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ARPANet Co-Founder Predicts An Internet Crisis

The Insultant writes "Dr. Larry Roberts, co-founder of the ARPANET and inventor of packet switching, predicts the Internet is headed for a major crisis in an article published on the Internet Evolution web site today. Internet traffic is now growing much more quickly than the rate at which router cost is decreasing, Roberts says. At current growth levels, the cost of deploying Internet capacity to handle new services like social networking, gaming, video, VOIP, and digital entertainment will double every three years, he predicts, creating an economic crisis. Of course, Roberts has an agenda. He's now CEO of Anagran Inc., which makes a technology called flow-based routing that, Roberts claims, will solve all of the world's routing problems in one go."

10 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. Of course, he has an agenda by jollyreaper · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Of course, Roberts has an agenda. He's now CEO of Anagran Inc., which makes a technology called flow-based routing that, Roberts claims, will solve all of the world's routing problems in one go." So why is this making the front page again? Attention, ladies! My seed cures diseases. Can we get that on the front page, too? My agenda is no less shallow than his.
    --
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    1. Re:Of course, he has an agenda by bannerman · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm not sure if you want every woman with a disease to be seeking your seed for the cure...

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      I keep forgetting my place. Jesus is for losers. Why do I still play to the crowd?
  2. News Just In by JamesRose · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Man with Solution says the is a Problem.

    Yeah, not buyin it. A similar thing happened with electricity, when everyone bought TVs everyone bought computers etc. suddenly of course power usage sky rocketed, and lots of people said, well this is going to be the rate of growth now. Of course, with that, as it is with this, everyone go their TVs and then the demand levelled out, with this, everyone will start downloading videos, and the bandwith usage will level out. Yes, soon we'll need some new routers, but the problem isn't permanent, and it isn't something that we should trust a salesman to deal with.

  3. That's the way you do business. by Seumas · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Create a problem. Solve that problem. Uniquely own that solution in the market. Make everyone need what you have to offer.

    Of course, the first step is that these guys need to really convince everyone that the internet is about to implode and that the companies who need the enormous bandwidth and services simply can't or won't make the hardware investment that is necessary.

    The real threat to the internet are the legislators and lobbyists who want to nerf the internet so that the only use for it is the commercial enterprises and everything should be nerfed down to a Disney-fied toddler's level. That's an actual legitimate threat.

    However, maybe he should peddle the "piracy and torrents are killing the internet and I can save you!" angle. Might work.

  4. Wow by EveryNickIsTaken · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Someone submits a slashvertisement, acknowledges it in the summary, and it still gets put on the front page. Brilliant! Also, routing will be just fine. F-U-D.

  5. "Dark fiber"? by dazedNconfuzed · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What happened to all that talk of "dark fiber"?
    And how much of the routing problems stem from backbone ISPs (Comcast, Verizon, etc.; see recent /.) wanting to fiddle with packets instead of simply routing them?

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  6. What is the problem? by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If the cost increases, they will invest the money and upgrade the network. What is the problem? When MSFT thinks Facebook is worth 15 billion dollars, routers are chump change for them. What is the crisis here? Cost of something is going to go up? Big deal. Oil prices are shooting up. College tuition costs are shooting up. Y ! routing costs?

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  7. Re:Nice Formula by Sunburnt · · Score: 4, Insightful

    1. Run around screaming that the sky is falling 2. Develop and market a product that fixes the sky 3. ? 4. Profit!

    This would make more sense if step 3 was actually a mystery. I thought step 3 was obvious: "Convince influential idiots with money that your product is the greatest and most urgently needed thing since free porn."

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  8. Different website, same message, same bullshit by hellfire · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Zonk you fucking moron. You already posted this earlier this month right here. Different website, but same guy and same company, of course. Same message, same bullshit!

    You have officially crossed into the JonKatz zone. Not only do you post duplicates, but you post slanted slashvertisment duplicates! Your articles are worthless.

    It's too bad all I can do is ignore you, but it's about time I finally did. I recommend everyone else do the same, so we can finally hit home that bullshit editors will not be tolerated.

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    "All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"

  9. Scarcity by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    People who freak out about scarcity don't understand economics. Economic pressures drive alternatives and expanded production; we've been seeing this with food since Malthus confidently predicted that food generation could never keep up with current population growth...in 1798.

    As the demand rises, people leap to fill it. When Metcalf decided we were going to run out of switching capacity, he was looking at current manufacturing capacity, and a projected increase in demand, and he was sure that capacity could never keep up with demand.

    What he didn't see is a horde of people looking for ways to make money, who were looking at the same numbers and thinking, "Holy crap! If I make switches I'll be RICH!" Demand drives supply, not the other way around.

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    ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.