Re: off-topic: historical query concerning the Internet bubble

[Roland Perry <lists () internetpolicyagency com>]

In article 
<AANLkTi=MsYAfA5EttFjpo71Bq1fUB+RSyBRgD4HEeHca () mail gmail com>, Kenny 
Sallee <kenny.sallee () gmail com> writes
> So the whole 'myth' of Internet doubling every 100 days to me is 
> something someone (ODell it seems) made up to appease someone higher in 
> the chain or a government committee that really doesn't get it.

[Whether it was really 100 days, or 200 days...] a statistic like this 
has very real operational significance, because it sets expectations in 
the minds of senior management and investors that the new shiny hardware 
(or leased line, or peering agreement...) you just put in place isn't 
going to last "a lifetime", and will need replacing/upgrading really 
quite soon.

Another meme at the time (at least in the UK) was the idea of "Internet 
Time", where things happened four times as fast as "real life". So you'd 
realise that things like a "five year plan" were really only going to 
last just over a year. And, of course, policy and law related to the 
Internet gets out of date four times as fast, too.
--
Roland Perry