ADSL - We shove stuff down your line, you get a little channel back...
I implemented ADSL this week at the office. I have no complaints with our provider- in fact I recommend Bway.net highly - they were very nice and things got done about as fast as they could, considering Verizon had to do some of the work.
But I was thinking today about the Asymetric part of the line. I had to get an email with a large file and then send it back. The download was quick, but the upload (while the person waited on the phone) was a bit longer. It made me think about the reasons this technology probably appealed to the Bell companies in the first place - it's all about Broadcasting Stuff We Want You to get, and not about what you want to send out.
Then I saw Doc's weblog and he's thinking along the same lines today. A harmonic convergence of sorts:
"Second, I want to see the Web restored to its original design as a symetrical system. I'd like speeds both up and down to be equal. I'd like Port 80 to go unblocked. Cable and ADSL (which constitutes most DSL) systems are set up today with the expectation that most people would rather consume than produce. In fact they actively discourage production. Yet most of us would probably rather put our photo albums and home movies on our own home servers instead of some BigCo or ISP server, if the choice was available." The Doc Searls Weblog : Tuesday, April 30, 2002
The nice thing about having our own connection at the office is that I can now use Instant Messaging. I didn't realize how good a communication tool it is for both personal AND business relationships until I didn't have it for 4 months.
10:33:07 PM 
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