In “techie” circles Net Neutrality is a hot topic.  It’s as hot as pointed ears at a Star Trek convention.

Basically, Net Neutrality is a movement to preserve the open and equal nature of the Internet that we have come to know and love.  Just Google “Net Neutrality” for a smorgasbord of info.  But do it while you can because if some big telecoms have their way, in the very near future you may have to pay to Google.

The battle of Net Neutrality is squaring off like the classic “David and Goliath” showdown with big business flexing is muscles to get what it wants at the expense of most everyone who uses the Web.

But I would like to offer an alternate perspective to the big ISP companies – you could be missing a big opportunity by not embracing Net Neutrality.  You just have to see the big picture.

Think of the money you will save by not having to implement a tiered Web structure.  And you don’t have to be Nostradamus to foresee the massive ongoing expense for support to the complexity you propose to add.  Every engineering student knows the “keep it simple” principle, and the flat organization of the Internet is the ultimate in simplicity.  The other engineering 101 rule is if it’s not broke then don’t fix it.

Here’s a thought, use the resources to become the best ISP in the world providing fast and reliably Internet service with stellar support.  If you do this, you will be unstoppable.

Imagine the PR leverage from being the Telecom that makes a stand as the advocate for a free and open Internet.  And all you have to do is support the WWW in its current incarnation.  This ad campaign practically writes itself.

Remember the movie “Big Business” with Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin?   It is packed full of over-the-top comic clichés with the heartless mega-corporation wanting to sell land for strip mining in a beautiful small town called Jupiter Hollow.  Of course this would decimate this simple, all-American community setting the stage for a classic showdown.

In a stockholder meeting Bette and Lily convince the business minded board to save Jupiter Hollow not because it is “some of the most beautiful land in God’s creation”, but to save their own asses from the backlash of bad publicity.  The image of protesters converging on the company headquarters in Manhattan in their trucks with their families, babies, and barnyard animals was a PR liability they could not afford.

So big business, watch the movie “Big Business” and you will not only be entertained, but you may be enlightened.  Better yet, go online and watch the clip of the boardroom scene.  Of course, if you have your way you will “strip mine” the Internet so that you can no longer watch movie clips on the Web unless you pay a toll.  But now it is just a few clicks away, the way it was meant to be.  Hopefully, you are starting to see the big picture.

Big business – don’t miss this opportunity.  Go to the following website and be the first telecom to support Net Neutrality:
http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/first-telecom-to-take-the-net-neutrality-pledge-wins-our-business
Support Net Neutrality not to just to preserve the forum for the greatest open exchange of information in human history, but to save your own “business asses” from a Goliath expense that could deflate the “big” in your big business.

Why do we get so mad at people talking on their cell while driving?  Yet we always chuckle at all those women (and perhaps men) who put on their makeup while behind the wheel.

And remember all the fear about cell phones causing you to explode if you use it while filling your gas tank.

Click on fear for more info.  Don’t be afraid.  Actually, it is just a link to Eddie Izzard’s “Techo-Fear, Techno Joy” video.  So go ahead, click without fear or guilt.

Granted, we should respect the consequences of our technology, but we should not fear it.  Are we making cell phones the scapegoat for out techno-phobias?   Instead of facing techno-issues we can’t or don’t want to address, we are passing lawsrestricting cell phone usage in moving vehicles.  Take that Technology!

Are we like the wife who reads her husband the riot act for not taking out the trash while what’s really bothering her is that he is obviously cheating on her.  She knows he’s cheating, but is afraid to confront him.   So she scream at him for what she can instead of what’s really bothering her.

So I ask, what is really bothering you?  Children starving, energy crisis, disease, pollution, global warning, thermonuclear war, or cell phone driving?

Starting July 1, 2008 in the state of California you cannot talk on your cell while driving unless you use a hands free device such as Bluetooth.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/cellularphonelaws/index.htm

Do you think this law will really make you safer as you cruise down Santa Monica Boulevard?  The following video provides the obvious answer:

A while you can’t cell-and-drive in California, in Georgia you can “pact heat” in your auto!
New GA laws allows guns in cars.
So let’s get this straight, you can’t communicate with another human while driving, but you can shoot one.
Is this one of those things that should bother us?

In response to my July 12, 2008 post “Let’s Get ready to Roomba” it’s official – Life is cheaper, at least acording to the United Stated government.  See the following:

$900,000 taken off in what critics say is way to weaken pollution rules

I think Stephen Colbert sums it up best:

A friend got a Roomba (http://www.irobot.com/) as a wedding present.  The Roomba is a robot vacuum cleaner.

When she first got it out of the box I thought it was a bathroom scale and I thought, “What an awful wedding gift!”
But soon it was roaming around the room vacuuming up the dirt.  I could not stop singing the Styx song “Mr. Roboto.”  And once you start sing “Domoarigato Mr. Roboto” you can’t stop.  Try it!  (Grin)

I thought this could be the great grandmother of Rosie-the-robot form the Jetsons.  And I wondered why don’t we have a Rosie-the-robot in every household doing the mundane tasks of life?  Is it because we know that first comes Roomba, and then comes Rosie, and the next thing you know we have this?

Run, Sarah Conner, Run!

I don’t think so.
There is no Rosie-the-robot because there is so much cheep labor available in a global economy.  Think about it.  Why build a robot to do a job when you can get a human to do it for pennies a day?

So should I get a roomba or an illegal immigrant to do house work?

And everybody knows that robots will turn on you.  The Cylons did in Battlestar Galatica, iRobot became a killer, and of course everyone’s favorite Terminator with his promise of “I’ll be back”.  People will not turn on you like that, no matter how hard we make then work for next to nothing.  Or will they?

Could we be bypassing great advancements because we have made the value of people so cheap?  Is it just a matter of time before the masses of people who’ve been discounted to a minimum value will be ready to “roomba”?   (Sorry, couldn’t resist)  And at that point we will be asking, “Where is Robocop?”   Oh, we didn’t invent it because it was too expensive and labor was so cheap.

What is the Biology of Technology (BOT) world?
This famous line from “Steel Magnolias” sums it up,
“The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize.”

In the BOT world our accessories equals technology.

So without our tech accessories we’re this:

And with technology we’re this:

WOW!  Look how far we’ve come.  (Grin)

But our tech accessories are more than just toys.  And as we grow-up, so does our technology.
“When I became a man I put away childish things”.  Technology is not just a place to play (well, maybe a little); it’s a place we can “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” in a most hopeful and magnificent way.  This is your Biology of Technology (BOT) world.