July 17, 2008

How to Convert Gasoline into Broadband Internet Service

Several years ago, an article in Time magazine about the rise of what the magazine termed "modem cowboys" - professionals who were full-time telecommuting from homes far away from their employers - so intrigued me that I saved a copy of it for years. Perhaps it was the picture of one such "modem cowboy" who worked remotely from his home in the Colorado mountains for an employer in another state. I've always loved Colorado. But it wasn't that - it was the tantalizing concept of having the freedom to choose where to live without having to factor in the location of one's job.

Today, I could list for you a number of acquaintances and family members who live in one city in one state and work for employers in another city in another state. Some work remotely. Others travel so much for their jobs that it hardly matters where they live so long as they live reasonably close to an airport. The Internet and inexpensive computers help make it possible.

I thought about all of this in recent days after reading a number of articles predicting the death of the American suburb as gasoline prices climb inexorably higher...

One such article - I can't find it or I'd link it - forecast a huge reversal of population patterns as the middle class and upper middle class flock back to cities to save money on gas, and the resulting collapse in suburban real estate prices makes homes in far-flung suburbs attainable to the less-well-off, many of whom currently live in the cities.

I think such predictions are, to be charitable, wildly grandiose and off the mark.

$4-a-gallon gasoline is spurring a massive flow of investment into research into new energy technologies, more efficient engines, and different ways of powering our homes, cars and gadgets, like solar, biofuels, wind and fuel cells. There will be breakthroughs that will alter the economics of energy and transportation. How do I know? Because there always have been. We'll innovate and entrepreneur our way through this just as we have always done. This is America, after all.

Beyond the price of fuel, and beyond alternate energy, there are things to consider.

A few years ago I wrote a story for Business Nashville magazine regarding traffic congestion in the Nashville area. One thing that stuck with me from doing that article was the comment from one traffic and transportation planner that if every worker in the Nashville area would telecommute one day per week, our transportation infrastructure capacity issues would be solved.

Every worker telecommuting one day reduces the number of cars on the road by 20 percent. Of course, not every worker can telecommute. But many can. And $4 gas is combining with the growing ubiquity of broadband Internet access to accelerate the telecommuting trend.

There are also a growing number of employers talking about going to a 4-day work week, presumably with 10-hour instead of 8-hour workdays, which would accomplish the same traffic impact and also reduces workers' fuel costs by 20 percent. If you drive 20 miles to work each day like I do, and your car gets 17mpg like mine does, at $4 a gallon you're spending $50 each week to get to and from work. A 20 percent reduction in fuel costs would save you about $40 a month - about the cost of good broadband Internet service.

Broadband Hub, a blog from the Internet Innovation Alliance, points out that increased broadband-enabled telecommuting, and use of broadband Internet access for various services, may helps address a number of problems:

News stories abound with reports of the cost savings and productivity gains that will be achieved if more Americans have broadband Internet access. One of my favorites is a report from The American Consumer Institute that describes all the ways that wide adoption of broadband Internet access will be good for the environment. One of the highlights of this report is a simple fact that states that reductions in first-class mail, as well as the plastics saved, by downloading music and video, could reduce emissions by 67.2 million tons over the next 10 years. In addition, the report points out that increased telecommuting could save another 588 million tons over the next ten years.

This is America, after all.