Internet muddles along on ‘best effort’ approach
In an earlier column I drew a comparison between the industry standards required for internet communications versus the construction codes enforced by building inspectors. Both the Information Technology industry and the building industry have their “bibles” defining minimum standards, and they differ radically in their philosophy. The approach usually taken by the Fire Marshal to their code is one of “zero tolerance” because they know that any variance from the code could kill someone. By contrast, the approach taken by those who defined the standards for the internet was a “best effort” approach in which they accepted from the beginning that not all traffic was going to go through and a certain amount of death and dying was to be expected. The contrast between these two philosophies has had a dramatic and sometimes deleterious effect on everyone using the internet.