An old proverb bids us, “Be careful what you wish for; you may get it.”  Such might be the case with broadband.

Investment in broadband infrastructure is being discussed in the economic stimulus package being wrangled in the US Congress.  but a thought-provoking missive by Bob Frankston cautions us to think differently about our desire for connectivity, lest we get further trampled by the telecom and cable providers.

The priority should be making it simple to make connections (relationships) between devices and other end points. Instead we spend all our time trying to navigating dark twisting passages and feeling frustrated by how much time and effort we waste and how little we accomplish.

Bob warns us that unless we begin to think differently about what simple connectivity actually represents, we’re likely to be investing a lot of money into a set of technologies designed to deliver the applications we already have, not building a foundation for the promise of the future.

So, what do you really want?

Roger Farnsworth