Technology Futures

There is a significant push nationwide to simply let the cellphone companies "solve" the rural broadband problem by rolling out "little broadband" cellular data services in rural areas and proclaiming, "Job done!" This story from the Daily Yonder illustrates, unfortunately, it's not going to be that simple.

Customer service problems aside, the structural issue is that cellular wireless simply does not have now, nor will it ever have, enough bandwidth to support everything people want to do. Verizon is now having the same iPhone data/bandwidth problems that AT&T had when the latter company first rolled out the very capable iPhone four years ago. And AT&T has now moved to bandwidth-limited contracts because the company simply can't keep up with demand. Wireless broadband is very important in rural areas as a bridge technology to get homes and businesses off dial-up and onto something better. But like other "little broadband" technologies like DSL and cable modem services, WiFi/WiMax/cellular wireless networks can't do it all. Wireless networks are needed for mobile access, and fiber is needed for jobs and economic development.

Mountain View, CA (4/1/11)
The head of Google's Fiber Initiative, Milo Medin, announced today that all 1,100 cities that applied for Google fiber will be included in a second round of fiber buildouts by the search giant. Unlike Kansas City, which is getting Google fiber on very favorable terms, the other 1,099 cities will be required to sign a more restrictive contract with Google before the company will start constructing fiber. Among the terms in the contract:

• The local government of each selected city will be required to use Google Docs for all government documents, including memos, letters, water bills, spreadsheets, and tax bills.
• Every household and business that wants to get Google fiber will have to give Google a tax lien on their property that allows Google to take ownership of the property if the household or business uses Bing for online searches.
• All vehicle owners will be required to allow Google to attach a GPS device to their auto or truck to allow realtime tracking of what stores are visited. The device will have the ability to turn the car's engine off if the driver visits a business that does not purchase a minimum amount of Google Adwords advertising. Additionally, every vehicle will be required to have a bumper sticker that says, "Powered by Google."
• Every child in each community will receive an Android-powered tablet device at the age of two, and Google will provide a full suite of Google Docs so that the search company has access to everything the child does online from age two to eighteen. Google expects this will allow the child to benefit mentally from "enhanced search results."
• Every resident over the age of eighteen will be given a special Android-powered phone that works on the Sprint network, which will be purchased by Google to support the Community Fiber initiative. The special phones will record every conversation, text, and photo, and store them in special customer dossiers that will conveniently allow for "enhanced search results" to be delivered to phone owners.
• In cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security, Google will provide the Federal government with complete access to every bit of data collected via Google Fiber and Google/Sprint wireless networks. Google explained that this enhances public safety by allowing the FBI and DHS to identify criminals before a crime has even been committed, using new Google artificial intelligence engines that generate special "criminal minority reports" that will be transmitted daily to DHS.

Google indicated that the company has no intention of forcing any community to agree to accept the wide range of services and infrastructure enhancements, so it has developed a special one step process that gives each community a democratic process for choosing participation. A voter referendum would be put on the ballot at the next local election which will state, "We agree to disband our local government, including all elected and appointed officials, and replace them with Google Fiber Initiative staff: YES/NO." If the referendum is passed, then and only then will Google build fiber infrastructure in the community.

In the press conference announcing this on April 1st, Google officials conceded that the program "might not be a good fit for every community that applied."

It was an easy decision. Kansas City is an electric city, so they own the poles. So no costly and long dragged out pole surveys, no make ready and no pole attachment fees, and the ability to take fiber anywhere in the electric service area at very low cost.

I'm sure that Kansas City also offered to hang all the fiber using their electric utility crews and buckets trucks.

No mystery here....it's a smart choice.

I had the opportunity to stop by Blacksburg High School recently. Mike Kaylor, the head of the BHS Cinema and Photographic Production program, was holding an open house. I've written about the program before, and I was interested to see if the program has kept up its high standards over the past four years. I was not disappointed. The still photography exhibit was simply extraordinary; Kaylor is really teaching his students to think about composition, framing, lighting, and subject matter, and the student images demonstrated mastery of the subject. The students also get a lot of hands-on video experience, including storyboarding, shooting, and video editing, all using professional quality equipment and the same software that the big Hollywood studios use.

Students can start taking the two period, two credit class in their sophomore year, which I think is an essential element of Kaylor's success. The option for students to take the advanced levels of the class in their Junior and Senior years allows them to develop real mastery in photography and/or motion picture production. State of the art Macintosh computers allow for editing of HD movies. And Kaylor's students go on to the top college photo and movie programs, including Savannah College of Art and Design, RIT, VCU, and the Brooks Institute. His students are also getting top jobs in Hollywood, with film credits on movies like Hulk 2, The Golden Compass, and being part of teams that have won Academy Awards for Best Special Effects. Other Kaylor students have gone to work for Pixar and National Geographic.

It is this kind of program that ought to be available to every high school student in America. Our kids need true digital and visual literacy, of the kind that only comes from intensive work and study. It's a myth that our kids are technology literate because they know how to use an iPod or log in to Facebook. It is as if we have decided that because you know how to drive a car, you are somehow qualified to build a car. To continue the analogy, Kaylor is actually teaching these kids to design cars, not just drive them. Most of the students that go through this program will not become professional photographers or work in Hollywood, but it gives them a sharp edge when entering the work world--visual literacy and the ability to use visual editing tools are skills that are valuable to employers and will give these students the ability to excel in whatever field they enter.

How about your community? Does your high school have an equivalent program? If not, why not?