Welcome! I’m hoping this blog provides the opportunity to reflect on historical influences in our business, allows you to reflect on drivers for change, and perhaps adjust your business model to remain competitive. I’ve tried to keep this relatively light, with links that provide access to whitepapers and datasheets that might help you with your next business challenge.
I invite comments, personal anecdotes, and questions. I look forward to responding.
If we only had a crystal ball
It is often debated whether Bill Gates actually said “640k software is all the memory anybody would ever need on a computer.” At the time of the so called quote the IBM 5150 was the predominate personal computer, starting out with 16 kB of ram and no hard drive.
I was fresh out of college at the time, hired by Sheridan College by the AV department to fix equipment used by the instructors and support their TV distribution network that would allow ¾“ video tapes to be played in the classroom from a central location.
I personally find it interesting to reminisce on how careers change as technology changes. It makes one think about how life will change in the next 30 years as new technology is introduced.
Self driving cars? Impossible!
What technology has had the most impact on your life?
My job of fixing computers turned into supporting software and then networking. In the early 90’s computer networks were small. Typically, less then 30 computers. An extremely large Novell network might be 300 computers. At Sheridan we had a vision of using our allocated class B IP addressing allotment to network all 2000 student and staff computers over 8 campuses, creating what I understood as the largest educational institution network in Canada.
At the time of this first initial build, the internet was not a familiar term to the general public. There was no world wide web browser available, Mosiac would be introduced a short time later in 1993. Very little graphical content was available. Commercial applications were very few.
Oh, if I only knew at the time how this would change, I’d probably be on a beach working on a tan on my own private island. Unfortunately, I did not have the vision of what was about to come and how it would impact virtually everyone on the planet.
How much bandwidth does one need? A historical perspective
Interesting to note, my connection to the Internet for all 2000 computers at the College was a 56kB leased line. Let’s put this into perspective. 2000 people could use this 56kB shared connection quite adequately at the time. As my career moved forward, little did I know that I would sell equipment with a 1 gig personal connection, to a large percentage of all Canadians across the country. And today, we are looking at technology that would provide a 10 G service to the home.
My career has come somewhat full circle, from fixing TVs and supporting a small cable network in the 80’s, building larger and larger computer networks, and has evolved to right where I started. I now supply equipment that provides video services that change the fabric of how content is delivered today. Changes, that are replacing an infrastructure that has fundamentally not changed since the first television broadcast. How fitting it would be on IP networks.
The era of massive change
Some change comes slow, some change comes fast. While video delivery change has been relatively slow, we are on the verge of the most significant change, so fasten your seatbelts folks. We are in for quite a ride!
Want to learn more?
Want to learn more about current technology changes? We have an entire Industry Report on the Pay-TV industry in 2021 where we explore key trends, predictions, and opportunities for growth.
By Gord Mummery
Director of Canadian National Accounts
With over 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Gord has worked with companies across North America, Europe and Asia to deliver industry-leading video and data solutions. Based in Toronto, Ontario, if you can’t find Gord in a customer headend or boardroom working to solve the next challenge, you just might catch him fishing in a tournament.