| The Wheat
Farmer Thinks About: |
Telecom
Planners Think About: |
| 7. People
buying and eating bread, cookies, pasta 
|
Electronic
commerce, e-mail, video conferencing, telephone service
packages, distance learning, telemedicine |
| 6.
Warehouses, trucks, and stores to move baked goods and
pasta from production to the consumer |
Voice and
data transport |
| 5. Factory
kitchens and bakeries making bread, cookies, pasta |
Multiplexing,
circuit switching, and packet switching equipment |
| 4. Wheat
by the ton in silos |
Raw
bandwidth |
| 3.
Machinery and people for harvesting, husking, and storing
wheat |
SONET and
other electronic equipment that "lights up"
fiber optics and "powers up" antennas. |
| 2. Acres
of waving wheat |
Fiber
optic and copper cable, microwave dishes, wireless
service antennas |
| 1. Soil,
seeds, water, fertilizer |
Sand and
copper |