Technology Futures

Bill Gates' head exploded yesterday in a tragic puff of smoke after reading that a Windows benchmarking study showed that the new Apple laptop with a dual core Intel processor was faster running Windows XP than, um, well, all the laptops designed for Windows.

A recent contest awarded $13,000 to a couple of people that figured out how to get Windows XP to boot on the the new Apple laptop. Apple claimed it wouldn't work, but we're only talking about shoveling bits around. It does work, although it requires some bit twiddling that most of us won't bother with. But if you know what you are doing, people are reporting it only takes about an hour of fiddling.

HP and Dell officials have to be engaging in some serious handwringing right about now, as their laptops don't run OS X, and never will.

If you could buy a single laptop that runs either Windows or OS X, and that laptop has been consistently ranked as the best hardware made, why would you buy anything else? This very thought has to be giving Michael Dell fits.

Apple's strategy here is probably, gently, gently into the dark night. It might take another year, but at some point, Apple is likely to make it quite easy to install and run Windows on Apple hardware--probably the day before Vista, the next version of Windows, is released in early 2007.

At that point, Apple has redefined the rules of personal computer game.

2008 Update: Of course, now all new Apple laptops and desktop computers can easily run Windows, using Apple's dual boot option or by buying one of several 3rd party programs that allows you to run OS X and Windows simulaneously.

Back in 2000, I began promoting the idea that one way communities should finance broadband was by selling shares in a stock ownership corporation. In this way, the entire community could participate in the ownership of a Knowledge Economy business. A stock ownership approach to community broadband has several advantages.

• It can distribute ownership broadly across the entire community, truly making it a community enterprise (much the way coops have very successfully operated for decades).
• Both public and private partners can participate. Local governments that want to lower the cost of broadband for schools and government offices and services can buy into the enterprise. Private providers like ISPs can buy into the enterprise and have voting rights and representation.
• If the share price is low, it gives everybody in the community a chance to own stock. As the venture crosses the break even point, dividend distributions are returned to the owners, who in most cases are also customers.
• It allows the community to self-finance; that's a much better approach than trying to start these efforts by relying entirely on grants.

I'm delighted to see that a group right here in the New River Valley is doing what I suggested. The New River Valley Planning District Commission plans to fund a regional fiber network by selling stock to public and private partners.

The only thing I wish they had done differently would be to set the minimum share buy lower. Shares are currently priced at $11.25, and a minimum purchase of 1,000 shares is required. I understand they are trying to raise cash quickly and with a minimum of marketing, but why not sell as little as one share? Payments could be made via Paypal, and it would be easy to generate a digitally signed PDF stock certificate that is emailed to the purchaser.

There are disadvantages to having many small owners, but there are a lot of advantages, including the possibility of raising more money by expanding the investment pool. By using exclusively electronic communications with shareholders, costs can be kept low.

Another approach would be to require a minimum of ten shares, or at the current share price, an investor would have to come up with $112.50. That is still a very low barrier, and I bet lots of people in this area would love to invest in their own community, along with the opportunity to make some money as the network expands.

I remain convinced this is a viable approach almost anywhere in the country, even in distressed rural communities. Most households in America are spending between $150 and $300 PER MONTH on telecom. Why not give those households an opportunity to buy into their own future and own a piece of the telecom infrastructure, rather than leaving them at the mercy of the marketplace?

Congratulations to the NRV PDC for their boldness and vision.

New Hampshire state senators voted 22-1 in favor of HB 653, which gives local governments in the state the authority not only to create and own communitywide broadband networks, but also to use bonding authority to pay for such networks, just as communities use bonds to build other municipal infrastucture like roads, water, and sewer.

I think this is one of several models we will see emerge as a standard way for communities to undertake these projects. Bonds are a time tested and well understood financial vehicle that communities have used for decades, to build systems much more complex and more expensive than fiber and wireless. Design Nine completed a telecommunications master plan for the northern half of New Hampshire in 2005.

Jakob Nielsen, in his monthly AlertBox column, talks about what businesses need to do to have an effective Web site that helps customers find what they want. Nielsen is arguably the most knowledgeable Web usability expert on the planet, and this column is worth a careful read. Economic developers, businesspeople, and in fact, anyone with a Web site can pick up some useful tips.