Very insightful piece from Mercury News, “MAGID ON TECH: Cisco’s big announcement with router” (emphasis added),
Linksys, a Cisco subsidiary, offers really good Internet and networking routers starting at under $50 for home or office use.
But companies that are in the business of distributing data within the Internet infrastructure and between Internet service providers across long distances need to spend a tad bit more for their routers.
How much more? How does $90,000 grab you?
That’s the starting price of the CRS-3, the router that Cisco announced with great fanfare on Tuesday. The device, available later this year, can deliver a whopping 322 terabits of data, which is 3 times the speed of the company’s existing CRS-1 router and 12 times faster than what the competition offers, Cisco CEO John Chambers said. [..]
Cisco made a big deal out of this announcement, claiming in advance that it would “forever change the Internet.” […]
In retrospect, I wish I had stayed in bed. […]
Still, I can’t help feel a little bit used by the company’s public relations people.
“Forever change the Internet” seems like a bit of hyperbole to me, and, trust me, I’ve heard plenty of hyperbole after three decades covering Silicon Valley companies.
My biggest problem with the Cisco news conference was trying to stay awake. After two cups of coffee and anticipating that I would learn about something incredible, I was inundated with technical terms that even I don’t understand.
As talented as Cisco CEO John Chambers may be, he is no match for the other master of overstatement, Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Filed under: Internet 
