adding muscle to communications services
Typing text on a keyboard and manipulating a mouse are recent, conventional muscular routines for communication. Those routines have little relation to the muscular practices of communication that humans have used throughout their evolutionary history. Moreover, those routines are much different from muscular activities many people do for enjoyment, such as walking, playing catch, running, [...]
weird science for aesthetic innovation
DC power-wielders gathered last week at artomatic for the April meeting of dorkbot-dc. Peter Blasser fired up his hand-crafted Sidrassi Organ as well as his Tri-Min. A young girl, who explained that when not in school she likes to do science experiments with her father, assisted with operation of the latter instrument. Tim Tate, Founder [...]
COB-10: customer service standards and processes
Nothing is more important to a bureaucracy than customer service standards. Undoubtedly the customer service metric that should have the greatest weight in a customer service performance index is the human touch. Steve Portigal offers an insightful policy initiative that would promote customer service and innovation: I would introduce empathy processes into government, especially departments [...]
the enduring significance of distance
One of the best-supported empirical economic models is known as the gravity equation. According to this equation, trade between two regions is proportional to the product of economic activity (GDP) in the two regions divided by the inter-region distance raised to about 0.9.[1] This relationship is formally similar to Newton’s law of universal gravitation, except [...]
Tagged: infrastructure
stop laughing at me
Ambitious young professionals need to consider carefully career development. As set out in my personal development plan, I’m working on conforming to standard web metaphors, smoothing out my quirks, and improving my presentation skills. Recently I gave a presentation at Mister Days, a very noisy sports bar. I learned that when the room is very [...]
ubiquitous fiber network in Japan
Homes in Japan are rapidly being connected to optical fiber communications networks. Japan’s incumbent communications company, NTT, had 6.08 million subscribers to its fiber network at the end of March, 2007. That figure indicates an increase of 2.66 million subscribers from March, 2006.[1] NTT’s share of fiber network subscribers in Sept., 2006, was 66%.[2] If [...]
Tagged: broadband, Japan
broadband demand analysis
In a small park between a highway and apartment buildings, a woman, sunbathing, sits up and paints her toenails.
Tagged: broadband
Japanese bandwidth prices in comparative perspective
In an infoworld article entitled “Government policies add to Japan’s broadband success,” Grant Gross led with this news: A wide-ranging government policy on broadband and healthy competition among providers gives Japanese customers greater speeds at a much cheaper price than U.S. customers pay, a Japanese telecom executive said Wednesday. Japanese customers pay about US$0.70 for [...]
Tagged: broadband, Japan