Today is an historical day for America. While we are all preparing to record our “where we were when it happened” stories, the network communications industry has been hard at work for the past nine months getting ready for the big day:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/technology/19cell.html
Today may be an unprecedented day for network carriers in the U.S. as they meet the demands of a younger, social-savvy who will be participating in the inauguration by their preferred methods of communication – sharing stories, thoughts and information in real-time via text, photos, email, Twitter and other social networks. (Oh yeah, some of them still talk of the phone too.)
In anticipation of unmanageable volume, the phone companies have made a request that consumers practice prudence tomorrow when communicating with friends and family. This request, in turn, has raised concern with consumer advocate groups, as well as yours truly. Network bandwidth is a commodity and as consumers, we have a right to expect that it will be there (in working order) when we need it. But, following through on this theory, it also makes me wonder…should we be thinking about conserving bandwidth in the same way that we do our natural commodities such as water, oil, etc… Do we have the right to unlimited usage, or should our individual and collective environmental conscience extend to the airwaves? What is the environmental impact of a day like today?
Victoria Thorpe