The Sustainable Network

Chapter 41. Our Relationship with the Network

Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

— The Golden Rule

The network is here to stay. And it will continue to be inextricably linked to the way you live your life. You can argue about the growth rates, the number of users, devices, digitized content, services, applications, and capacity, but one thing is for certain—it is growing exponentially in reach and importance.

And the more important these networked services and applications become, the more we require from them—anytime, anywhere access, using whichever device we want—precisely because they are part of our lives. These services have infiltrated our businesses, families, and civic lives—they are part of the inner sanctums of who and what we are. We want the persistent connection to all that is ours, whether it is shared, purchased, or created. And, as the network is increasingly able to deliver these things and we find new and innovative ways to integrate it into our daily lives, our reliance is only going to increase.

The world as we know it is changing, and it is the network doing it.

I've tried to show you that you use the network every day, whether you realize it or not. Most obvious is when you go on the Internet, but the network also facilitates a majority of all the other day-to-day transactions we conduct, in ways that you may not have even realized (from connecting ...