James Collier

Getting over Google

Now that Fresno has submitted its official application to Google to pilot its high-speed fiber—and now that the hype has waned all but completely died—let’s be honest: we don’t stand a snowball’s chance in Hell at being selected.

(I say that in the most gentle, loving way I can.)

I’ve enjoyed the pooling of support from throughout the community, and the rapid speed with which this grew from a few suggestions from the fringe, to something that City officials invested in physically, mentally and financially. But as Chris Samarin noted a couple of weeks ago, if this project is to come to fruition (not all of Google’s hype leads to action, after all), Google has already decided on where.

Maybe I’m wrong, but here’s why I believe this:

• Google is driven by data.
  They’ve done the research, and know which markets have the highest potential to meet the unstated goals of a project like this. If they haven’t, such lack of research doesn’t reflect well on the company.
• Speaking of data…
  There’s a reason that Fresno is described as a place that’s “behind the curve.” That’s not a stab at our technological literacy or competency, but it is a reality check; other communities could provide far more useful information from their use of the web.
• Put another way, our needs are different.
  Google’s focus seems to be on households—if I had to guess, that’s where the rich consumer data lies. While it’s nice to think of downloading HD movies from the couch in a matter of minutes, the real potential for positive impact in our community is in businesses, libraries and community hubs.

Never look a gift horse in the ass.

Again, I might be wrong about all of this. Part of me hopes that I am, and that we were compelling enough to win Google over. But if we were, are we sure that’s a good thing? I mean, has anyone stopped to think through the company’s motive in (potentially) piloting something like this?

It’s data. Fiber opens up a LOT of that.

So we’re okay with that. Google has a solid track record with providing direct cusomer service, right? Hardly. (And you thought Comcast was frustrating to deal with…at least they give you a number to call.)

Okay, so what now?

Now we wait. Google has over 600 applications to sort through, and assuming they’re actually reading those, that could take a while. Once a community is selected…well, who knows what happens at that point.

In the mean time, I say we applaud those who’ve championed this, as well as those who contributed and helped to build support. If that’s you, thank you.