Google’s latest announcement:
We’re planning to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States. We’ll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.
Our goal is to experiment with new ways to help make Internet access better and faster for everyone. Here are some specific things that we have in mind:
- Next generation apps: We want to see what developers and users can do with ultra high-speeds, whether it’s creating new bandwidth-intensive “killer apps” and services, or other uses we can’t yet imagine.
- New deployment techniques: We’ll test new ways to build fiber networks, and to help inform and support deployments elsewhere, we’ll share key lessons learned with the world.
- Openness and choice: We’ll operate an “open access” network, giving users the choice of multiple service providers. And consistent with our past advocacy, we’ll manage our network in an open, non-discriminatory and transparent way.
Google has not yet proven they are capable of handling physical products well; they only recently started accepting real live calls for Nexus One support. And now they want to get into the business of fiber-to-the-home connectivity? I don’t believe they realize the extent to which you have to employ real, live people to support physical products.
So - wow. This sounds familiar; not one month ago, commenting on the Nexus One, Kontra pointed out that Google’s recent frenetic rush into multiple, diverse industries resembles Microsoft’s [ultimately doomed] behavior from the 1990s:
During its growth period, Microsoft entered into one risky bet after another, from cable TV to office equipment automation to Dick Tracy watches. It saw threats to its core revenue base from every new development, every new player to come along. And expand and spend it did. It did, mostly because its management thought it could.
Of course, Google doesn’t think it’s Microsoft and could surprise everyone with a brilliant plan to bypass these hurdles.
The truth, as they say, is often better than fiction.
Anyway, the frightening part to me is the “openness and choice” bullet item … somehow, I don’t hear that as a common complaint. If they are playing that up as one of their main selling points, I have to think there is something wrong with the picture. In particular, Google has clearly demonstrated to the world that, despite the “do no evil” thing, they are more than willing to be anything but “open, non-discriminatory, and transparent.”
Personally, I like my dumb pipes dumb. I suspect Google has a different vision in mind.
