Back in the mid-90s, I bought a new family PC for $3300. It had a few MB of RAM and a 386 processor. \u00a0In today’s dollars, it cost nearly $5000 — try spending that much on a PC today!<\/p>\n
Recently, I\u00a0built a machine with 32GB of RAM, a fast 4-core Intel processor, and 12TB of disk (raw size). \u00a0It is several thousands of times larger and faster in nearly every dimension than that old family PC, at less than half the cost.<\/p>\n
Moore’s Law<\/a> has settled in, and we now expect our technology to get dramatically faster, more capable, and cheaper over time. Flip phones are gone, and we’re carrying around personal supercomputers. \u00a0My phone’s built-in cameras (plural!) have better performance than my first digital cameras. \u00a0Ethernet went from 10mbits, to 100, and now a 5-port gigabit switch costs $18<\/a>. \u00a0Compare the current model iPhone to the original<\/a>, and a $500 TV to the same-priced model a few years ago.<\/p>\n Given this, why isn’t our Internet bandwidth keeping up? \u00a0Verizon just notified me that my monthly rate is going up $10 (with no speed increase). \u00a0As I wrote last week<\/a>, Netflix has reported a speed drop in some cases and is now trying to figure out its relationship with ISPs. \u00a0Akamai reports <\/a>that US speeds have stopped increasing in some cases, and are increasing more slowly in many other cases. \u00a0Projecting my PC experience, my Internet connection should now be a gigabit and cost $50\/month. \u00a0Why isn’t it?<\/p>\n ISPs argue that networks are incredibly expensive to build. \u00a0That’s true: ISPs have spent tens of billions building out fiber networks, and governments have offered significant incentives<\/a>.<\/p>\n But fiber is special: \u00a0unlike copper circuits<\/a>, fiber bandwidth is usually limited by the endpoint technology. \u00a0Where DSL is often running as fast as the copper can stand, fiber links have much, much higher potential bandwidth. \u00a0The price-performance of endpoint gear (subscriber terminals and core routers) improves at rates closer to Moore’s Law. \u00a0For example, Verizon’s own FiOS terminals have moved from 622 mbits to 2.4 gbit link speeds since they first rolled out the service.<\/p>\n For the fiber now in the ground and on the poles, why isn’t bandwidth price-performance improving more quickly?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Back in the mid-90s, I bought a new family PC for $3300. It had a few MB of RAM and a 386 processor. \u00a0In today’s dollars, it cost nearly $5000 — try spending that much on a PC today! Recently, … Continue reading