Bandwidth

I collect data usage statistics on my home broadband connection using a script that polls my router's WAN interface counters via SNMP once a minute. Since I have all this data lying around, I thought it might be neat to chart my broadband usage for 2010 and get an idea of how much of a bandwidth hog I am. My usage includes lots of movie streaming, VoIP phone calls, and work-related applications (since I work from home).

HTC EVO, shown with the optional extended-life battery.

Earlier this year, I ditched my antiquated Treo 755p for the new hotness in mobile phones—the HTC EVO, an Android phone available from Sprint. Unlike my previous phone, which would last a full week in standby without recharging, the EVO gulps battery like there's no tomorrow. In fact, the limited battery life has been the primary complaint about the phone. Nobody seems to know for certain why the battery life is so poor. Maybe it's the beefy 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, the large LCD screen, or something else entirely.

Back in the 1990's, I predicted that all data-oriented utilities — telephone, television, radio, etc. — would eventually become Internet services. Today, the world is rapidly approaching this ideal as people ditch their POTS telephone lines for VoIP and their cable television subscriptions for streaming video. This disruptive technology has created tension in the industry as old-school telecommunications companies cling to their non-Internet services out of fear of their infrastructure turning into “dumb pipes,” while other companies are lining up to provide services over the Internet. Discussion of this disruption usually turns to the subject of bandwidth — the measure of the telecommunications infrastructure's capacity to deliver these services to users.