[Davisgig] Thoughts

Taylor Buley taylor.buley at mcnaughton.media
Tue Mar 3 16:53:37 PST 2015


Sorry to continue to spout off before introducing myself in person but I'll
attempt to be at tomorrow's meeting to pay any pipers.

I think that your point is good argument for fence-sitters to get involved
even if they don't necessarily want a fiber connect themselves - worst
case, we're exploring on how to offer the kinds of options that can be
expected to drive down prices across the market. I totally agree with the
message but for clarity of message I would try to avoid causal reasoning in
a call to action.

(Not to bring up peering here, but this is interesting
http://blog.level3.com/open-internet/observations-internet-middleman/ and
"helping the Internet achieve its full potential" seems good marketing)

On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 4:40 PM, Steve McMahon <steve at dcn.org> wrote:

> Great points, and I agree on emphasizing features. But a point I've seen
> over and over again is that you can't expect good prices for broadband
> where there's little or no competition. Try getting those AT&T prices in
> cities without Google Broadband.
>
> Also, a nice piece on the real cost of privacy with AT&T:
> https://gigaom.com/2015/02/19/dont-let-att-mislead-you-about-its-29-privacy-fee/
>
> Avoiding that kind of pricing stunt is part of what we hope for from a
> more competitive situation.
>
> On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 4:26 PM, Taylor Buley <
> taylor.buley at mcnaughton.media> wrote:
>
>> Howdy - I'm Taylor. I've just joined here, so I apologize if these
>> comments are late or otherwise unuseful.
>>
>> I like a lot of what's been written. I would strongly advise against a
>> pricing argument so early on in this effort.
>>
>> I think price is something to avoid talking about at all for various
>> reasons, among them that for this to be politically viable I imagine it
>> would have to be economically viable and sold at a price greater than the
>> cost to offer the service. Unlike ISPs, which subsidize their prices with
>> Web portals, captive search, privacy-violating data partnerships and the
>> like (the new hot deal in Austin and Kansas City is $60/month for privacy
>> from AT&T), I would not like to see low price expectations to force a
>> municipal operator to have to stomach such practices. Moreover,
>> empirically, if you look at how networks spend their marketing dollars it's
>> typically feature-based: speed, simplicity, access and the like  (coverage!
>> 4 shows at a time! the hopper!). The market research big bucks suggest to
>> me that there is something to a feature-based argument and that a community
>> effort should consider it as well.
>>
>> Quick notes:
>> * I would definitely "brand" this groups effort, at least with a name
>> with caps. Used "Davis Community Fiber" in what I banged out below
>> * Says "you" need to get involved, doesn't repeatedly make it obvious on
>> how to get involved. If involvement is the call to action you shouldn't
>> have to scroll a long way to see it
>> * Pretending I want to stay in touch (I do): how does the information
>> come to me? A Facebook page to like? Twitter feed to follow? Newsletter?
>> * Speed. Also, I find it useful to translate speeds into time it takes to
>> download X. E.g. much of Davis would have to have 5x its current average
>> speeds to support streaming House of Cards on Netflix on the latest (4K)
>> TVs.
>> * I think "going local" is another strong argument to make. Where do you
>> want your techies to live when your Internet goes down?
>> * I do not think Davis is exceptional in terms of today's infrastructure,
>> I think a point we may try to make is that we should be exceptional but
>> today fall short of expectations
>> * Switches tenses "DCF is a brand new... would provide" in both future
>> tense and present
>>
>> The notes hit seem: 0) why you care about this 1) who we are and 2) how
>> you to get involved. Playing off the content as is and one of Steve's
>> links, I feel like something short like this could pack a brief punch:
>>
>> > You probably don't have high-speed Internet. 61% of Davis doesn't have
>> what the FCC today qualifies as broadband access (>10Meg), according to a
>> draft 2015 Yolo County [broadband survey](
>> http://www.yolocounty.org/home/showdocument?id=27240). Some 44% of our
>> neighbors don't have fast enough connections to watch a YouTube video
>> without worrying (>5-6Meg).
>>
>> > Davis was once a leader in Internet connectivity, with the non-profit
>> Davis Community Network first bringing Internet access in 1993. Instead of
>> trying to play catchup with today's speeds, Davis Community Fiber is a
>> city-owned municipal telecomm operator partnering with Davis Community
>> Network to propose leapfrogging Davis out of "the Copper Ages" and onto
>> fiber optic network infrastructure that boasts data speeds approaching the
>> speed of light.
>>
>> > This nascent effort is just underway and now is the time for community
>> members to come forward and show support. [Sign up](current URL is
>> localhost) for our newsletter and join our network of neighbors working to
>> make the next mark on Davis's legacy of exceptionalism.
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 3:16 PM, Steve McMahon <steve at dcn.org> wrote:
>>
>>> A few excellent resources for linking and quoting:
>>>
>>> 1) The Yolo County Broadband Report
>>> <http://www.yolocounty.org/general-government/yolo-lafco/shared-services-initiative/yolo-broadband/download-the-draft-plan>
>>>
>>> 2) The President's Report on Community-Based Broadband Solutions
>>> <http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/community-based_broadband_report_by_executive_office_of_the_president.pdf>
>>>
>>> 3) White House FACT SHEET: Broadband That Works: Promoting Competition
>>> & Local Choice In Next-Generation Connectivity
>>> <http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/13/fact-sheet-broadband-works-promoting-competition-local-choice-next-gener>
>>>
>>> All of these are very current.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 2:20 PM, Fei Li <flcli at ucdavis.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>>  Thanks to everyone who replied. Here's what we've got. Please pick
>>>> this apart! Is it good enough for now?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>  You're paying too much for slow internet.
>>>>
>>>> Your internet is slow. It's expensive, it's limited, and it's
>>>> unreliable. How much of your time is lost to buffering videos on YouTube
>>>> and Netflix? How many times have your Skype calls dropped unexpectedly? Do
>>>> you really need the added stress of data caps on your internet? Your
>>>> options are limited, and *your current service providers fine with
>>>> this.*
>>>>
>>>> We're sick of it. And we're going to fix that with community fiber
>>>> <http://127.0.0.1:8000/app/>.
>>>>  What is community fiber?
>>>>
>>>> You might have heard it called municipal fiber, or community broadband.
>>>> We think of it as a modern infrastructure for a modern city.
>>>>
>>>> Davis community fiber is a brand new, state of the art, city-owned
>>>> telecommunications operation. Community fiber would provide neighborhoods,
>>>> businesses and schools with the internet infrastructure they need to stay
>>>> competitive in the world. The possibilities are endless when we are no
>>>> longer bound to obsolete, fragile, and sluggish copper phone and cable
>>>> lines.
>>>>
>>>> Much like the copper networks installed 100 years ago, fiber networks
>>>> will be used for decades to come. With the adoption of fiber optic
>>>> networks, Davis can remain a leader in science, technology, and quality of
>>>> life.
>>>> Why is community fiber good for Davis?
>>>>
>>>> The advantages of community fiber are as numerous as they are
>>>> outstanding. Here is just a small selection of the benefits that are made
>>>> possible through community fiber in Davis:
>>>>
>>>>    - Truly unlimited, reliable and lightning-fast service at prices
>>>>    that match--or even beat--currently available plans.
>>>>    - Property values will go up.
>>>>    <http://motherboard.vice.com/read/gigabit-internet-connections-make-property-values-rise>
>>>>    - A new revenue stream for the city, cheaper maintenance costs,
>>>>    market competition and even resurfaced roads. Really!
>>>>    - Your pick from a wide variety of internet, television and phone
>>>>    options from multiple providers, all served from the city network.
>>>>    - Fast. Wifi. Everywhere.
>>>>    - Public accountability. Community fiber is made for you. When you
>>>>    have a concern, your voice matters.
>>>>
>>>>  Many of these things are nigh impossible to implement with our aging
>>>> networks, but community fiber will open the doors to this and so much more.
>>>> How can we bring community fiber to Davis?
>>>>
>>>> As with all good things, there is still a lot of hard work to be done.
>>>> We're partnering with Davis Community Network
>>>> <http://www2.dcn.org/dcn/about/org_description>, a citizen-driven,
>>>> non-profit organization that first brought internet access to Davis in
>>>> 1993. Several cities across the nation have already brought this dream to
>>>> life through groups like us. There is only one thing missing: *You*.
>>>> With your support we can make sure that Davis remains exceptional.
>>>> You can help.
>>>>
>>>> Keep in touch. <http://127.0.0.1:8000/app/> We'll keep you up-to-date
>>>> with the latest news and show you how to get involved with this
>>>> community-driven effort.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  ------------------------------
>>>> *From:* davisgig-bounces at list.omsoft.com <
>>>> davisgig-bounces at list.omsoft.com> on behalf of Fei Li <
>>>> flcli at ucdavis.edu>
>>>> *Sent:* Monday, March 2, 2015 7:26 PM
>>>> *To:* davisgig at list.omsoft.com
>>>> *Subject:* [Davisgig] Thoughts
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hi everyone,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  The website is nearly done. Thanks to everyone who helped out with
>>>> this effort and other efforts. We did some great work, but we're not done
>>>> yet and time is not a commodity we have much of!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  I'd like to get the site published tomorrow before 5 PM tomorrow.
>>>> Luckily, it's not *that* tall of an order.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  We have some content that needs to be put in. Rob was kind enough to
>>>> provide some paragraphs to our web team, but I'd like to hear from all of
>>>> you as well. The sooner, the better!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  How would you answer these questions?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  1) What is municipal fiber?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  2) Why is municipal fiber good for Davis?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  3) How can we bring municipal fiber to Davis?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  That's it. Doesn't have to be long. Maybe a paragraph or two tops.
>>>> Try to keep it on the simple side if you want. No need to go into technical
>>>> detail, nor make promises we may or may not be able to keep. Your answers
>>>> will be edited and used as content for the front page. If anyone wants to
>>>> take the lead as a writer in the future, then please let me. For now we're
>>>> just trying to drum up some support and pave the way for a full-fledged
>>>> site with fact sheets and numbers later.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  Thanks!
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>
>>>> Please ref our wiki for details, documents and contacts:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~help/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=start
>>>>
>>>> Davisgig mailing list
>>>> Davisgig at list.omsoft.com
>>>> http://list.omsoft.com/mailman/listinfo/davisgig
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>>
>>> Please ref our wiki for details, documents and contacts:
>>>
>>> http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~help/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=start
>>>
>>> Davisgig mailing list
>>> Davisgig at list.omsoft.com
>>> http://list.omsoft.com/mailman/listinfo/davisgig
>>>
>>>
>>
>
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