Fiber to the home: America's most important, and most ignored, tech development

[Commentary] Forget the iPhone 5s. Don’t bother looking at Microsoft’s Surface 2. Ignore software defined networking. They’re all important in one way or another, but to my mind, the biggest, most important development in the tech world right now is the beginning of fiber-based Internet service for home users.

There are three reasons fast Internet changes everything: 1) fast Internet is essential to making today’s cloud services work properly; 2) gigabit Internet will enable innovation on the next generation of services, which history shows will consume exponentially more bandwidth than previous iterations; and 3) the faster the top speeds, the better for everyone, even those who can’t afford it. Competition from fiber to the home will drive down the cost and boost the speed of other Internet connectivity options, improving Net access for everyone.