l limited by what low-end users will tolerate waiting for, which can be rather frustrating to those looking for true real time video and other bandwidth-greedy applications. Here is where NGI comes into the equation.http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/features/2001/313369b.htmlNGI provides the opportunity for bandwidth able to handle applications that require at least 600 Mbps of bandwidth. Such applications include things like DVD-quality video transmission, real-time VRML (virtual-reality markup language), and language tutors that speak the language to you in a real time conversation better than the natives do. Don’t rush to the store asking where you can get NGI just yet. Currently, the company with the hold on the market is an MCI conglomeration called vBNS+ (very high performance backbone network service). Most of the computers taking advantage of mutli-gigabyte per second transfer rates have web addresses that end in .edu, and also big research facilities like the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The biggest and best connection by far is MCI’s pipeline connecting Los Angeles and San Fransisco, currently running at speeds at or exceeding 2.5 Gbps. One example of high speed connections meeting the ordinary human with less than a doctorate degree is illustrated in PCComputing’s article on NGI: “…consider peaceful Ashton, Oregon. Ashland, population 19,000, boasts Shakespeare in the summer, picket fences, and a fiber-optic network connecting everyone in town. On its citywide gigabit network, residents get 3 Mbps to 5 Mbps transfer rates around the clock, giving them some of the highest personal bandwidth rates in the country.”Does this mean that we will all soon laugh about the good old days when we spent two hours downloading a game demo? Don’t hold your breath yet. Is the future of the internet moving backs to its roots as an educational and business application, only now with fu...
