Was Henry Ford Ⅱ Right on Transmission Demand?

摘要

Henry Ford Ⅱ was a strong advocate of telecommunications services. He had observed that the cost of transportation continued to rise while the cost of communication dropped. In 1978 I had the opportunity for a private meeting with the Ford Motor Co. chairman after winning the competition for Intelsat 5. I described the rapid growth in demand for Intelsat voice circuits. The graphic showed steady geometric growth into the future. Mr. Ford said, "When will this demand begin to saturate? Surely it will grow at slower rates in the future. Every process saturates eventually. You must figure out when that will happen. It will be important for your business." Henry Ford was literally correct. The circuit-switched telephony of trunk traffic business of Intelsat came to an end. It was replaced by fiber optic cables under the sea and across the land. The number of voice circuits, which were examined by Mr. Ford, has indeed dropped dramatically, essentially toward zero.