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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Broadband's past, present and future., October 6, 2003
This review is from: Planet Broadband (Hardcover)
Although the books compact look and feel should have indicated otherwise, I expected yet another technical book that would require a fair amount of commitment and concentration on my part. I was pleasantly surprised to discover this was not the case. Unlike most books I read, I found this book read more like a story than a technical book. Although technical content is kept to a minimum, the different technologies are well explained and the concepts are easy to understand. I didn't see any direct coloration between this book and any specific certification track. However, this book would serve well as a preparatory book for anybody coming into the broadband spectrum or even for those pursuing Cisco's Cable specialization or CCIP certifications. I found the historical references and usage statistics both interesting and surprising. Like most, I am aware of broadband and use it on a daily basis. However, until reading this book I was oblivious to its usage and far reaching possibilities. The author's knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject is apparent, sometimes so much so the book does tend to become a little repetitive. Despite this, you can't help but be excited by what broadband has and will have to offer in the future. If the author's predictions are correct and I believe they are, broadband will become as prominent as the television or telephone. In fact if broadband has its way, both will become applications on a broadband network. If you're looking for detailed technical information or configuration help, this book is not for you. If you desire an overview of broadband and a glimpse into its history and future possibilities, start reading
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5.0 out of 5 stars
High Speed Internet and its Birth..., July 7, 2004
This review is from: Planet Broadband (Hardcover)
"Planet Broadband" is not a Star Trek episode or another Sci-Fi title. It is the answer to the question: Of where the term "broadband" originated and why is it used when discussing cable internet services? This question is the base for the book "Planet Broadband" by Rouzbeh Yassini. When I first received the book, my initial thoughts where focused on the Cable Internet environment, but the book also presents the DSL side as well. This small book of 140 pages, including index, not only explains how the concept of Broadband communication evolved, but the possible directions it can go. This book is clearly more of a history of how the concept of broadband was developed and the growth of the Internet that it leads too. I can foresee future generations of children reading this book in a college course on Information Technology. When one considers that only three to five percent of the American public use any form of broadband services, the growth potential presented is unbelievable. Personally for me, a detail-oriented reader this took me about a total of 8 hours to complete. That may seem slow, but considering the topic and the events occurring within the world of telecommunications, that is better than I expected. As I read this book, I would pause from time to time and comment to myself on how Yassini's points are either already occurring or how I can see them occurring or already being implemented. Additionally, I found enlightenment in the knowledge that both DSL and cable Internet are actually considered broadband. While the Cable companies have a tendency to advertise themselves as a broadband service, in reality they are only one of several broadband services. Some of the concepts presented include virtual training like many universities are now offering and virtual meetings with individuals all around the world. While he does point out that everything is not immediately on demand in this day and age, within time we can witness more and more services becoming that way. Within the book, Yassini points out the concept of being able to check the items in the refrigerator from work or have the washing machine place a service call to the manufacture before you know there is a problem. These are features of a broadband planet and within time our children and their children will not know a world where we had modems connecting to the internet or downloads that took hours. But as you read you realize that while today is the birth of broadband, this book is more the introduction to tomorrows internet and a must read. To prove the point that "Planet Broadband" is an introduction, my baby boomer mother who works in the cable industry as a customer service person, took the book from me and read it cover to cover one day and told me "This is where we are going and everything." So if a 50+ year old parent can see it we know that the world will be there some day. Near the end of the book, Yassini focuses on telecommuting and a comparison of that to working at the office. While he clearly points out that telecommuting is not for everyone or all the time, it has productivity advantages and will only grow with time. I think one of his best examples is in Chapter 6, where he remembers the MCI commercial of a woman working at home and changing a presentation on the fly for clients and co-workers half way across the country. That image is an example of how the world has changed thanks to the advances of broadband and the ability to telecommute without being in the dark room or bound to the long commutes all the time. As I hold the book and consider my final thoughts on the subject of "Planet broadband", this book is not designed for the IT world, but for the general public. I would recommend this as an excellent addition to anyone's library and especially to individuals in the information technology community. For management or others it is an excellent resource to justify a telecommuting policy or practice, or a good reason why they should upgrade from the modem and narrow band to the world of high speed Internet.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Planet broadband, April 9, 2004
This review is from: Planet Broadband (Hardcover)
Planet Broadband Rouzbeh Yassini Cisco Press ISBN 1-58720-090-2 No this is not the next episode of the starship .... It probably is a place where no man has gone before though. When I saw the title I imagined a world in the future where everything is automated, computerized, and far different from our current condition. Reading this book helped me realize that the dream of such a society with technology such as broadband underpinning it is not as far off as it might seem, and yet a good ways away. The book looks at trends in consumer adoption of major technological products over time, and interestingly the rate of adoption seems to be increasing more rapidly than it used to, meaning there is greater market penetration faster as time moves on. You will find out some statistics on the degree to which different countries have broadband infrastructure and subscribers and how government policy has helped or hindered that.
For instance you will learn that in South Korea the average broadband user gets 8Mbps.You will also find the explanation both technically and from a business and societal standpoint of how broadband evolved and the two major forms of it, dsl and cable modem. Finally you will get your walk in the future to see how the author envisions a society where technologies in the home and office are fused and made into one. Your appliances your electrical consumer items, your computers are all on one network in this future time.
Teleworking will seem normal and we will move more information than we move goods and people. Television will consist of on demand catalogs of shows and films that are started by the customer and driven by demand, not the networks timetables. These are all things you will get out of this book. I come from a perspective of someone who usually reads computer books to find out how to do a specific task, learn details about a new product I will be using at work, or to understand a new concept. This is the first time I have read a book by computer publishers that actually let me look at the very big picture, namely how technology (broadband in this case) impacts and changes our daily lives. It actually took me outside of my usual little technical shell into a very limitless arena where my imagination took hold of the authors visions and fashioned my own ideas of what the future in this sense might bring. For a computer book to do this is rare indeed. For that reason alone I would highly recommend this book. I am an MCSE and am pursuing a ccna. Will this help me pass the ccna or mcp exams? NO. Will it give me a better ability to see the very big picture and not just the computer or server in front of me? Absolutely!! How would I improve this book? I am probably spoiled by having read so many computer books- I really love to see drawings, pictures, etc. There are no drawings or pictures, only tables. Since that author went into some considerable detail about the subject, some drawings would not have gone amiss. A common terms or glossary section would probably have been more useful than the index. Readability- very good, read it in one day in about three sittings of 3 hours in total. It is not a long book at 143 pages. I found it hard to put it down, as each chapter seemed to lead well into the next and there was a buildup of interest. Overall the writer leads us into a brave vision of future technological innovation and consolidation driven by the miracle of broadband technology. I heartily recommend it for anyone interested in future societal trends in the sense of tecno innovation. I would give this book 4 stars- would have been 5 if it had illustrations.
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