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June 20, 2007
Coalition Broadband, 11 1/2 years late!
To quote Roger Clarke yesterday from the ANU Link e-mail list, 'It's a cracker' with a link posted to an article from the 21st November 1995 'Howard puts Australia Online'
Under the Coalition, more competitive prices and better quality of service will enable the online services industry to have a fair go at the national and international markets which they must win to sustain their growth.
And all Australian businesses and consumers will have access to the services required to put Australia at the forefront of the Information Age.
Stilgherrian has already followed this up with his post and an invite from Crikey to write a follow up article which should make for some more interesting reading.
Just think about that. In 1995, a cutting-edge PC was an Intel 486 DX66 with 64MB of RAM and a 2x CD drive. The year’s big software release was Windows 95 — the very first version of Windows with Internet connectivity built-in.
Senator Coonan rejects the claim that the Government has been left behind. “You can’t really say that,” she says, “when you look at the Government’s record in rolling out broadband.”
Can’t you, Senator?
Posted by Stephen at June 20, 2007 06:16 AM
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Comments
Thanks for linking to my little rant. My Crikey article is for subscribers only, alas, but I may post a version on my own blog on Friday.
Posted by: Stilgherrian at June 20, 2007 08:18 PM
It was too hard to pass up this piece of historical data Stil. :)
Posted by: Stephen ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://bleedingedge.com.au/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 20, 2007 08:43 PM
I find it hard to believe that a computer in 1995 had 64MB of RAM. My 486 had 8MB RAM which was good at the time considering that RAM cost about $90 per MB in 1995.
Posted by: Chopper at June 20, 2007 10:17 PM
Chopper,
64MB would have been an expensive option back then and I think from memory I had upgraded to a 486DX4-100 with 16MB, 64MB would have been a bit pricey I agree.
Posted by: Stephen at June 20, 2007 10:43 PM
Yes, 64MB on RAM in 1995 was "an expensive option", but I did say "cutting-edge". In 1995 I was working on multimedia projects (read: CD-ROM) which had to meet the Multimedia PC Level 2 (MPC2) standard, which was a minimum 25MHz processor, 4MB of RAM and 16-bit audio.
Still, this is quibbling over details. The main point still stands -- the Coalition has been promising equal broadband for the bush for 12 years -- and back then the world was a different place.
Posted by: Stilgherrian at June 22, 2007 08:40 AM