[Speed Gibson,
Monday January 28, 2008 at 12:24am]
In Over Their Head
Poor Chad the Elder, living in my home town that I left in 1974. The City of St. Louis Park has given up on its dream of eco-friendly wireless internet service, replaced by the nightmare of a potential $3.8 million loss. I calculate that The Elder's share will be about $182.
The firm they contracted has never installed a solar-powered system before, but the city claims to have done the proper due diligence nonetheless. One step they missed was to ask the residents what they wanted, for what many want now is to have those "ugly" solar panels taken down.
This is the dot-com bubble all over again. Much of that bubble resulted from the ability of charlatans to sell unworkable Internet systems to companies overly scared of being left behind. They looked like credible vendors. They did marketing, made presentations, negotiated contracts and prices just like "real" vendors, but of course, all that contract language proved worthless when the quacks couldn't deliver and disappeared in the ensuing wave of bankruptcies.
Apparently this "cutting edge" city (per Mayor Jeff Jacobs) was worried that Edina was going to get there first, but there is no there there. There is no crying, unmet demand for wireless internet. There are many choices at many speeds and prices, using dial up, DSL, or Cable. You can provide your own home wireless, too, fully encrypted if desired.
To provide this unneeded service with solar power is ridiculous, given our climate and the small amounts of energy involved. This was all sizzle, no steak, i.e., not one tangible benefit. The real truth is that adding a layer of complexity usually adds something to go wrong, and it sure did here. What money it might have saved is academic now, given this huge loss.
The firm they contracted has never installed a solar-powered system before, but the city claims to have done the proper due diligence nonetheless. One step they missed was to ask the residents what they wanted, for what many want now is to have those "ugly" solar panels taken down.
This is the dot-com bubble all over again. Much of that bubble resulted from the ability of charlatans to sell unworkable Internet systems to companies overly scared of being left behind. They looked like credible vendors. They did marketing, made presentations, negotiated contracts and prices just like "real" vendors, but of course, all that contract language proved worthless when the quacks couldn't deliver and disappeared in the ensuing wave of bankruptcies.
Apparently this "cutting edge" city (per Mayor Jeff Jacobs) was worried that Edina was going to get there first, but there is no there there. There is no crying, unmet demand for wireless internet. There are many choices at many speeds and prices, using dial up, DSL, or Cable. You can provide your own home wireless, too, fully encrypted if desired.
To provide this unneeded service with solar power is ridiculous, given our climate and the small amounts of energy involved. This was all sizzle, no steak, i.e., not one tangible benefit. The real truth is that adding a layer of complexity usually adds something to go wrong, and it sure did here. What money it might have saved is academic now, given this huge loss.
I also grew up in SLP, even buying my first house there. But I'm SOOO glad to be out of SLP, as my interactions with the city government were never pleasant.