The MMDS lament

Other access formats are condemned for their inadequate reach or performance. But they are light years ahead of me.

My tentacles lick the clouds, but still I am largely irrelevant. I tower over my access peers, but I am mostly flash and little substance. I give the illusion of having reach, but my appendages are ineffective. I am ugly, and I am not worth the price of my appearance. I disappoint.

I am broadband's total lack of performance. I mar neighborhoods with my height as though to compensate for my shortcomings, but the truth is quickly revealed by what I am unable to deliver. I am an eyesore, a scar. I do not live up to the broadband designation. I want to shout from the rooftops, but instead I am cast off of them.

I stutter. I choke. I trip on my way to every other site I visit, never able to arrive there in one attempt. I deliver choppy audio. Video eludes me.

I am the weakest link in the peer-to-peer revolution. I fumble before I can complete the connection. I drop everything. I occasionally achieve my high-speed aspirations, but I lose my momentum. I let everything get away. I start over, and over and over. I go from all to nothing, in an instant. I am distracted by everything.

The elements are my enemies. Wind sways me out of alignment. Rain clouds my ability to connect. I am shrouded in clouds. I am a lightning rod. And in winter…I shudder to think what will happen when it snows or when I become iced over. Will I become even more muffled? Will I slip further into oblivion than I have under blue skies and blinding sunlight? I am haunted by weather.

Far beneath me, close to the ground, other access formats are condemned for their inadequate reach or performance. But they are light years ahead of me. They don't have to contend with the elements. They slink close to the ground, or under it. They catch rides on wires that were already there, that no one notices. They are forgiven for their inadequacies because they are not unsightly. I am a sore thumb, painfully throbbing. Even if they are second rate, I am fifth or sixth or beyond.

What am I? What good am I?

Contact Jason Meyers at jmeyers@intertec.com