In Praise of Google Utopianism

An executive at one of the main US telecommunication companies, Verizon, has decried the fact that:

"The network builders [i.e. telecommunication companies] are spending a fortune constructing and maintaining the networks that Google intends to ride on with nothing but cheap servers."

Excuse me, isn't that what Google pays for when it buys connectivity to the Internet, and what you and I pay for when we sign up for Internet access (like here, for example)? So, in fact, the networks are already being paid twice for this service. Isn't that enough?

The only consolation is that this bizarre accusation has given birth to the rather wonderful concept of "Google Utopianism" to describe this state of affairs. Me? - I call that the latest incarnation of the Internet, personally, where those naughty "cheap servers" - mostly running GNU/Linux - are creating a vast range of exciting new services.

If that's Google Utopianism, you can call me Sir Thomas.