Now comes the fine print of an Obama Presidency. Apparently, he is thinking of appointing a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in his administration, somebody who, according to BusinessWeek magazine, would be "one of Obama's most important advisors." The piece quotes a DC lawyer and telecommunications apartchik, Andrew Lipman, who sees this new CTO as the executor of Obama's Four Year Digital Plan:
"Obama sees greater broadband penetration as an enormous economic engine, much like the railroads were a century ago. That is why the CTO will play such a critical role in any recovery plan."
Universal broadband as the American railroads 2.0? I'm far from convinced. The railroads provided transportation to settle the West and to both build and link up new communities. In contrast, broadband provides a very different kind of transportation -- one that allows individuals to escape their physical communities, to create virtual loyalties, to lose their identities in the narcissistic chaos of cyberspace.
Broadband penetration throughout America will actually kill most local retail stores, it will fatally undermine local newspapers, it will destroy local television and radio stations. No, rather than the railroads, broadband is more akin to the triumph of automotive culture in the first half of the 20th century, a development which destroyed the railroads and undermined the economic and cultural viability of small town America.
So who should be America's new czar of technology? BusinessWeek suggests Google evangelist Vint Cerf, the mad father of the Internet. While one of Silicon Valley's most viral thinkers, ex Microsoft blogger Robert Scoble, suggests my old friend Dr Larry Lessig:
"Overall, though, I still like the idea of Lessig in the White House....Oh, and wait until you hear what he says about how he’d retard corruption in the Capitol."
Retarding corruption in the Capitol....Talk about history repeating itself. As American CTO, the all-too-virtuous Dr Lessig, the author of a new anti Hollywood rant called Remix, is actually a personal remix of Maximilien Roberspierre, another skilled practitioner in the art of retarding corruption. And with universal broadband penetration and thus two way live video connectivity in every American home, the eagle-eyed Dr Lessig might even get to retard corruption in all of our living rooms too.
I find this article to be a rather surprise attack on a noble quest to maximise broadband penetration throughout America. Your points are ill researched and full of assumptions based on your own (obviously overinflated) opinion.
Some bones of contention:
"narcissistic chaos of cyberspace." What a load of nonsense. The internet is a mere reflection of reality. Just like in real life there are 'good neighbourhoods' and bad neighbourhoods' but the good and the positive potential far outweigh the bad.
"Broadband penetration will kill local shops". So where on the internet am I going to pick up my daily milk and bread? Or my petrol or my medicines, or my dry-cleaning? How does one submit their dry-cleaning online, I can't seem to fit my jacket into my CD-Rom drive?
The reality is that internet, and particularly social media, has actually given birth to ultra-niches and hyper-localism which are cheap, targeted platforms for small businesses to target their local audience, BOOSTING their profitability, not killing them. They have also boosted the influence of local media by being able to target more, smaller niches. This fact alone makes your accusations completely wild, unfounded and seriously irresponsible.
What about the small businesses that have gone online (E-Bay for example) and boosted their sales beyond their wildest dreams?
If Obama wanted to increase broadband penetration in, say, Ethiopia, we wouldn’t even having this discussion because you would be writing about his shining vision, humanitarianism and economic sense for thinking of ways to boost Africa’s standing in the world. So why the double standards when it comes to America? Should they not be competitive with the rest of the world?
If America stopped it’s broadband expansion plans today, it would immediately create a massive gaps between the haves and have-nots leaving the ‘nots’ with the impossible task of catching up with the ever evolving ‘haves’. I have seen this with my own eyes, working online in Africa most of life. It is quite simply impossible for countries, businesses and individuals to remain competitive without access to broadband and the internet.
I strongly suggest, going forward, that you research your subject matter properly and know what you are talking about when you start shooting your mouth off, making you look like a complete idiot. Unless, of course, you believe America should go back to horse carts because all infrastructural advancements are evil and will destroy everything local. In that case you shouldn’t be writing on the internet anyway.
(Might I also suggest that you actually publish your name alongside your posts so I know which lazy, over presumptuous writer I am speaking to).
Posted by: Jon M Bishop | Friday, 24 October 2008 at 03:25 PM