Many years ago, in the early 1990s and the beginning of my company Prophet, my partner said something to me at the time that I’ll never forget. He pointed to our rack of modems and said, “This is dumb.”

I’m not exactly sure what he meant at the time, nor am I sure to this day, but I believe what he meant was that the notion of:

1. a phone line on the customer’s end;
2. a modem on the customer’s end
3. a dedicated phone call (often long distance);
4. a phone line on our end;
5. a modem on our end

All for the purpose of establishing ONE connection was ridiculous and would be surpassed by something better one day.