Archives for posts with tag: Fear

The New York Times Bits blog has a post about how a Japanese company can upgrade their broadband service to 160 megabit/second broadband for $20 a home. Saul Hensell contrasts this with Verizon, who is spending $817 per home. Sadly, Mr. Hensell’s attempt to explain this difference falls short of believability. Instead of “less competition”, “no demand”, and “fear of losing TV revenue” a better explanation is “population density”. Mr. Hensell explains that the super-fast modem in Japan costs $60, up from $30; which leaves us wondering where the $20-upgrade fee comes from. One explanation is that it’s the average price per home – in Tokyo, where J:COM is based. But the population density in Tokyo is 14,410 people per sq mile; compared to 2,181 in New York City, and 409 in New York State. The infrastructure costs per home will therefore be considerably less in Japan.

Inertia is that fickle friend, who talks not of accomplishment but of inaction. Work, it claims, seems so far from here and such an effort to begin.

Slow, slow, slow down is the message; and in ever-slowing, the work that lies a head seems to be growing ever-greater. Tasks that once seemed small now loom large; events that seemed so close to inspire urgent fear now seem far too long in the future to worry with now.

Slow ’til you stop, and in motionless pose repose. Settle down and watch the world pass by, its frenetic speed and frantic, grasping actors a warning to those tempted to participate in the rat rate – a race whereby those racing can see nothing but the race, and those nearest to him. Neither the beginning nor the ending hold any especial meaning, and the journey is obscured by the quest for speed, speed, speed.

‘Tis a tempting message, once that still center has been reached. Such an effort to beginning moving, accelerate, and maintain one’s place. But inaction has its consequences, and those are hard to bear.