[LINK] NBN: a real need for speed?

[Nick Ross]

That is the worst thing I've read on Link ever. So very wrong. Nice one
Chirgs :)

On 10 April 2012 11:32, David Boxall <david.boxall at hunterlink.net.au> wrote:

> Followed by an excellent rebuttal from http://twitter.com/R_Chirgwin.
>  From <https://theconversation.edu.au/nbn-a-real-need-for-speed-6324>:
> > I am watching the ABC logo on iView spin around, not going anywhere,
> stuck at 68%. The problem is not with my broadband connection. I am on
> cable broadband and according to Speedtest I can download at speeds of
> around 30 Mbps. That is around 30 times the recommended speed I need to
> watch streaming video from iView.
> >
> > According to NBN Co, waiting for things to download will be a thing of
> the past once we have access to the NBN. In fact, they claim that it will
> lead to increased productivity and reduce time wasted.
> >
> > Clearly, this can only happen if companies such as the ABC can actually
> deliver content from servers powerful enough and over a big enough
> connection to service the demand.
> >
> > And there is the rub. The speed of the connection to the home is only a
> part of the whole equation that determines whether you spend an hour
> waiting for a file to download or 60 seconds.
> >
> > NBN Co claims that with the NBN, we will all be able to use high
> definition video conferencing. But at a university where I can get speeds
> of 100 Mbps (the fastest speed promised by the NBN), I can’t guarantee a
> clear, unbroken Skype audio session, let alone video, with someone else at
> another Australian university on an equally fast connection.
> >
> > When people claim that the NBN will bring about a technical revolution,
> they talk as if the speed of the Internet was the only thing holding it all
> back. But again, unfortunately, there is more to it than that.
> >
> > Promoters of the NBN claim that it will spur the use of telehealth.
> However, recent uptake of videoconferencing by GPs in Australian, even with
> government financial incentives, has been poor. The barriers to adoption
> did not include the speed of the Internet but were to do with time
> constraints, interoperability issues and workload.
> >
> > From a consumer perspective, it is also not speed necessarily that is
> the main priority when choosing an Internet connection. The real growth in
> Internet connections in Australia has been in wireless. Mobile broadband
> makes up 47% of the total Australian customer base. 90% of new connections
> added between June 2011 and December 2011 were wireless. Convenience and
> the post-PC world are continuing to drive our usage of the Internet, not
> speed.
> >
> > Speed of Internet connections is obviously an important factor in
> determining what it can be used for. There is a point however, at which it
> is not speed, but other factors that are holding back the use of particular
> technologies. It is unfortunate then that it is this just this one feature
> that has been used to justify the NBN’s $36 billion – $50 billion price tag.
>
> --
> David Boxall                         | ignorance more frequently
>                                     | begets confidence than does
> http://david.boxall.id.au            | knowledge
>                                     | --Charles Darwin (introduction
>                                     |  to 'The Descent of Man' 1871)
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