Re: Aiieee, run for your lives....

[Noel Chiappa <jnc () ginger lcs mit edu>]

    Calm down, Noel.

Sorry, physically impossible! :-) Actually, the "Aiieeee" bit was just a
joke (which unfortunately obscured the message, sigh)...

    What you didn't mention was that this service is likely to sell for
    $70-$100/month. This isn't much cheaper than existing dialup SLIP
    services, which haven't yet swamped the Internet.

I read the article, and yes, no massive wave is coming tomorrow. What I was
trying to bring out (and didn't do well, sorry everyone) was that the WSJ,
which has an influential and savvy readership, thought this was a big enough
deal to give it a really big play. Perceptions and realities are inter-related,
and while in various ways (the Gore bill, etc) the Internet has been gaining
prominence for some time, think about what the perception of the Internet must
be, to cause this kind of coverage. Will it affect the reality?  Almost
certainly.

This article (regardless of the details of the actual deal being reported
therein) is to me a sign that the Internet is now a reasonably big deal to
people who control even more investment capital than governments. It's time to
get Really Serious.


        Noel