[p2p-research] peer net on the blog

[M. Fioretti]

On Sun, Mar 09, 2008 11:03:14 AM +0100, Sepp Hasslberger wrote:

> Perhaps we don't need to talk about completely replacing today's
> telecom networks.
>
> But it seems possible that the telecoms could be pushed back towards
> providing connectivity to the cloud of a p2p 'peernet' through a
> number of access points

Possible... maybe it's possible. The question is, should this happen
because it *is* necessary and actually better (technically,
environmentally, safety-wise, politically) than current networks... or
because p2p in general and peernet in particular are such cool
concepts that we can't resist to remake everything we see the
p2p/peernet way?

> perhaps that change is completely natural and is already
> underway. And perhaps it is needed to allow ubiquitous connectivity,
> which the telecoms have difficulty providing today.

Part of this difficulty may be the mere fact that there is no demand
for it, or at least not enough concrete demand, of the kind "I'm
willing to pay for it because I concretely need it" versus demand of
the kind "I'm downloading everything I find even if I'll never have
the time to play it all, because it's trendy"

> What would be wrong with leaving the last layer of interconnection
> to consumer-generated and maintained wireless networks?

everything I've already said: I don't trust consumer-generated and
maintained wireless networks. Not as a mass solution or a complete
last-mile replacement. They are likely to be far less reliable than
professionally made and maintained networks, they may be dangerous in
extreme cases or interfere with important services, they would
probably consume more energy and raw materials to build and function.

Backup or educational networks, home to home interconnection in some
godforsaken mountain village or within some large ranch... those may
be other issues.

> http://www.dailywireless.org/2008/03/07/intels-rural-connectivity-platform/

This article only mentions specialist applications; excellent and
necessary work, but assuming they can scale to fully replace the last
mile is a bit far-fetched in my opinion. Especially because the main
problems I see remains not in the devices themselves, but in how many
of them are needed and above all who deploys, configures and maintains
them.

-- 
Your own civil rights and the quality of your own life heavily depend on
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