Not So Broadband

One wouldn't expect to think of the United States falling behind in technology, but Slate illustrates how easy it is to manipulate numbers and give two very different stories about where we stand.

Basically, what we have here is a gross misunderstanding about where the US stands in comparison to other countries with Internet access. If you look at the numbers and factor in citizens who don't have access or have extremely low access as the best available, we are 15th (27 broadband subscribers per 100 people). There are a lot of things that can skew these numbers, but the bottom line is we are not as equipped as one might think. Because of my own work-related knowledge, I know there are many people begging for broadband and cannot get it. Granted, we do have a far bigger area to cover than most countries, this is something we should watch and consider.

What I found most interesting was the author's mention of "broadband nutrition labels" that allow us to compare aspects of a service the the public is mostly ignorant about. Also, he suggests that the FCC should routinely collect data on this industry now, so we can have numbers to fall back on when trying solutions and scenarios. Right now it is mostly guesswork. I'm actually surprised, because I assumed that on some level this was already being done. It's time to at least collect the data, so we can look at trends and areas and prioritize where we can get the most benefit from expansion. But there is more to the Internet than YouTube, and access is only going to become more important to people as time passes. In another five to ten years, this gap will be much more damaging for the have-nots.