Recently, Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) gave an impassioned speech against Net Neutrality to the Senate Commerce Committee. The more he spoke, the more it became clear that he shouldn’t. Here’s one excerpt:
“Ten movies streaming across that, that internet, and what happens to your own private internet? I just the other day got internet was sent by my staff at 10 o’clock in the morning on Friday. I got it yesterday!”
At first, I though this was just another generational moment, one of those instances when you have an interaction with someone from a different age cohort and think, “Whoa, that guy’s a FOSSIL!” or “I’ve got SUITS older than that kid!” After all, the Senator is old enough to have remembered life before “the tubes” that make up the internet.
But then I doubled back and thought, “He’s old AND he’s uninformed!” It reminds me of the decision makers I sometimes meet through our work at NGC, who falsely believe that they know what the next generation wants ... without asking them. Ironically, these same decision makers would never roll out a new product without market testing - asking the market what it wants. Yet, they approach their talent attraction and retention effort in exactly that way, barreling ahead with expensive recruiting and retention practices that often miss their mark because they didn’t have the patience or wisdom to ask… and listen.
You can listen to Senator Steven’s 11-minute rant here. DJ Ted Stevens has also authored a techno mix, if you want to dance to “The Tubes” to which the Senator refers in his speech.
And in the interest of fairness and balance, here’s a tech blog on why the Senator - despite his illiteracy on this issue - may be right.
P.S.: This blog was posted with the help of a big, fat “tube.”
