How slow can you go?

The award winning crack research staff here at "Perspective" ->
got a news release from CBC news this morning that should give all of us pause.

Increasing internet access and new capacity-intensive uses like streaming, interactive videos and shared music files are pushing the system toward gridlock, a U.S. study warns.

The report by Nemertes Research said "internet access infrastructure, specifically in North America, will likely cease to be adequate for supporting demand within the next three to five years."

The company is not predicting that the internet will collapse, but it will get very slow. "Overall, transmitting over a saturated broadband link will feel a lot like the bad old days of dial-up: Long pauses between request and response, with some applications just too painful to bother with."

The biggest impact will be felt as investment in new applications dries up.

The next Google, YouTube, or Amazon might not arise, not because of a lack of demand, but due to an inability to fulfil that demand," the report said.

Nemertes calls for additional spending of up to $55 billion US, or about 70 per cent more than internet service providers are planning to spend, to build new capacity to avoid the slowdown.

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at http://www.god-101.com/ and the blog "Perspective" at http://god-101.blogspot.com/