All-Optical Computing and All-Optical Networks are Dead: Anxiously awaiting the arrival of all-optical computing? Don’t hold your breath.

AbstractWe’re a venture capitalist and a communications researcher, and we come bearing bad news: optical computers and all-optical networks aren’t going to happen anytime soon. All those well-intentioned stories about computers operating at the speed of light, computers that would free us from Internet delays and relieve us from the tyranny of slow and hot electronic devices were, alas, overoptimistic. We won’t be computing or routing at the speed of light anytime soon. (In truth, we probably should have told you this about two years ago, but we only recently met, compared notes, and realized our experiences were consistent.)