grodscorp@grods.comInternet monkey
 | Posted by Scott on Thursday 22 March 2007, 7:40 am Categories: Politics, The Internet Tags: broadband |
Anybody else hear that professor from the Melbourne University business school on Radio National breakfast just before 7am this morning? He says he’s got home broadband at 10mbps and he can’t see why we’d ever need anything faster; consequently he reckons that Labor is proposing a huge waste of money with their new broadband roll out policy.
What a monkey.
I’m sure that there were people like him bemoaning the waste of money required to upgrade black and white televisions to colour in the 70s. He probably even opposed the introduction of the internets because teletext told you everything you need to know.
Thursday 22 March 2007, 10:16 am #aj
good point Lachlan.
Thursday 22 March 2007, 11:59 am #greeny
http://www.economics.com.au/?p=721
Thursday 22 March 2007, 1:27 pm #MrLefty
The “Melbourne University Business School”? Well, duh. They’re a Liberal Party training ground and lobby group. He could’ve just been honest and said he was opposed because Labor had come up with it.
Thursday 22 March 2007, 2:29 pm #Kevin From Bathurst
i’m quite happy with my 9600 baud modem, i can’t see the need for anything faster
Thursday 22 March 2007, 6:09 pm #Joshua Gans
I am that monkey you are referring to and what I said was that I couldn’t see why the government should use taxpayer money to give me what I get from true broadband. If you think there is some social benefit, feel free to send me a check.
And Mr Lefty, a liberal party training ground. You will see that I advocated nationalising the network rather than Labor’s PPP. Last time I looked nationalisation wasn’t a Liberal Party platform.
Thursday 22 March 2007, 10:26 pm #silpheed
pooooooooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrn
Friday 23 March 2007, 12:17 am #John S.
So it’s true…righties DO google themselves!
Friday 23 March 2007, 7:32 am #The Editor
Hi, Joshua. I’m the biggest economics monkey around so I can’t debate the economics argument with you. However, I thought it was a bit shortsighted of you to claim that 10mbps — which is only available to a select few Australians, at a price out of reach of most Australians — was “enough”.
I think the social benefits of widely available and affordable “real” broadband will become apparent as time goes on and new services come on line that require those broadband speeds. Right now my ADSL “broadband” is enough for me — I can download a song in a minute or two, and YouTube doesn’t freeze when playing — but I can’t wait for the day when I can download a broadcast quality video half hour video in a handful of minutes.
If nothing else, think about the educational benefits of real broadband if it’s used properly.
Friday 23 March 2007, 3:00 pm #CoreEcon » Blog Archive » Broadband recap
[...] Well, maybe that is strong but I have been called a short-sighted economics professor, a ‘rightie‘ and, this is the best one, ‘an internet [...]
Friday 23 March 2007, 3:02 pm #Joshua Gans
Look when it comes down to it, the government is handing out money but to whom? Who is going to supply you with your nice high quality media content? Answer: rich media moguls.
Who is going to pay for that content? Answer, rich folks like myself. I don’t need a handout from the poor but you seem to want one. Why?
Saturday 24 March 2007, 11:17 am #Pavel Bure
It’s so funny when reactionary pinheads are called out by someone with actual knowledge. Bravo Mr. Gans.
Saturday 24 March 2007, 11:27 pm #Ian Holsman
hmm liberal training ground?
I didn’t know Bill Shorten was a liberal.
http://www.awu.net.au/national/students/personality_shorten.html
Sunday 25 March 2007, 8:07 am #Greeny
@Gans: Who says we’re going to pay for that content? That’s an assumption. Content is cheap to produce and distribute (if there’s a way) so why should we pay. Look at P2P networks and YouTube for examples. Lots of talk about content but…
What about services over enhanced IP?
The rest of the western world is rolling out Television over IP - which will result in a total integration of ‘the internet’ and broadcast. You won’t need a computer to book a doctors appointment for your ma - you’ll do it through the tv. You’ll see the traffic implications [end of future rant] etc.
Its called the semantic web - it makes what we use as the internet a joke - and we can only have it if network bandwidth is available - ie true broadband and above.