<nettime> ***SPAM*** Re: Lori Emerson: What's Wrong With the Internet and How

[morlockelloi@yahoo.com]

I was present when people with pointy ears entered IETF meetings and 
ordered this. Is this the answer you expect?

Perhaps search engines can provide better answers. Worth trying:

ex. http://www.quora.com/Why-is-ADSL-asymmetric

Without getting in codecs and frequency allocations, consider that there 
are perfectly functioning symmetric variants of DSL (SDSL etc.) The 
underlying narrative is that "there is more download than upload", which 
then, combined with NATs, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Before DSL, we had modems for analog audio lines, and they were fully 
symmetric.

To dig out the chain of causality, one would need to track where this 
narrative originated in 90s, and how it found its way into the standards 
bodies, and why ISPs preferred ADSL to SDSL. All in 90s, it was too late 
after that.

It may well be true that most people really have nothing to say and 
create, so asymmetry makes sense, as they just need to be fed. But 
neglecting social consequences and amplifying this situation with 
technology *is* a political decision. Most people don't vote - does it 
mean that the number of voting booths should be cut down?


On 7/28/15, 2:56, Iain Boal wrote:

> So there was a purely political decision to build in the asymmetries.
> Can you corroborate, beyond the mere assertion? Who? When? Evidence
> welcome.  IB


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