Terabyte Triangle Important To Future
It looks like a bouquet of rainbow-colored dental floss stuffed in a black tube. But despite its innocuous appearance, it could change your life in the near future.
Some local officials and business leaders have high hopes for fiber-optic cable - the basis for a proposed economic revolution simmering in Spokane known as the Terabyte Triangle.
“This is big … bigger than the World’s Fair,” said Riverside Neighborhood Council co-chair Gary Pollard. “It will not only affect us, but our grandchildren, too.”
Last week, 14 people attended the Riverside Neighborhood Council meeting to learn what effect the Terabyte Triangle could have on their lives. Mary Joan Hahn, manager of business and community relations for the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute, explained the concept in non-technical terms.
The Terabyte Triangle - created by Dr. Steve Simmons, a computer science professor at Eastern Washington University - encompasses an area stretching from the Riverpoint Higher Education Park to the Spokane Arena district to Browne’s Addition.
The idea is that buildings within the area would be outfitted with the high-speed cable, thus attracting software developers, Internet providers and computer service firms to the area.
The Fernwell Building at 505 W. Riverside was the first to rewire with fiber-optic cable. Now about 40 companies are part of the triangle. Proponents of the Terabyte Triangle hope people will upgrade to fiber-optic cable as they upgrade other systems.
But even those who don’t work with computers would benefit from the effects of the Terabyte Triangle, Hahn said. More people drawn to the downtown area would generate more income in other areas, too. Software companies, for example, need graphic designers and lawyers and accountants. Those people need housing and places to shop.
“Terabyte” refers to a measurement of information, Hahn said. The use of fiber-optic cable allows for fast information access. Very fast.
“It’s the difference between waiting to make a connection and having it instantaneously,” Hahn said.
She explained that if all an encyclopedia’s information was on the Internet, it would take a regular computer two days to download about 29 volumes. With fiber-optic cable, that same information could be acquired in a few seconds.
Hahn drew a parallel between fiber-optic cable and railroads. “Once the infrastructure was in place, railroads changed the face of Spokane,” she said. “(Fiber-optic cable) is a new infrastructure for a new millennium.”
In other business, the Riverside council discussed the street tree ordinance, a strategic planning pilot program and the city budget.
INFORMATION For more information about the Terabyte Triangle, call SIRTI at 358-2000 or e-mail terabyte@sirti.org.