Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for Episode 122 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast with Bob Frankston. Listen to this episode here.
00:05:
Bob Frankston: The Internet is basically a discontinuity from the tradition of communications as a service. It's something we can do ourselves. And that's very empowering. And that's the future we need to look towards.
00:16:
Lisa Gonzalez: Hello there. Welcome to the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. This is Lisa Gonzalez.
Today we have another visit from Bob Frankston. Bob and Chris have talked together in a couple of other Community Broadband Bits Podcasts, and we always enjoy having him back again. Many of our discussions focus on communities that have done interesting things with connectivity. But when Bob visits, he always makes us look at the definition of connectivity. In this discussion, Bob and Chris get into the economics of bringing ubiquitous access to the U.S., among other things. Policy makers often draw parallels between the Internet and our extensive systems of roads, or our efforts to electrify the entire country. Bob and Chris look a little deeper into these comparisons. They take a hard look at the economics of fiber networks, and how current practices need to change to take full advantage of its possibilities. Bob has an extensive library of writings at frankson.com . So if this conversation piques your interest, be sure to check out his work. Here are Chris and Bob for an interesting conversation.
01:22:
Chris Mitchell: Welcome to another edition of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. I'm Chris Mitchell. And today I'm speaking with Bob Frankston. Welcome back to the show, Bob.
01:31:
Bob Frankston: Well, thank you. Glad to be here again.
01:34:
Chris: You and I spoke in -- I believe it was the single digits, one of the earliest episodes of the Community Broadband Bits. And there, I think we went a little bit more over your background. But you've been programming for over half a century. And you've been an entrepreneur. And, for our purposes, you've done a lot of writing about telecommunications networks, and people can find that at frankston.com . And I encourage them to go check it out. Now, is there...
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