Hail to the West Wing - I notice that, like a lot of my fellow blog-buddies, I really enjoy the TV show "The West Wing." I'm guessing that President Bartlet is a democrat, but it doesn't seem like the show really reveals party affiliation. Instead the show focuses on the intricacies of politics, and how decisions get made and deals get cut. The show gets into issues that are going on now: terrorism, funky voting systems, assassination attempts, back-channel communications. In short almost anything that is a real issue in our country right now. Except, of course, one thing. And that's understandable when you think about it. Anyone out here in blogland notice which cutting edge issues that the show never discusses?
Okay, here it is. The show never discusses, and probably never will discuss, issues relating to the Internet's threat to Hollywood, and efforts by the entertainment industry to expand copyright protection, or to develop digital rights management schemes. I mean the Internet has radically changed our lives and will continue to do so. And Internet-related issues would be perfect for the West Wing to discuss. Why? Because most of these Internet issues pit the common interests of ordinary citizens against larger forces of greed and the zealous desire for control. The problem, of course, is that Hollywood produces the West Wing. So you can bet that we'll never see Toby or Josh fretting about legislation related to the Internet.
If they did you would have to see Josh saying something like "my God, if we don't extend the copyright terms for another 20 years, Disney will lose an important right and we might not get more of the same great creative output." And Toby would say, "yeah, how can we make the people understand that it's important for this country that we protect the music industry by facilitating digital rights management." Doesn't seem true to the characters, does it?
4:48:15 PM
How "digital" is your state, ...or country? Utah is ranked 7th, reports Phil Windley the CIO of that state (and a true tech visionary). But I wonder how South Korea would rank in that survey. It's just a smallish country over there in formerly worn-torn East Asia. Wouldn't rank that high, right?
Well, ConvergeDigest reports here that: "South Korea’s Ministry of Information and Communication announced a new plan to deliver Internet connections of at least 1 Mbps and preferably 20 Mbps to every household by 2005." (South Korea already leads the world in broadband penetration.). Wouldn't it be nice if our national government had a top-priority committment to developing our broadband infrustructure like that?
Instead, our top priority is figuring out how to invade Iraq. Well, that's fine. I'm sure it's no big deal. Oh say, what ever happened to the Roman Empire?
4:39:56 PM
Wireless Internet Everywhere? - it's not a dream. It will happen, and even though most people out there on the street have no idea what 802.11b is (aka "Wi-Fi"), little patches of wireless accessiblity are quietly popping up. Check recent articles by The Washington Post or The New York Times.
As one who "lit up" his house about 6 months ago, I can say that wireless Internet access is a big deal. College campuses are going wireless (in New Orleans, Tulane University is totally wireless) and students are being exposed to how convenient it is and how easy it is to set up. One of our senior partners mentioned that he can't figure out how his son, who's home from college, can surf the web from poolside at his house when he comes to visit. Hint: he's packing a $100 transmitter/receiver called "an access point" and a $50 wireless card, and a little bit of computer know-how. With the access point in place he could invite 75 friends to come over and sit around the pool with their laptop and share that same broadband connection. But poolside parties are meaningless parlor magic compared to what will happen when airports, coffee houses, convention rooms, conference rooms, or waiting rooms are "lit up." It's already happening. And it is the start of a very significant revolution.
The first part of the revolution is that "hot spots" are going to pop up and people will expect to be able to access them. If I'm waiting around at the doctor's office, or the airport, I'd like to be able to check E-mail or check the web for news. But, you say, the odds are you won't be lugging your laptop with you all the time. That's the second part of the revolution. Palm Pilots and iPaqs and other PDA's have the ability to use 802.11b and the cards are starting to be available (approx: $100). You'll have one of those with you when you visit the doctor's office, right? Well then, there's your revolution.
12:28:18 PM
Will Rehnquist retire now that the Repub's have more control? - check this story out.
12:17:37 PM
