Monday, October 17, 2005
Reality and the Internet
It's one of the hard lessons of life that just because something is good doesn't mean it will be accepted or that it will happen. This is what the internet community is learning in its effort to move from version 4 of the internet protocol to version 6.
The world is running out of internet addresses. There are only so many billion addresses that can be used before all have been taken in version 4. The effort to move to version 6 is to ensure there will be a nearly infinite number of addresses, which will allow every machine connected to the internet anywhere on earth, sea or sky to have its own unique identification. That is not true now.
But, there is so much money and time invested in hardware and software for version 4 that no one is eager to spend billions to change it out. Sooner or later, they will have to do it. It would be better if it were sooner.
If ever there was a setup for a major PR campaign, this is it. The public doesn't know or understand how the internet works or why it needs to move to version 6. There is an enormous opportunity to tell them the benefits and to build the pressure needed to make the change.
I'm not holding my breath waiting for the funding of such a campaign.
The world is running out of internet addresses. There are only so many billion addresses that can be used before all have been taken in version 4. The effort to move to version 6 is to ensure there will be a nearly infinite number of addresses, which will allow every machine connected to the internet anywhere on earth, sea or sky to have its own unique identification. That is not true now.
But, there is so much money and time invested in hardware and software for version 4 that no one is eager to spend billions to change it out. Sooner or later, they will have to do it. It would be better if it were sooner.
If ever there was a setup for a major PR campaign, this is it. The public doesn't know or understand how the internet works or why it needs to move to version 6. There is an enormous opportunity to tell them the benefits and to build the pressure needed to make the change.
I'm not holding my breath waiting for the funding of such a campaign.
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