A kinder, wiser thought might be: "You can never have too much bandwidth," the Internet service "pipeline" to run applications at home. That's because, in shockingly fast order, product innovators and consumers are filling it up.

So noted Stuart Elby, vice president of network architecture and enterprise technology for Verizon, beginning its rollout of high-speed, fiber-optic, cable-based FiOS services in our fair town.

"One thing we've learned in our history in broadband, which started with DSL in 1997, is that it's always a better strategy to provide more bandwidth than the average consumer would use," Elby said. "Cater toward the early adopters, and they would find applications that would surely enough consume it and drive the market."

FEELING THE SQUEEZE: Lord knows I've been driving my now balky, $30-a-month DSL connection to the brink. While promising to download at speeds "up to 3 megabits per second," the service never delivers more than 2.2.

The cheapest FiOS Internet option will cost maybe $20 more a month when it finally gets to my 'hood. But that doesn't seem too much to pay for a download speed of 15 mbps and upload capability of 5 mbps.

The latter's a number Elby thinks will be increasingly important as "our children and their children become as much creators of content as they are consumers."

Unlike phone-line-based DSL, FiOS service doesn't slow down as the signal travels farther from the "head end" plant (the excuse given for my less-than-stellar showing). And unlike cable Internet service, FiOS doesn't lag when everyone else in the neighborhood is also online.

"Each FiOS subscriber gets a dedicated connection," said Verizon regional marketing and sales vice president Mary Yarbrough at a product introduction earlier this week, where the company heavily touted a $99 a month, 24-month (guaranteed) "triple play" offering (Internet, TV and phone) that appears very competitively priced.

FYI, the service is just starting to spread its lines out of plants in deep South Philadelphia, Chestnut Hill and the Far Northeast. It could take as long as seven years to blanket the whole city with the fiber optic cable and service.

WHERE OH WHERE, DID THE BANDWIDTH GO? So why do I need more Internet capacity? Let me count the ways.

In our house, the wife's computer is always on in "standby" mode, and the two of us are often online simultaneously.

When we come home, our iPhones switch automatically from AT&T's 3G service to Wi-Fi Internet connectivity for Web-based apps. That includes, for me, multiple reads each day of e-mail, favorite news sites and the occasional Facebook visit.

Internet-based music services and radio stations often entertain us at home through the same Wi-Fi linkup, streaming out of dedicated players from Sonos and Logitech.

And I know my online video game performance would improve with a faster Internet connection.

HARD GOODS GOING AWAY? Clearly, Internet delivery of content is growing. It's argued that one reason Comcast hankers to buy NBC-Universal is to get its hooks into the hulu.com Internet TV service.

And both Comcast and Dish Network are on the verge of introducing new technology that would allow subscribers to watch paid-for TV content on their computers - at home or away.

Pundits predict that packaged video games, movies and music could disappear in as soon as five years, as the industry moves fully to faster, cheaper, electronic-only delivery.

Already, a growing number of video games are only available as downloads to systems like the Nintendo Wii and DS and the Sony PlayStation Portable. The newest PSP Go only plays downloadable software!

In our bedroom, we've got an Internet-connected, $99 Roku box that allows us watch thousands of movies streamed to the TV at no additional charge, because I've got a $9 a month Netflix account. The same box also lets me buy movies from amazon.com.

And earlier this week, Roku added 10 new free channels, including blip.TV, Facebook Photos, Mediafly and Pandora. Picture quality with my DSL connection is decent - standard-definition DVD grade. If I had a faster Internet connection, the box would crank up the bits and produce a higher resolution image.

The same holds true with Internet-ready TVs and with other movie-playing boxes like Vudu, PlayStation 3, Apple TV and Xbox 360.

JUMPING INTO THE PICTURE: Here's another growing use of the Internet - to jump-start the interactive features on Blu-ray discs, all requiring a connected Blu-ray player.

Sony's movieIQ feature on new releases like "Godzilla" delivers pop-up trivia about the production, while a button press during "Julie and Julia" will send Julia Child recipes to your e-mail in-box.

Fresh Universal titles like "Bruno," "Funny People" and "Public Enemies" work magic with a Wi-Fi-connected Blu-ray player and iPhone/iPod Touch. You can use the Apple device as the player's remote control and for streaming/downloading movie clips.

And next month, a social networking feature on Universal's "Book of Love" will connect viewers to Facebook and Twitter via Blu-ray player.

As Paramount's new "Star Trek" plays, space geeks can get live updates from NASA on their TV. The Blu-ray for "Hannah Montana: The Movie" will stream Radio Disney.

Getting the picture?

If you don't have a good broadband connection, probably not.

Send e-mail to takiffj@phillynews.com.