[LINK] The data drought

David Boxall linkdb at boxall.name
Wed Oct 7 20:27:32 AEDT 2015


On 7/10/2015 10:24 AM, Tom Worthington wrote:
> ...
> To quote George Bernard Shaw: “... my rank is the highest known ... I am
> a free citizen ...” (Arms and the Man, Act III).
> ...
I don't doubt that, from such a self-centred perspective, the needs of 
others appear trivial.

...
> Remote parts of Australia have only dirt roads, ...
Fibre costs as much as roads? I didn't know that.

> ... It would cost an astronomical amount ...
No need to panic Tom, you're not expected to foot the whole bill 
yourself. And the bill isn't due next Wednesday.

Fibre could last a century. On a similar time-scale, we ran copper into 
some remarkably remote locations. That project began with picks, shovels 
and horses. Beginning today, what could we achieve?

 From a perspective focused on self; to a vision limited to the next 
election or this quarter's bottom line, the concept of building 
infrastructure into the distant future is incomprehensible. In reacting 
to Sol Trujillo's obstructionism, Kevin Rudd happened upon the solution 
that Australia needs. Like most politicians, he just wanted to improve 
his chances of re-election. We got lucky.

-- 
David Boxall                    |  When a distinguished but elderly
                                |  scientist states that something is
http://david.boxall.id.au       |  possible, he is almost certainly
                                |  right. When he states that
                                |  something is impossible, he is
                                |  very probably wrong.
                                                  --Arthur C. Clarke



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