It's conceivable -- and probably inevitable -- that TV/web convergence will lead to us ordering up movies, pizza and even advertising while watching custom-tailored content and interacting with social-network buddies at the same time. The question is how these services will work together and who will manage and monetize them in a world where the TV networks operate with a mass-media mentality and are anxious to keep $60.5 billion in ad revenue from going away.
Rep Ed Markey (D-MA) -- former chair of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee and current chair of a special committee on energy and global warming -- is responsible for charging the Federal Communications Commission with writing a National Broadband Plan. On Monday at the FCC's field hearing on broadband, energy consumption and the environment, Rep Markey said he thought that if the FCC gets the plan right, the greenhouse gas problem could be solved by 2050. Among the takeaways from the hearing was that the government would need to find ways to incentivize broadband networks and utilities to work together in ways they had not before, and for both to collaborate with government and academia to get the job done. The job is to match the near ubiquitous deployment of electricity with broadband so that a national smart grid can become a reality, and with enough bandwidth to handle as-yet-undeveloped applications.
The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it has awarded grants to fund broadband mapping and planning activities in Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana, and Missouri under NTIA's State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program.
Alaska: NTIA has awarded the Denali Commission approximately $1.4 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and almost $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a five-year period in Alaska, bringing the total grant award to approximately $1.9 million. The Denali Commission, an independent federal agency, is the designated entity for the state of Alaska.
Colorado: NTIA has awarded the Governor's Office of Information Technology (OIT) approximately $1.6 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and almost $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a five-year period in Colorado, bringing the total grant award to approximately $2.1 million. OIT is the designated entity for the state of Colorado. Delaware: NTIA has awarded the Delaware Department of Technology and Information (DTI) approximately $1.1 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and almost $470,000 for broadband planning activities over a two-year period in Delaware, bringing the total grant award to approximately $1.5 million. DTI is the designated entity for the state of Delaware.
Kansas: NTIA has awarded Connected Nation approximately $1.5 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a three-year period in Kansas, bringing the total grant award to approximately $2 million. Connected Nation, a non-profit organization, is the designated entity for the state of Kansas, however the state of Kansas will direct and implement all planning activities.
Louisiana: NTIA has awarded the Louisiana Division of Administration, Office of Information Technology (OIT) approximately $1.2 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and almost $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a two-year period in Louisiana, bringing the total grant award to almost $1.7 million. OIT is the designated entity for the state of Louisiana.
Missouri: NTIA has awarded the Missouri Office of Administration (MOA) approximately $1.5 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and approximately $470,000 for broadband planning activities over a two-year period in Missouri, bringing the total grant award to almost $2 million. MOA is the designated entity for the state of Missouri.
The progress that wireless devices have made in the consumer space is nothing short of breathtaking. In the developed world, nearly everyone has a cellphone, and it's difficult to go anywhere in an urban center and not have a half-dozen WiFi networks within signal range. A lot of the focus in this space has been on providing more bandwidth to devices like smart phones and routers, but at least some companies are betting that the next frontier in wireless is in cheap, low-power devices. Individually, they'll use a tiny fraction of the bandwidth of the hardware we're familiar with; but, if things go according to plan, there will be a lot more of these devices. The devices themselves are based on the IEEE's 802.15 standard, which is intended for what the organization terms "personal area networks." In contrast to WiFi or even Bluetooth, 802.15.4 class devices typically only have a bandwidth of a few hundred Kbps, which puts them decidedly on the low end of the communications scale. That bandwidth, however, is more than sufficient for a wide variety of common uses; the Zigbee standard for wireless smart appliances has been built on top of 802.15.4.
AOL's CEO Tim Armstrong is promising to "spark a revolution" in online news reporting: He's got plans to automate it. Instead of relying on AOL's experienced staff of editors and writers to put together the written content for AOL's news Web sites, the company will be employing an algorithmic system that trawls the Internet and examines the stories its Net visitors will most prefer. It'll then advise the humans in the loop which stories are likely to do well, and when to run them--particularly pieces like seasonal or sporting-interest ones. AOL will also be using Seed.com to share out article assignments among the large freelance staff. Payments for freelancers will also be calculated automatically, along with advertising fees. And, and this is the most intriguing part, it'll screen the submitted pieces for grammar and even check them for copyright infringements.
[Commentary] Dumb is better? That is what net neutrality advocates would have us believe. Their basic belief is that broadband networks should be pipes that indifferently pass information packets from one location to another, allowing content providers and customers equal opportunity to do whatever they want. Who could be against that? People interested in innovation and customer welfare. Remember Al Gore calling the Internet the information superhighway? The metaphor wasn't and isn't perfect, but it is instructive. Suppose we applied net neutrality to our transportation system — there would be no high-occupancy vehicle lanes during rush hour, no car-only lanes on interstates, and no toll road as an alternative to I-95 in South Florida. Transportation would be more costly and provide less value. Forcing net neutrality would have similar results. Time-sensitive information, such as stock market transactions, would wait in line behind football game highlights.
[Mark A. Jamison is the director of Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida. Janice Hauge is an associate professor in the department of economics at the University of North Texas.]
Recent studies raising questions about the benefits of electronic health records (EHRs) are informative, but limited in their applicability to our health information technology (HIT) program. To the extent that they accurately capture past experience with EHRs, these studies illustrate something that the Congress and the President understand and have allowed for: namely, that having an EHR alone is not sufficient. Doctors and hospitals have to use this technology effectively, have to employ its extraordinary power to improve clinical decisions, in order to achieve its potential benefits. The federal government's new programs of incentives and penalties are totally focused on encouraging the meaningful use of EHRs. The resources set aside by the Congress to encourage the adoption of EHRs will go only to physicians, hospitals, and other providers who meet carefully designed new requirements for the use of EHRs that will translate into health improvements and cost reductions for the American people. And the plan passed by Congress includes new resources and support that will help make it possible for providers and hospitals to meet these requirements. We have already announced the availability of grants that will help providers adopt and use EHRs, and we will be making additional announcements in the weeks and months ahead. Sometimes bold steps are required to improve the human condition. Among the most successful health and social programs in American history are Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Community Health Center Program, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. It would have been a tragic mistake, costing untold thousands of lives and enormous suffering, if we had foregone or delayed these programs. I believe the HIT initiative will rank with these huge successes in the value it will bring to the American people over the years to come.
A mythology about the relationship between American government and the news business is again making the rounds, and it needs a corrective jolt. The myth is that the commercial press in this country stands wholly independent of governmental sustenance. Here's the jolt: There's never been a time in U.S. history when government dollars weren't propping up the news business. This year, federal, state and local governments will spend well over $1 billion to support commercial news publishers through tax breaks, postal subsidies and the printing of public notices. And the amount used to be much higher. After backing the news industry for more than 200 years, the government should assess how it can be most helpful now, when the future of news and information is so uncertain. As it debates possible forms of support, the government should consider these principles: First and foremost, do no harm. A cycle of powerful innovation is under way. To the extent possible, government should avoid retarding the emergence of new models of newsgathering. Second, the government should help promote innovation, as it did when the Department of Defense funded the research that created the Internet or when NASA funded the creation of satellites that made cable television and direct TV possible. Third, for commercial media, government-supported mechanisms that are content neutral -- such as copyright protections, postal subsidies and taxes -- are preferable to those that call upon the government to fund specific news outlets, publications or programs. However policymakers proceed, they should do so based on facts rather than myth. The government has always supported the commercial news business. It does so today; and unless the government takes affirmative action, the level of support is almost certain to decline at this important time in the history of journalism.
[Commentary] The good news first: the politicians and regulators who have it in their power to do something about the decline of American journalism are finally paying attention. Now for the bad news: the way the challenges facing journalism are being discussed, indeed the way the crisis itself is being framed, will make it tough for even the most sincere policy-makers to offer a viable answer to it. The assumption is clear: it's the Internet that's the problem. But just as MTV's debut pronouncement that "Video Killed the Radio Star" proved to be dramatically overstated, so is the notion that journalism's disintegration can be attributed to a brand-new digital revolution or even an old-fashioned economic meltdown. The decline of commercial journalism predates the web.
About John Nichols
John Nichols, a pioneering political blogger, has written The Beat since 1999. His posts have been circulated internationally, quoted in numerous books and mentioned in debates on the floor of Congress.
About Robert W. McChesney
Robert McChesney is Gutgsell Endowed Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois. He hosts the program Media Matters on WILL-AM every Sunday afternoon from 1-2PM central time. He and John Nichols, The Nation's Washington correspondent, are the founders of Free Press, the media reform network, and the authors of Tragedy and Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections, and Destroy Democracy (New Press).
With a handful of carriage deals set to expire at the end of the year, Time Warner Cable has launched a preemptive strike against programmers who may be looking to jack up their affiliate fees. The cable operator on Wednesday unveiled RollOverOrGetTough.com, a site that will allow subscribers to weigh in on increasing programming costs. On the home page, users are prompted to click on one of two icons: a "rewind" button that indicates Time Warner should "roll over" on network demand, or a "fast-forward" button that allows customers to add their two cents to the debate. It's not a subtle distinction that's being made here. Those who click on the retrograde icon are warned that "massive price increases -- up to 300% -- are impossible for us to absorb without passing on some of that cost to you." Time Warner Cable adds that programmers who don't secure their carriage hikes "are threatening to pull the plug on your favorite shows."
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