Today's Buzz is wide-ranging. We know it has something to do with the people we choose to read but here goes: we get the distinct feeling that VOIP is
becoming the driving force in broadband. Cable companies, like Comcast are
bundling Cable, Broadbrand and Internet telephone services in a single package.
Some of our more astute observers are noting that the real business of the big
telco's is providing the pipe. Vonage, one of the VOIP leaders, for its part has announced the release of a telephone that lets its subscribers plug into Wi-Fi networks to make their calls. As the mobile phone companies get better at providing their own Wi-Fi services it will be hard for customers to distinguish whether they are spending their network minutes or tapping into VOIP services.
Another interesting thought that seems only to snowball as the new year breaks, is the breakdown of traditional media control. First it was blogs and the RSS feeds that make new content readily availale to an audience hungry for alternatives to their daily rag. Then came podcasting and it was possible to imagine a world of broadcasting without the towers and major equipment. Following fast on its heels is video blogging. Wired magazine has a gray cell
stimulating article entitled
the "BitTorrent Effect" on Bram Cohen, the BitTorrent man.
Here's a quote: "All hell's about to break loose," says Brad Burnham, a venture capitalist with Union Square Ventures in Manhattan, which studies the impact of new technology on traditional media. BitTorrent does not require the wires or airwaves that the cable and network giants have spent billions constructing and buying. And it pounds the final nail into the coffin of must-see, appointment television. BitTorrent transforms the Internet into the world's largest TiVo.
