“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers”.
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And with those less-than-prescient words at the dawn of the computer age, former IBM chairman Thomas Watson assured his place in the annals of infamy.
As Mr Watson would later discover, predicting the pace of technological change over the last 50 years has been a parlous pursuit.
Today, many of us have five computers ourselves, including in our pocket, workplace, car and home.
The internet is quite simply the oxygen of modern life, the respiratory system for business, recreation and human connectivity.
And it’s the National Broadband Network (NBN) that will provide the foundation for this nation’s rapidly growing information superhighway.
The sheer volume of public policy objectives bundled into the NBN is staggering.
But for too long, the critical piece of technology infrastructure has been used as a political pinball.
While both sides of politics have embraced the fact high-speed broadband is vital, they differ wildly on the speed and method of delivery.
The Coalition’s preference for using the existing copper network to deliver the technology, rather than Labor’s fibre-to-the-premises model, has thrust regions like ours into “broadband purgatory”.
It’s an unenviable tale of two cities, where Armidale has lightning-fast
fibre-to-the-premises broadband and most of Tamworth is set for the far inferior fibre-to-the-node.
It was this disparity that prompted the Tamworth Business Chamber to invite NBN Co spin doctor Darren Rudd to address the local business community yesterday.
Mr Rudd told business leaders technological advancements meant Tamworth would not be put at a disadvantage by being able to access only fibre-to-the-node.
While Mr Rudd should be commended for addressing the concerns of local businesses, he is ostensibly saying we should be happy with a Camry when Armidale is driving a Ferrari.
Fibre-to-the-node may be better than what we have now but it remains a pale imitation of fibre-to-the-premises.
Ultimately, this debate – like many fiscal arguments – boils down to a cost-benefit ratio.
And it appears while the superior technology carries more benefits, the government has decided the cost is too great to let us experience them.