Technology | Page 35 | Discovery Institute

^{John Wohlstetter
November 5, 2001
Technology}

Fiber Fables II

_{John Wohlstetter
November 5, 2001
Technology}

Press reports this year have been replete with tales of the great “fiber glut” that leaves long distance carriers with vast unused bandwidth — Merrill Lynch estimates that only 2.5 percent of fiber capacity is currently used. By this reasoning the telecom revolution is drowning in a surfeit of supply and a dearth of demand. But the true story is nearly the polar opposite — yet another example of a telecom fable — a failure to distinguish between unused bandwidth and unusable bandwidth. To grasp this we must venture out into the often arcane world of telecommunications parlance, and translate nerd-speak into plain-speak. Read More ›

^{John Wohlstetter
October 19, 2001
Technology}

Preventing Cyber-Terror

_{John Wohlstetter
October 19, 2001
Technology}

The atrocities of September 11 brought home to Americans the vulnerability of a high-technology information society. Collapsing with the twin towers that topped the Manhattan sky-line was a veritable Mother-lode of network communications equipment. For want of communications alone the New York Stock Exchange could not have opened that terrible week. Read More ›

^{George Gilder
October 1, 2001
Technology}

Osama bin Luddite

_{George Gilder
October 1, 2001
Technology}

Tragedy purges the mind of trivia. Perhaps the horror of a new Black September can rescue our culture from its thrall of humorless TV Conditry. From gossip about the moral codes of mayors and actors. From the search for the combination to the loony bin of politicians and economists who believe in the lockbox for Social Security. Instead, we can Read More ›

^{John Wohlstetter
September 28, 2001
Technology}

Socializing Broadband

_{John Wohlstetter
September 28, 2001
Technology}

On Monday, July 9 French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin announced a $1.5 billion plan to bring all French households high-speed Internet access within five years. Further, France plans to spend $180 million to bring wireless access to the eight percent of the French population that currently lacks such access. Likening the project to past infrastructure build-outs for rail and electricity, Jospin set as his policy goal “to bring the information age to everyone.” Read More ›

^{John Wohlstetter
August 24, 2001
Technology}

Fiber-Optic Fables

_{John Wohlstetter
August 24, 2001
Technology}

We live in an age of famously embarrassing historical ignorance. Judging by responses given by “Pearl Harbor” moviegoers to knowledge poll queries, quite a few viewers would accept the late John Belushi’s “Animal House” claim that the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor. One of the grand fictions of telecom history is that the established carriers left fiber innovation to others. One version, given currency by, among others, former Justice Department antitrust chief Anne Bingaman, is that but for federal pro-competition policy by the FCC and AT&T divestiture Judge Harold Greene the fiber-optic revolution would have been delayed. A second version, promoted recently by the American enterprise Institute’s James Glassman, has MCI and Sprint as the pioneers, with MCI led by corporate visionary William McGowan into the fiber future. Read More ›

^{George Gilder
August 6, 2001
Technology}

Tumbling Into the Telechasm

_{George Gilder
August 6, 2001
Technology}

When Bill Clinton assumed office nine years ago, I predicted he would enjoy one of the greatest economic booms in the history of the world. Impelled by the spread of the Internet, the onset of fiber optics, and a tenfold increase in venture capital — unleashed by the lower tax rates and deregulation of the Reagan administration — the Clinton Read More ›

^{Multiple Authors
August 6, 2001
Technology}

Unleash Broadband

_{Multiple Authors
August 6, 2001
Technology}

WorldCom’s impending $40 billion bankruptcy should galvanize Washington to this simple fact: For the last two years we have suffered not a mild recession but a technology depression. With 34 major bankruptcies so far and 24 more expected, the collapsing communications industry — 17% of the economy — is the prime source of a $4 trillion dollar decline in the Read More ›

^{Jay W. Richards and George Gilder
June 6, 2001
Natural and Artificial Intelligence, Technology}

Are We Spiritual Machines?

_{Jay W. Richards and George Gilder
June 6, 2001
Natural and Artificial Intelligence, Technology}

In the closing session of the 1998 Telecosm conference, hosted annually by Gilder Publishing and Forbes at Lake Tahoe, inventor and author Ray Kurzweil engaged a number of critics. He advocated “Strong Artificial Intelligence” (AI), the claim that a computational process sufficiently capable of altering or organizing itself can produce “consciousness.” The session had an unexpectedly profound impact, not least Read More ›

^{April 16, 2001
Technology}

George Gilder of Discovery Institute Tells Washington Leaders: ‘Broadband Is Crucial to the Struggle Ahead’

_{April 16, 2001
Technology}

WASHINGTON, October 23, 2001 – “A strong economy is a must if the government is to afford to wage war on terrorism, strengthen our homeland defenses and mount major public health initiatives,” George Gilder told senior White House staff, Congressional leaders and journalists on Tuesday. “Broadband is crucial, short-term and long-term, to reviving this economy–and imperative if we are to Read More ›

^{George Gilder & Richard Vigilante
March 15, 2001
Technology}

Stop everything … it’s Techno-Horror!

_{George Gilder & Richard Vigilante
March 15, 2001
Technology}

George Gilder & Richard Vigilante, American Spectator, subtitle: From Silicon Valley via Aspen, Bill Joy wants to call the police. On science. On technology. On the industry that made him rich. The Left is OverJoyed., NULL Read More ›