, even from the
> standpoint of being in an internet based-business, it wouldn't really help
> all that much. Certainly not at the expense of increased taxes.
>
> Let's face it, most of the increased bandwidth usage these days has
> nothing whatsoever to do with business need or job creation. It is going
> to bring home users faster streaming video and audio, P2P, music
> downloads, video games, movie downloads, pirated software and porn.
...


My gut agrees with you, that the individual user at home or at work 
(doing non-work related internet usage) takes more bandwidth then most 
companies need for work related services. 

That said, I think there is a sea change happening.. looking at your 
list "... streaming video and audio, P2P, music downloads, video games, 
movie downloads, pirated software and porn." Bandwidth wise I think that 
list is almost completely audio/video. The market has spoken and there 
is an opportunity for new locations to take advantage of this change.
http://revision3.com/
http://www.twit.tv/
are great examples of a new way to do media.  With the bandwidth you 
mentioned, they could easily be done here...
or drawing on one of our strengths, how about a digital video online 
video series on the pacific northwest in the style of
http://www.earth-touch.com/

I'm not saying the market is right here for these (even if we had the 
bandwidth/redundancy).  I'm just saying things are changing and I think 
those fringe users are actually showing you the future. A world where 
video/audio are the main bits crossing the internet and the large 
production houses have a hard time staying relevant.

Braver minds then mine have to decide if Humboldt can/should ride this wave.

Cheers,
Patrick Moon