Christmas Letter VIII - Jet Pack/Hovercraft, iPod/iPhone/Prius, or "None of that Nonsense..."

As I reviewed the month of December and my posts, the prevailing themes were imagining and managing change - how one looks at the future, how one manages change, the weight one gives to such issues, and how one's generational perspective comes into play - all these aspects of change really come into the limelight when you give some deep thought to broadband.

And such themes seem appropriate at this point, given that we all grow reflective as New Year's Eve arrives, and look forward with anticipation to new things in the New Year - that's today and tomorrow, BTW, for those without calendars.

December

Trains on Tracks v. Cars on Highways: Closed v. Open - in which I propose the analogy of railroads and highways as a model for broadband networks...

Our history of physical transportation of atoms and molecules in our rail and road networks has lessons to teach us if we will listen. When we look at information transportation of bits and bytes in our telecommunication systems, we should think about how things transpired with transportation systems.

The winds of change are in the air, however, and the potential of Open Networks, like water on a stone, is having an inexorable effect on the Status Quo. Steeped in the Gospel of Open Networks that drives the Internet, Google has set its calculating eye on telecommunications, specifically, .the upcoming FCC 700 MHz spectrum auction in February.

Forget the Past and the Future, Here in the Present, Ignorance is Bliss - in which I pondered the inability of most people to imagine a future much different than the present - until they see it, that is.

As I wrote this summary, it dawned on me that when municipalities seek to bring in a third-party to operate a network according to Open Access principles, whether the city owns the network or not, they are mimicking the Google strategy that Feld described. Rather than wait on incumbent broadband providers to bring in new infrastructure or business models that better serve all the public, they're brining in the infrastructure themselves and installing the new business models that will bring about robust competition and lower rates.

But don't count them out, not just yet. They have lots of money, political connections, customers, and technology experience, and I think they will be around and influential for years to come. They just need a 2x4 to the head once in a while and would be well advised to follow both Joni's admonition about appreciating what you have while you still have it, as well as Harold's observation that most don't know the future until it bites them in the ass.

Long Tail Telecom: Why Smaller Markets Should Take a Long Hard Look at Alternate Broadband - in which I describe a different set of circumstances for mid-sized markets that supports a different approach to telecommunications

Shamalama Ding Dong - Life is a Highway - in which I suggest that the seemingly mindless play of the roadtrip is actually a journey of discovery in disguise

The Road Trip is firmly ensconced in the realm of Creativity, where things happen because they're allowed to happen, because you're out there breaking all the rules that normally keep you in line, out there in the world where nobody knows you, where its safer to take risks. Much of it proves pointless, but for some, it's what the situation demands.

For many on the outside, it appears that we've been wasting time and money, we've been engaged in an irresponsible romp that's going nowhere. But on the inside, we see things differently - we've been enjoying a long ride of discovery. We've been trying out new things, seeing what works. When we pause to look back, we realize how far we've come and how much we've learned, and we see real value.

And a couple of posts that talk about perspective in the process of change:

- Digital Adolescents Stuck in Digital Puberty - in which I describe the transition from Analog to Digital, which is still underway

Since the Rise of the Internet a little over 10 years ago, we've been alternating through many different attitudes, but mostly we've been collectively in denial as the Internet matures and grinds away at our institutions. For many, if not most in society, these changes lie under the surface, unrecognized, subliminal. But they affect us all, nevertheless, and we see more and more evidence of change, and the need to adjust, if we just open our eyes. Once you've had this realization, it's hard not to notice the evidence all around.

Recognizing this state of Digital Puberty that we've entered is not unlike going through the five stages of grief in the Kubler-Ross model , because such significant change involves a death and a rebirth. In the end, allowing yourself to be reborn, to reemerge from the process of change, involves accepting the death of the previous state. Until then, you're stuck.

- From Analog to Digital - A Long, Strange Trip - in which I comment on our aged leadership in federal government which stands in contrast to the dramatic changes underway in technology

- T-t-t-t-talking 'Bout My Generation - this post ties together the previous memes of digital adolescence and senesence and posits that generational perspective is valid from both sides

It's inevitable for those at the beginning of their lives to look forward to the future with anticipation, and for those at the end of their lives to look backward with nostalgia. And where we choose to place our benchmarks has a large role in determining how we perceive the present.

My focus in my job and on this website is on the broadband infrastructure that will take us to the future we deserve. Too many people look at how far we've come in ten years with broadband internet and mobile telephony. Too few look at how far we have to go to reach our potential.

A Public Private Partnership We Can All Do Without - this post captures current events surrounding FISA and telecom immunity, as the Senate had an important debate in mid-December, ultimately punting the issue down the road until January

Look Before You Leap - this series of posts tracks the decision-making process a city goes through as it stands on the brink of change, using the framework below

I'll close out this long post on change and the future with a couple of images from a few generations ago, when change and future speculation was primarily focused on that frontier that could never be crossed, that man should one day fly - imagine, man flying like a bird....

There's this famous image from Leonardo Da Vinci

and then here's a couple from Jules Verne - first, on personal flight

and then on flight to the Moon - really stretching out the imagination!

This has been fun - Happy Holidays all!

Be sure to drive safely (or not at all) tonight!