Why a gigabit internet matters.

Remember 25 years ago, when computer software was simple and small enough to fit on floppy drives? At first they fit on 5 1/4" floppies, then onto the more compact and denser 3 1/2" floppies. Back then, we were talking about 1.44MB and 720KB floppies, and the more complex software required 5 floppies to store the programs onto. We programmed hundreds of lines of code (in some cases, thousands) - most of us did - in comparison to the millions of lines of code now required for most mainstream software.

Well, as surely as computers have gotten more sophisticated with transistors measured in nanometers instead of millimeters, and storage capacity has gone from those 720KB floppies to 32GB flash drives and 2TB hard drives, so has the need for greater bandwidth to communicate and transmit data between points. As surely as storage capacity will grow and computers gain in power, so too will our needs for faster delivery of software, information and services via the internet.

But why gigagit?

Well, one has to consider what can be possible with gigabit service. With 20+ megabit service, we can easily stream HD video content, but that HD content is merely 1920 x 1080 pixels. If you think about it, if you want a 84" screen for a full immersion environment (think Star Trek Next Generation holodeck), you will need a lot more than 1920 pixels to fool the brain into believing the imagery on screen. If you want the full surround video and sound experience, you will need to stream a lot more data than what we currently do. And this isn't just for entertainment purposes, either. Imagine being able to sit in on a live internet broadcast of a digital classroom, where you can see digital feeds of your classmates via real-time projected avatars that look as if you're actually sitting in a classroom. Or imagine creating digital buildings in real-time and quarter size models, that you can instantly expand to a full size model and experience a real-time walk through or fly by.

Why gigabit? Because the future beckons, that's why.