He has read the signals and made the call, just as he did several years ago when he vacated the memory-chip business, in advance of grinding competition and shrinking margins. With constant vigilance and change, Intel's success can continue for years to come. It underestimates how the next 10 years will be the decade of Bandwidth on Demand. From 1995-2005, the cost of switching will drop faster than the cost of bandwidth. Networks always become more complex.
Networks find applications that double the bandwidth needed every three years.
The cost of bandwidth is artificially high. Yet, I confess to being somewhat confused by it. Bandwidth is important, because it will make the connection a richer one, but the fact remains that we humans lack broadband input channel to access all that bandwidth directly. And it is the computer that must bridge that gap, keeping it in the driver's seat as we enter the realm of ubiquitous, connected computing. Gilder's article makes an additional point, and one that falls too often on deaf ears in Washington.