By Archer S. Taylor, Malarkey-Taylor Associates, Incorporated
Signal transmission on a tiny glass thread is a technological development with vast implications for telecommunications. Fiber optics could even have as revolutionary an impact on the future of our society as solid state technology itself.
But if the cable television industry is to realize the very real promise of fiber optics technology in its special corner of the telecommunications universe, it must carefully distinguish between fact and fancy. The real facts are great enough; but opportunity could pass us by if we waste our time and capital on the dreams.
Five myths about fiber optics keep recurring, in the trade press as well as in magazines and newspapers of general circulation. The critical question for evaluating these claims of the superiority of fiber optics is: "compared to what?"