Technology Futures

The NTIA has released the block grant and tract data for round two stimulus proposals, opening the door for incumbent challenges for those proposals.

An article over at TechCrunch raises an interesting question. The backlit iPad (and all LCD backlit displays) can be hard on the eyes when trying to read continuously for long periods of time (e.g. when reading a book). The Amazon Kindle uses a different display technology (e-ink) that is reflective rather than transmissive. Reflective displays work better outdoors and are more like books in the way they work.

It was inevitable....an iPad-compatible vest. I'm not sure about the "sophisticated" adjective used in the ad. "Nerd central" comes to mind, though.

A D.C. court ruled against the FCC's attempt to regulate how Comcast manages its network. The ruling dates back to a 2008 order that FCC imposed on Comcast, which was slowing down high bandwidth file sharing for some of its customers.

This article from Cory Doctorow is similar to a couple of other contrarian articles that have come out in the past week--they all complain about the perceived "closed" nature of the iPad and/or say that the iPad is not going to save the publishing business.

Earlier this week, I wrote how Apple is forcing publishers to move away from Adobe's buggy Flash plug-in, which is used for multimedia content display. Today, this article comes out about how Apple's pricing for books in the new iPad bookstore has forced Amazon to change its pricing model. Amazon was telling book publishers what they could charge for ebooks using the Kindle distribution system.

[Cupertino, CA, 4/1] Apple Computer announced today that it had purchased a majority share of the Microsoft Corporation by buying virtually all founder Bill Gate's remaining stock. Gates has continued to be the single largest stockholder, with approximately 56% of the outstanding shares of the company. The transaction, estimated to be worth $30 billion, still leaves Apple with a substantial cash reserve of at least $10 billion.

MacRumors reports that National Public Radio (NPR) and The Wall Street Journal are already getting ready to roll out Web sites designed specifically for the Apple iPad. Expect many more newpapers and magazines to announce iPad versions of their content over the next several months, with the iPad set to ship to buyers in the next 30 days. One of the interesting side effects--Adobe may have lost the Flash war.

The FCC has rolled out the first look at its plan for broadband. The agency has set a goal of 100 megabit broadband to 100 million households in the next ten years, calling it "100 Squared." It's a good goal, and one that Design Nine has been promoting for many years.

Here is an interesting comment on the Lafayette, Louisiana fiber network.

My apologies for the light posting recently. We've been head down shoveling stimulus proposals out the door for the last three weeks. We worked on seven stimulus proposals in four states worth a combined $68 million. Now it is just back to our regular work--planning and building broadband networks. Call us if you need help.

This discusses the rising cost of telecom services in households. The article demonstrates that there is plenty of money for broadband out there, but it is hidden because it is not aggregated in a way that benefits residents and businesses. Lack of competition is one of the main issues that keeps costs high.

GovPro quotes me in a short article about the challenges faced by communities who want to take control of their economic future.

I was in Danville, Virginia last week, and was reminded of the changes that fiber is bringing to that community, which has experienced some of the highest unemployment in the state over the last decade. The White Mill building had been considered a white elephant for years--once a showpiece textile manufacturing plant--but closed for years and a visible sign of Danville's proud past and uncertain future.

There's a slogan for you: U.S. Broadband--We're almost as good as Latvia! Kind of rolls right off the tongue. Here is a link to a list of the "top 10" broadband countries, and the U.S. is nowhere to be found. Grim news indeed for the country.

The Wired Road community broadband network in southwest Virginia has added Nationsline as a service provider, and is starting a rural fiber to the home expansion project this spring. Grant, Virginia residents will get 100 megabit fiber connections and a community computing center in the historic Grange Hall in the small town.

This article suggests that pay for play is doomed, because no one (according to the data) wants to pay for content.

FastMac is advertising something I think almost everyone wants. It is a duplex AC wall socket with two standard 110 volt sockets, but it also has two USB ports. That's right, no more wall chargers cluttering things up. You can plug your USB charging cables right into the wall. Best part--these things are on sale for a limited time (note that these are pre-orders, so you may have to wait to get them).

Here is an interesting story. Apparently, a Microsoft exec has proposed that all bloggers need to have a license before they can write on the Web. And Time magazine and the New York Times think this would just be spiffy. This is not likely to ever happen, but the fact that companies like Microsoft and old media think it is a great idea suggest that there is still much resistance to the changes the Internet has brought.

The Intertubes have been buzzing for the past couple of days with what is actually a very modest announcement from Google that the company wants to play around with community fiber. Google wants to find out what people do when they have a fast connection, and what kinds of services they might be able to give away or sell if everyone has those kinds of connections.