http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/johnson.html Johna Till Johnson's weekly Network World column on dealing with carriers and service providers. Updated on Mondays. Network World, Inc. Copyright(C) 1994 - 2009 Network World, Inc. http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2009/070209johnson.html IT is undergoing one of the most significant transformations in recent memory -- yet most IT practitioners (including telecom managers) are only dimly aware of what's happening. Johna Till Johnson 2009-07-02T12:00:00-04:00 http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2009/062509-johna.html Here's one of the more ironic juxtaposition of events in recent memory: Last week, famed science-fiction author (and anti-censorship advocate) Ray Bradbury came out against the Internet — just as the 'Net's ability to evade censorship played a crucial role in advancing the cause of democracy in Iran. Johna Till Johnson 2009-06-25T12:00:00-04:00 http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2009/061709johnson.html I'm constantly amazed by the brazenness of certain large companies and governments when it comes to abuse of privacy. The most egregious recent example: The Chinese government announced that starting July 1, it will require the installation of rootkit software on all PCs sold in China — ostensibly to prevent its citizens from visiting "objectionable" sites on the Web. (If you believe that, I have a Great Wall to sell you.) Johna Till Johnson 2009-06-17T12:00:00-04:00 http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2009/061009johnson.html It's an old engineering adage that you can't have it all. As the saying goes: "Faster, better, cheaper — pick two." The idea is that any system can optimize at most two parameters, to the detriment of the third. Johna Till Johnson 2009-06-10T12:00:00-04:00 http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2009/060409-johna.html It's official: General Motors is off the Dow, and Cisco Systems takes its place. The transition is more than just a dry Wall Street accounting maneuver: From a cultural, economic, and societal perspective, it marks a seismic shift in how our world is organized. Johna Till Johnson 2009-06-04T12:00:00-04:00 http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2009/052809johnson.html It feels like 1989 all over again. Wacky haircuts are back (I think I saw a mullet the other day). "Alternative rock" sounds a lot like what used to be called "new wave." Big shoulders are back. And we geeks are waxing rhapsodic about the wonders of videoconferencing. Johna Till Johnson 2009-05-28T12:00:00-04:00 http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2009/052109-johna.html One area I'm paying a lot of attention to these days is what I'm calling "embedded intelligent networks," or networks that integrate seamlessly into physical reality, enabling us to monitor and ultimately manipulate the real world across the net. Johna Till Johnson 2009-05-21T12:00:00-04:00 http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2009/051409johnson.html Most IT professionals hate doing telecom RFPs. No surprise — much of the effort is process and paperwork, two things that many find tedious and boring. Johna Till Johnson 2009-05-14T12:00:00-04:00 http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2009/050609-johnson.html Many folks are familiar with the modeling we've done over the past few years highlighting the fact that Internet demand is outstripping capacity, specifically access capacity. The findings were, to put it mildly, controversial: We've been called everything from carrier shills to nut-jobs. (No, the research wasn't sponsored. And we never claimed your fillings were receiving extraterrestrial radio signals). Johna Till Johnson 2009-05-06T12:00:00-04:00 http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2009/043009johnson.html There's a lot of talk these days of the "Internet as public utility." In fact, if you parse the language of the stimulus package, you definitely pick up that perspective as part of the motivation for investing $7.2 billion in Internet infrastructure. Johna Till Johnson 2009-04-30T12:00:00-04:00