Digital Arms Build-up?

Digital Arms Build-up?

There's
much talk about Net Neutrality these days.  Last week was a bad
week for those on the pro-Neutrality side.   The telcos and
their cable comrades are obviously spending their, er, lobbying money
well.  They sure have practice at it.  Consider how and why
the FCC has gone from dispassionate regulator to bidding-doer of the
monoliths.

One would think the Commissioners were looking for
cushy post-FCC jobs, or to curry favor with the big boys, come time for
their next endeavors.  Lobbying and investment banking is always
better when conducted among friends and like-minded partners, right?

Far
be it from the minds or concerns of the Commissioners at the FCC, or
members of the Congress of the Senate that the US trails the world in
broadband connectivity and access.  There is a greater global
concern that seems lost on them, that of competition and viability, of
commerce and opportunity.  The Commissioners, and their pals the
lobbied Senators and Members of Congress, seem more concerned with
enabling monpolistic access.  And they think of video dial tone
and entertainment delivery systems, overlooking the larger issues of
ubiquitous connectivity, global interaction and commerce, and the web
as a plaza of global commerce and communication.

There are other fronts on which digital arms build-up of sorts is taking place.  Today's NY Times has an article [1] about Google's "extraordinary ambition in its battle with Microsoft and Yahoo." 
The battle for the desktop, for web apps and services to capture the
lion's share of users (and their attention and thus reach), is heating
up.

There are other fields of activity, in this space or in
related efforts.  A zillion or so start-ups (most of which proudly
brand themselves as Web2.0, the next wave, the next big thing, the
place for VC money to be placed in the second coming of Irrational
Exhuberance) are offering web services that sidestep Microsoft (et al),
put a stake in the ground known as the desktop, and claim to be
connectivity-based time and money savers.  Or functional
applications which will be sticky, have legs, last a long time and
either make money or bring users (formerly known and now no longer PC
to describe as "eyeballs") to a specific landing place.

Google
has initiatives of all sorts, many developed in response to user needs;
others the result of the company encouraging innovation among its
loyal, intelligent and creative workforce.  Yahoo is right behind
Google in the "useful apps" race, and has acquired a number of
companies with products that establish a repeat-use habit , as a
desktop/browser destination or application.  Yahoo would seem to
have a sharper focus on the entertainment content marketplace, taking
traditional or legacy media and developing web spaces or converting the
experience to a delivered interactive  offering.

AOL, no
longer the shining star and media/investment darling it was some years
back, is also busy with new entertainment an information
offerings.  Acceptance of change and a willingness to grow within
new and recently emerged areas of the webosphere could rejigger and
strenthen the overall brand, the visits, the eyeballs, the ad revenues,
and the stock price.  Don't count AOL out anytime soon.

Universal/NBC
seeks to become a player in the broadband space.  Does this
indicate new strategic thinking with regard to delivery and
distribution?   News, episodic drama and comedy, film and
other features could bypass broadcast, cable and telco if NBC can find
its way into the desktop/screen/terminal/hand-held instrument. 

The
last mile, also known as the first mile, will morph into a variety of
entryways.  Spectrum allocations will assume new profiles as
delivery platforms.  Imagine connecting to a TiVo-like site to
select captures and storage, to send to other people or places -- these
changes are coming.  In the entertainment categories there will be
movement on a grand scale.

There will be growth alongside some
bloody battles.  Spirited initiative will occur, and concurrently
spawn rivals, enemy camps, and concerns over share of market. 
Markets will converge.  Digital arms races will manifest;
skirmishes (corporate, et al) over delivery and distribution (and, of
course, measurement metrics) will result in collateral damage.

This
feels oddly akin to the arms build up before major warfare. 
Countries declare allies, others launch invasions, blocs are
built.  Global arms build-up recast as digital services and
controlling the delivery systems.
  
Companies in the
enterprise space are working to develop and launch suites with products
and services that encourage colaboration and productivity.  
Of major enterprise level concern  and development are
alternatives to the Office Suite, and other traditional biz-ops,
converting them from old paradigm legacy systems or practices to
connected, electronic operations.

Neutrality gets lost in the
Hollywood Shuffle.   The US lags behind the world in
broadband access and usage.  Showbiz companies seek to establish
connectivity beachheads.  The telcos and cable operators seek to
monopolize (and then, of course, gouge -- for reference, see gas prices
in the era of Bush the Younger) in order to corral the delivery of
entertainment and telecommunications.  It isn't just video dial
tone.  Skype ,Vonage, Lingo, Google and Yahoo Talk, AOL and those
all-you-can-eat triple play cable offerings are vying for share of the
phone call and access market.  Think of  phone calls as a
peer-to-peer activity.  This is a glimmer into what's right around
the corner.

Remember the browser wars of a few years ago? 
That was child's play compared to what's coming.  Put on those
hardhats, prep the panic room, and get ready for digital warfare.

After
the debacle, might just be that cooler heads will prevail, and
neutrality will happen, if perhaps just a bunch of years too
late.  The smoke will rise, and neutrality will be as though
Phoenix.