

Networks Are Smart at the Edges - rglullis
http://www.lixo.org/archives/2008/07/21/networks-are-smart-at-the-edges/

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dood
Almost certainly made up (or hugely exaggerated). However, if it were true a
better title would be: Hierarchies are Dumb at the Top.

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Anon84
I wonder if the author is aware that "lixo" means garbage/trash/rubbish in
Portuguese.

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rglullis
He is Brazilian.

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jaxn
Reminds me of something my dad taught me: "optimize at the center and innovate
at the edges"

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skorgu
Great story. Of course the expensive monitoring system did lead directly to
the solution of the problem, so maybe the title should be "Networks are smart
but blind at the edges."

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pmorici
Yeah except likely no one ever thought to go and ask the guy on the lines
opinion on how to fix the problem in the first place.

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skorgu
Because most of the time asking a hypothetical doesn't produce the same
results as an annoying @#$% buzzer.

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radu_floricica
From a strategy point of view it's a problem of motivation. The moment the
people on-site were motivated, even a bit, to solve the problem, the problem
was solved.

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Andi
I really like this story.

It shows that simplicity rules and that simplicity often comes out of simple a
situation not considered by the big planners.

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johnrob
Sometimes innovation lies in what you did not build, instead of what you did.

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Jebdm
Compare to C++ templates, Java generics, etc. vs duck typing.

